When Judy and Phil Mickelson planted this vineyard in the Eola Hills, they had a vision, but I don’t think they could possibly have known what amazing wine would come from this site. It’s a beautiful site, to be sure. When I stand in the Dijon 114 block atop their vineyard, I am humbled. At 450-foot elevation, you’re enveloped in gorgeous pastoral peace with the spectacular coastal range to the west, just a slight wind, and then maybe a hawk screeching overhead. It literally takes my breath away. Four acres are planted in Dijon 667 down close to the barn. These give the wine its luscious, juicy mid-palate, tons of purple-y floral flavors and round, ripe black cherry. As you go a little deeper, a dusty, dark chocolate flavor comes forward. I often see these flavors in other Eola Hills vineyards but nowhere do I see the same richness and weight as in the fruit from Daffodil – it’s so pretty it makes me think of cashmere. The acidity is perfectly balanced, you wouldn’t even know it’s there but for the tell-tale sign of how well this wine pairs with almost any meal. Can you tell I am a big fan of Daffodil Hill?
2007 Vintage Report
What a year! If you remember the weather in 2007 you'll remember one thing - rain. The spring wasn't too bad, and we actually had a pretty good set. But we had several unseasonably cool and rainy weeks throughout the summer and early fall. Followed by buckets and buckets of rain in October.
Luckily we were able to get some of our fruit for sparkling in before the end of September, and a little bit of Cabernet from Klipsun Vineyard in Eastern Washing (we put it in our port). Other than that, we just had to hold tight. It was brutal because the fruit wasn't ripe, and the rain just kept coming. We were dreaming of arks and keeping our fingers crossed that it would eventually stop.
We gambled, and sure enough, we won. The sun came out on the 23rd of October and we had gorgeous wetehr till the end of the month. We gave things a few days to dry out and sweeten up, and bam, we went out and picked it all. Somehow we survived, and actually prodcued some incredible wines, in spite of it all. Welcome to Oregon.
At R. Stuart & Co. we hang our hat on blended Pinot noirs. The Big Fire Pinot and the Autograph are really the cornerstones of what we do.
Having said that, it’s still lots of fun to make single vineyard Pinot noirs. In 2007 I made six of them. All in small lots – just about 100 cases each – and all are unfined and unfiltered. We age them each for about 10 months in a combination of new to 5 year old French oak.
Taste and explore these wines for yourself. Watching them unfold over the years is a fascinating and delicious pastime – I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
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