As with last year’s communiqué, we hope you are eagerly awaiting the release of our most recent vintage, the 2006 Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards & Winery Pinot Noir and our new white table wine, Cala d’Or.

News from the Vineyard

First off, let us say thanks to all of you for your continuing support and for making last year’s vintage another huge success! The fact is that our entire production of both 2005s are again, TOTALLY SOLD OUT! That makes this the third year in a row that the previous year’s vintage has sold out, before the release of the next one.

As you might recall, last year was the first year that we entered our Pinot Noir in a major wine competition, earning a “Three Star” rating by Decanter Magazine for our 2004 “777” Pinot Noir.

This year we again took the big step and entered the biggest, most comprehensive wine competition in the world, the London International Wine & Spirits Festival. Out of nearly 8,000 wines submitted from all over the world, the 2005 “777” was awarded a “Bronze Medal,” which was a great honor.

If the Bronze were not enough, we also entered the biggest wine competition in the United States, the San Francisco International Wine Competition and in our most prestigious award to date, we received a “Double Gold Medal Best of Class” for the same wine! WOW! What more can be said?

It would be obvious to the most casual observer, that all of the intense effort we have put into producing one of the top rated Pinot Noirs in the world, has paid off quite handsomely!

Our philosophy of producing top rated Pinot Noirs, through meticulous vineyard and winery practices will only continue into the future! We’ve really arrived!

Additionally, we just concluded another fabulous harvest, which was marked by fairly large yields and big ripe fruit. The 2007 should be another stellar vintage for Oregon’s Willamette Valley, as a great fruit set in the spring and perfect fall weather gave us knockout flavor profiles, with rich textures and luscious fruit, and near perfect chemistry. But, enough for things to come, lets get to our new releases, the 2006s.

The 2006 Vintage Wines

As has been proven, time and time again, the number one component from which all great wines are made, is fruit! If you don’t have great grapes, you can’t produce great wine! Fortunately, Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards & Winery has control of the raw material and is 100% Estate Bottled, which means that all of the grapes that go into our wines come from our own vineyard. Even though we sell fruit to three other highly rated wineries in Oregon for use in their own blends, we get first pick of the vineyard blocks and clones from which our grapes come.

This year we are again releasing two distinct Pinot Noir bottlings. As in years past, we are producing our Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards & Winery “Le Terre Foss” Pinot Noir and the Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards & Winery “777” Pinot Noir.

Additionally, we will be releasing a new bottling that we refer to as Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards & Winery “Cala d’Or.” This new white wine, produced in extremely small quantities, is a blend of 33% Pinot Blanc and 67% Pinot Gris, all from the Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards estate grown fruit.

The 2006 Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards & Winery “Le Terre Foss” Pinot Noir

The 2006 “Le Terre Foss” is a complex blend of 14% Dijon Clone 113, 114, 115 and Pommard, and 86% Dijon Clone 777. It exhibits a deep, dark burgundy color, a little more feminine in character than the “777,” it is marked with accents red cherry, strawberry and raspberry fruit. Medium bodied, with excellent mid-palate structure and a subtle white pepper and earthy note, this wine has a long and satiny finish, which goes on and on. Delicate and refined tannins with spice notes, round out its trade mark Pinot Noir character. The “Le Terre Foss” is quite approachable now, but will continue to reward those who can properly cellar it over the next four to five years. 200 cases were produced at an alcohol level of 13.7%.

The 2006 Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards & Winery “777” Pinot Noir

Unlike the “Le Terre Foss,” the 2006 Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards & Winery “777” Pinot Noir is noted for its deep black fruit and minerally undertones. Black cherries, blackberries, black currants, a plumy note characterize this wine.  The “777,” is a joyful mouthful of lovely Pinot Noir, which is further distinguished with an extra long finish, a slight touch of chocolate and excellent balance throughout. Slightly more full-bodied, but never heavy, and more fruit driven than the “Le Terre Foss,” this wine is vibrant and sophisticated and is turning out to be everything we had hoped it would be! Drink now through 2011. Alcohol 14.1%. 300 cases produced.

In summary, both the 2006 Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards & Winery “777” and the “Le Terre Foss” Pinot Noir, share a commonality of 100% estate grown fruit, excellent acid balance and delicate tannins and a core of juicy fruit flavors. They are never manipulated and show elegance, finesse, beautiful structure and superb breeding!  They were both aged for 12 and 14 months respectively, in equal amounts of new, one year and two year old French oak cooperage; the finest French oak barrels available.

We live in a world of mass production, but these wines are hand crafted, unique in character and are produced to the utmost of standards.

These are real winners, again, and we’re sure that even more accolades and awards will be forthcoming!

The 2006 Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards & Winery “Cala d’Or”

Our first venture into the white wine arena, the 2006 Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards & Winery “Cala d’Or,” as mentioned above, is a blend of 33% Pinot Blanc and a 67% Pinot Gris, all estate grown. 100% stainless steel fermented to dryness, this wine shows a very nice balance of fruit, with notes of pears, white peaches and tropical fruits, all showing through quite nicely.  The “Cala d’Or” is a medium bodied wine with a lively structure and medium finish. This is a multi-purpose white wine, which will integrate extremely well with food, as well as being an excellent aperitif. Quantities of this wine are extremely limited as only 25 cases were produced! The alcohol level is 14.1%. This wine is ONLY available to our mailing list customers and is bottled with an innovative glass-top closure!

Other Items of Note for the Wine Aficionado

A few more wine related items of interest:

• Americans are drinking more wine than ever. For the first time last year, wine consumption has outpaced beer as Americans #1 alcoholic beverage and wineries that produce less than one million cases (that’s us), have led the U.S. market. Smaller, is better!
• The United States will be the world’s number one wine consuming nation, surpassing both France and Italy, by 2010, so predicts the Wine Market Council and Vinexpo!
• Pinot Noir is a varietal of “place.” It doesn’t grow just anywhere, it’s a cool climate grape, it’s fragile and it responds best to a very non-interventionist approach to winemaking. No wine changes more from grape to bottle than Pinot Noir and it is sublime and sensuous when everything goes right and it’s best when made in frustratingly small quantities, from small plots of land. Sound familiar? Sounds like Elkhorn Ridge! The pleasures always seem to justify the search!

In Closing

Again, we thank you for your continued support and patronage and we’re confident that you’ll enjoy our 2005 vintage offerings.

Enclosed is our current offering circular and we encourage you to submit your orders on a timely basis to avoid being disappointed by the scarcity of our production. Remember, our wines are sold on a first come, first serve basis and after our distributors acquire their allocations, there’s not much left.

Do something good for yourself, drink more Elkhorn Ridge!

In Pinot veritas!

The Foss Family