As with last year’s communiqué, we hope you are eagerly awaiting the release of our most recent vintage, the 2008 Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards & Winery Pinot Noir and our white table wine, “Cala d’Or.”

News from the Vineyard

First off, we would like to thank you for your continued support and for making last year’s vintage another huge success!

For the fifth year, we entered our Pinot Noir in some of the major wine competitions, earning a “Bronze Medal” at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition for our 2008 “Le Terre Foss” Pinot Noir and “Bronze Medals” at the San Francisco International Wine Competition for both the 2008 “777” and “Le Terre Foss” Pinot Noirs. With over 4,500 wines entered in each of these wine competitions, it was a real honor to be a winner again!

Together with all of the past medals and awards we’ve garnered in our brief history, which started with our first vintage in 2003, including platinum, double gold, gold and silver, we are indeed, in rare company, especially for a winery that’s relatively new to the wine scene.

Our philosophy of producing Top Rated Pinot Noirs through meticulous vineyard and winery practices will only continue into the future, as we’ve promised all along!

Here is a brief update on the exceptional 2008 vintage:

The 2008 Vintage Wines

We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. The best way to introduce the 2008 vintage wines is to quote a few words from the Wine Spectator magazine regarding their take on the 2008 Oregon vintage, as published in the August

31, 2010 issue, the Spectator noted in an article by Harvey Steiman, that the 2008s, in his opinion, are “Oregon’s best vintage yet.” And, in an earlier article, that “when the stars align, as in 2008, it can result in that perfect vintage Oregon vintners dream about.”

While nothing technically speaking can be perfect, Oregon has definitely hit a grand slam with the 2008s!

Further opining on the 2008s, the Wine Spectator rated the 2008 vintage in Oregon a 95-100 (on the WS 100 point scale), calling the overall vintage a “perfect balance of light textures and rich, vivid flavors.” The Wine Spectator has never rated any other Oregon vintage so high.

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, meaning all of the grapes that go into our wines come from our own vineyard. Even though we sell fruit to several other highly-rated wineries in Oregon for use in their own blends and in some cases their “Elkhorn Ridge” designated bottlings, we take the 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.

Once again, we will make public the Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards & Winery “Cala d’Or.” This white wine, produced in extremely small quantities, is a blend of 58% Pinot Blanc and 42% Pinot Gris, all from Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards estate grown fruit.

The 2008 Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards & Winery “Le Terre Foss” Pinot Noir

The 2008 “Le Terre Foss” is a complex blend of 25% Dijon Clone 113, 114, 115 and Pommard, and 75% Dijon Clone 777. It exhibits a deep, dark burgundy color, a little more feminine in character than the “777,” as it is marked with accents of 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. 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. 240 cases were produced at an alcohol level of 13.2%.

The 2008 Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards & Winery “777” Pinot Noir

Unlike the “Le Terre Foss,” the 2008 Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards & Winery “777” Pinot Noir is noted for its deep black fruit and minerally undertones. Black cherries, blackberries, black currants and a plumy note characterize this wine. The “777” is a joyful mouthful of lovely Pinot Noir, further distinguished with an extra long finish, a slight touch of chocolate and excellent balance throughout. More full-bodied, and fruit driven than the “Le Terre Foss,” this wine is vibrant, sophisticated and everything we had hoped it would be. Drink now through 2015, Alcohol 12.9%. 270 cases produced.

In summary, both the 2008 Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards & Winery “777” and the “Le Terre Foss” Pinot Noir, share a commonality of 100% estate grown fruit, excellent acid balance, delicate tannins and a core of juicy fruit flavors. They are never manipulated and show elegance, finesse, beautiful structure and superb breeding. Both were aged for 12 months in equal amounts of new, one 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. They all exhibit earthy and spicy fresh fruit flavors, which are beautifully integrated and always show a great deal of finesse that only comes from cool climate viticulture that is Oregon! And, that’s Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards & Winery!

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

The 2008 Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards & Winery “Cala d’Or”

The 2008 Elkhorn Ridge Vineyards & Winery “Cala d’Or,” as mentioned above, is a blend of 58% Pinot Blanc and a 42% 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 supple structure and medium finish. This is a multi-purpose white wine, which integrates extremely well with food, as well as being an excellent aperitif. Quantities of this wine are extremely limited as only 23 cases were produced. The alcohol level is 13.7%.

Other Items of Interest

• As I’ve said before, 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. It’s best when made in frustratingly small quantities, from small plots of land.

• Our current distribution has been expanded to include some of the major destination resorts in the USA like Sun Valley, ID; Jackson Hole, WY; Antigua, WI and the Caribbean, but also to some of the preeminent capitals of gastronomy in the world, including restaurants in Spain, Italy, Hong Kong and Toronto, not to mention Las Vegas, New York, Miami, Southern California, Connecticut and Chicago.

In Closing

Again, we thank you for your continued support and patronage and we’re confident that you’ll enjoy our 2008 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