Scott W
Posts: 955
Joined: 11/20/2012
From: Sherman Oaks Ca
Status: offline
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ORIGINAL: BRR
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ORIGINAL: CranBurgundy
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ORIGINAL: BRR
While this doesn't fit the thread, necessarily, based on the OP, it's germane to the few posts immediately prior to this one. Full Pull just sent out an email for the next step-up from the AF Nichols WV Pinot Noir. It's for the 2011 A.F. Nichols Pinot Noir Principio, and it's $19.99 (down from the original $40, apparently). Just thought I'd update, even though it's not under $15. Go for it, CranBurgundy!!!
Link?
Thanks!
https://fullpullwines.com/
You have to sign up to get the email offers. I'm sure if you signed up and then emailed them about the recent AF Nichols offering, they'd gladly send it your way. Here's the text from the emailed offering:
Hello friends. Back in May, we offered the first of two pre-purchased Pinot parcels from AF Nichols. That was Alex Nichols’ 2014 Willamette Valley Pinot, and it turned into one of our most popular offers of the year, and one of our most popular Pinot offers ever. I was initially planning on waiting until Anniversary Week in October to offer parcel number two, but we keep getting reorder requests for the ’14 (which sold out the week we offered it), and there’s clearly interest among our list members to check out more of Alex’s craftsmanship.
Squeaky wheels, meet grease; in the form of a Pinot Noir that began its life with a $40 tag:
2011 AF Nichols Pinot Noir Principio - $22.99 (TPU $19.99)
You may remember that these parcels came to us courtesy of one particular member of Full Pull’s Vast Network of Wine Spies (VNoWS)™ who has brought us deal after exceptional deal. He is a winemaker in his own right. Also a karaoke savant. A purveyor of meadowfoam honey. A new dad.
I’ll reprint the March 30 e-mail detailing how this deal went down:
My name is Alex Nichols. I own a small label based in Newberg, OR called A. F. Nichols producing about 1000 cases of Pinot noir each vintage. [WINE SPY] is a good friend of mine and suggested I reach out to you about sending a few samples your way. I have a couple of wines that I would love to show you and I think they would be a good fit with what you guys are doing at Full Pull.
A bit about me and my winemaking style: I started my brand in 2010, and at that point I was the youngest winemaker in the state. I started with just 125 cases and have slowly grown over to producing about 1000 cases each vintage for myself as well as a couple of small clients. I graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in Enology & Viticulture and have worked at a number of wineries in Oregon including Adelsheim, Chehalem Winery, and Argyle Winery where I am currently the Enologist.
While my background and training is more technical, my own winemaking style is more driven by intuition and taste. I don't consider myself a natural winemaker, but I suppose my practices fall in line. All of my wines are fermented with native yeasts, unfined, unfiltered, and have minimal sulfite additions. I include whole clusters in all of my ferments ranging from 10-50%. All of my ferments are punched down by hand and commonly by foot, and my wines rarely see a pump before bottling. I try to craft wines that reflect the vineyard and vintage, and I like being able to sell them for a reasonable price. Please let me know if you are interested and I will make sure I can get some samples sent your way.
On April 12, we cracked the samples and were blown away by the quality for the price being offered. I reached out to our spy, to inquire further about why these wines were so excellent, and here was his response (I’ll exclude the emojis): He’s the real deal. Alex has ridiculously good Pinot contracts, those that rival any premium producer. His wines show restraint over extraction, so I’ve always been a fan. Plus they’re often well-priced, below market average.
On April 17, I made Alex an offer to buy out every single bottle of both wines we tasted.
On April 27, the wine arrived safely in our warehouse.
On May 19, we sent our first Nichols offer, and as I said, the plan was an October offer for the second, but you’re impatient, I’m impatient, we’re all impatient for more well-priced Pinot.
Principio is the flagship wine for AF Nichols, a selection of the finest barrels from any vintage. In 2011 it was a four-barrel lot, and three of those barrels came from the old vines at Woodhall Vineyard, a 1977 site that doubles as Oregon State University’s research vineyard. Alex cut his winemaking teeth as a research assistant at OSU, which explains his access to this old-vine site. Here’s how he describes the vineyard: It’s a fantastic site nestled into the foothills of the coast range; south facing, mid-elevation, volcanic soils and own-rooted Pinot noir from the 70s.
The wine was done with about 8% whole clusters and 25% new oak, and it clocks in at 13% listed alc. It kicks off with an evocative, expressive nose: cherries, dried strawberries, rose petals, and loamy earth. The 2011 vintage, as you may remember, was a cool one across the PacNW, and this is true to vintage, offering a core of crushed-rock minerality and bright acidity. I’m not sure if I’d guess old-world or new-world if this was poured blind for me.
It’s impressive to see Alex take a vintage like 2014 and make a lovely down-the-middle Oregon Pinot, and then take a vintage like 2011 and make something with more Burgundian sensibilities. It means he’s not trying to force any house style on the wines; instead he’s using these wines as a vehicle to honestly express a snapshot in time, a single season. To be clear, though: I wouldn’t call this wine austere; there is succulent fruit richness that emerges on the mid-palate and carries through the long finish. That’s why ultimately I think I’d place this wine in the new-world, but it’s a tweener for sure, and it’s in a lovely drinking window, now six years past vintage. You could put a light chill on it and drink it during our remaining summer deck days, or just wait for autumn and all the mushroomy goodness a wine like this was born to pair with.
To order this wine, click here
Please limit order requests to 12 bottles, and we’ll do our best to fulfill all requests. The wine is in the warehouse and ready for immediate pickup or shipping during the next temperature-appropriate shipping window.
Regards,
Team Full Pull®
Ordered some of this, thanks for the link. Not sure when Full Pull will deliver tho? Also tried the Seaside and Cran was right, give it a little air and it's a very acceptable daily drinker. Thanks guys!
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“Freedom is something that dies unless it's used” Hunter S Thompson
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