Nysa Vineyard* is located in the Dundee Hills of Oregon's Willamette Valley next to Archery Summit and Domaine Drouhin Oregon. It was planted in 1990 in the fashionable new dense planting style of 2400 vines per acre, compared to 540 vines per acre in a typical older Oregon vineyard. It provides Pinot noir to Ken Wright Cellars and Panther Creek as well as Bethel Heights.
The 2000 vintage: 2000 followed the typical pattern for a good Oregon vintage. Bloom in mid-June under sunny skies led to even fruit development and a large crop that had to be thinned aggressively. Sunny dry weather, not too hot, through the summer, and a shot of rain in early September kept the vines healthy through a long slow ripening period. Harvest in early October with no rain. The most unusual feature of the vintage was extraordinarily high sugars at harvest, with no loss of natural acidity.
* Whence the name Nysa? According to Lempriere's Classical Dictionary there were a number of towns named Nysa in the ancient near East . One was the original home of a Greek deity who took the name of the town and thus became Dionysius (Dio from Nysa), known for his love of wine. Another Nysa was famous for its grapevines, "which grew in such an uncommon manner that if a twig was planted in the ground in the morning, it immediately produced grapes, which were fully ripe in the evening."
2000 PINOT NOIR * NYSA VINEYARD
Harvest date: October 6, 2000
Grapes at harvest: Brix : 24., pH: 3.13, TA: 7.6 gr/liter
Barrel aged 10 months in 50% new oak
Finished wine: Alcohol 13.5 %, pH: 3.70 , TA: 5.5 gr/liter
Bottled unfiltered in September 2001
352 Cases Produced
Suggested Retail $ 30
Winemaker notes: In 2000 the fruit we received from Nysa was 75% W”denswil clone, 25% Pommard clone. Exceptionally ripe fruit and mature stems led us to ferment 30% of the fruit without destemming. Without yeast inoculation the must began to ferment spontaneously on the fifth day and completed primary fermentation without intervention. After primary fermentation, the new wine was pressed gently and barreled in 50% new barrels, part French oak and part Oregon white oak. The wine finished malolactic fermentation the following summer and was bottled unfiltered in September.
Tasting notes: "This wine is very open and appealing in its youth, showing bright juicy cherry fruit laced with spice. The large proportion of whole clusters in the fermentation accounts for the distinctive spicy cinnamon flavor and lighter color of this wine."
A printable version (pdf file) for this wine can be found here.