The Wine Summit 2007: Beaux Frères - Saturday, June 2, 2007 - 9:00 A.M.

Next up for the tastings at The Wine Summit was Beaux Freres Vineyards, conducted by managing partner/winemaker/vineyard manager Michael Etzell. This tasting was at 9:00 A.M. on Saturday and there were a few bleary eyes after the previous evening’s dinner.

Michael was initially somewhat nervous about presenting his wines but, once he got going, he proved to be engaging and highly informative, and showed his good sense of humour in the process. After purchasing the farm property he and his wife and mother loaded their truck and trecked off from Colorado to Oregon looking, as he described it, much like Jed Clampett and family did moving from hillbilly country to Beverly Hills. Once there they even had trouble finding the property.

Asked about whether he was making Pinot Noir in a Burgundy style, he responded that in his view the finest Burgundies are the ultimate expression of Pinot Noir, and he personally very much enjoys those wines. (On Friday evening we drank a glass of Dujac’s ’04 Clos de la Roche with Michael – one of the wines my former partner had brought down as a sample for George at The Post.) At Beaux Freres Michael is seeking to preserve the integrity of the vineyard and also the integrity of the vintage. No attempt is made to emulate any other style of wine.

For the technically minded the vineyards were planted beginning in 1988 with 2200 vines to the acre on 6 feet by 40 inch rows, with a primary SouthEast exposure – Pommard clone trained to single Guyot on vertical trellises. Some new plantings since as Phylloxera was discovered infecting the root stock. Vines are pruned to 8 or 9 bunches and result in about one kilo per plant – roughly 2 tons to the acre. Open top fermenters – 10 months in barrel – between 75-100% new oak. Harvest is usually completed by mid-October. The Upper Terrace vineyard is newer and yields are lower. It is planted to a variety of Dijon clones. Annual production in 2006 at Beaux Freres was about 6600 cases including purchased grapes which bear the label Belles Soeurs. This label will now be discontinued.

Two mini-verticals were presented for tasting – one from the original Beaux Freres Vineyard and the other from The Upper Terrace.

• 2005 Beaux Frères Pinot Noir Beaux Frères Vineyard

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge

  Production hampered due to the weather, which was described as “rain and then more rain”. A split canopy approach, where one side is opened up to the sun, was employed to help with the low sugars. Some 2700 cases produced. Colour purple/pink ruby; attractive light berry aromas – mostly cherry; interesting texture – a bit fuzzy on the palate – licorice laced cherry fruit and some oak showing; quite a long finish which carried the flavours through. Given that there were significant difficulties with the vintage, this turned out to be a pretty attractive wine.

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• 2004 Beaux Frères Pinot Noir Beaux Frères Vineyard

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge

  Brighter ruby colour; full and penetrating aromas – more harmonious than the previous wine – lush cherry fruit and pleasing traces of spice and oak; a bigger styled wine on the palate – round with richer cherry fruit – good structure – tannins resting easy under the fruit but do come through in the finish. Time should be kind to this wine as it should develop more in the bottle over the next couple of years.

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• 2003 Beaux Frères Pinot Noir Beaux Frères Vineyard

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge

  Clean, deeper ruby colour – wider rim; aromas more complex – bevy of kitchen spices like those coming from my wife’s spice drawers – dark cherry and soft oak, along with some floral; more harmony in the texture and flavours – blend of cherry and oak edged – showing some heat, but it would be dwarfed with food; a pleasing licorice note in the finish along with the fruit – tannins in the background.

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• 2002 Beaux Frères Pinot Noir Beaux Frères Vineyard

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge

  Deeper ruby colour – fairly wide rim; perfumy nose with dark cherry dominating the aromas – nutmeg spice – sweet oak and that enticing licorice note; harmonious mix of fruit, spice and oak – beautifully textured on a firm structure – acidity pleasing – rich, sweet cherry flavours; finishes long with the balanced flavours running through.
  We very much enjoyed this wine at the Saturday dinner – partnered with a pan seared filet of Ahi Tuna on Swiss Chard, with a red wine fish sauce. It was another of the outstanding partnerships at this dinner. Mmmmm!

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• 2005 Beaux Frères Pinot Noir The Upper Terrace

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge

  Slightly darker than the ’05 Beaux Freres Vineyard; more muted nose – smoky – needed some coaxing to bring out some of the fruit; more structured than the Beaux Fereres Vineyard – more up front acidity and tannins; deep berry flavours – Bing cherry, and some oak; finishes firmly with fruit showing against the acidity and tannins.

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• 2004 Beaux Frères Pinot Noir The Upper Terrace

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge

  Used 100% new French oak with thick stays; deeper purple ruby colour; again a somewhat muted nose, but stronger than the ’05 – smoky and attractive red fruit; initial rush of black cherry on the palate, then the tannins begin to show; an attractive firm structure carries well into the finish.

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• 2003 Beaux Frères Pinot Noir The Upper Terrace

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge

  Pink tinged ruby colour – thin rim; once again needed to draw out the aromas – sweet edged cherry and smoky oak; softer on the palate than the ’04; shows a bit of heat; round and fairly full dark cherry flavours – a bit of licorice and presence of oak; lingering finish with the fruit and oak mixing.

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• 2002 Beaux Frères Pinot Noir The Upper Terrace

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge

  From 3-year vines; dark ruby in colour; penetrating attractive deep cherry on the nose; wonderful expression of Pinot singing in the flavours – a bit sappy, which I like – quite deep And the concentration appears very good for such young vines; attractive finish with the lingering fruit. Didn’t find much oak showing in this wine – possibly chose to use more older barrels. Also it seems evident that these wines need a few years in bottle to round into good drinking form. Based upon this wine the Upper Terrace would seem to be a good source for Pinot Noir.

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