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Colene Clemens Dopp Creek Pinot Noir 2021 (750ml)
Price: $37.99
Sale Price: $29.95
...clean, balanced, and well-structured with a core of bright fruit and a round, supple mouthfeel.
| Producer | Colene Clemens Dopp Creek Pinot Noir |
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| Country | United States |
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| Region | Oregon |
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| Subregion | Chehalem Mountains, Willamette Valley |
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| Varietal | 100% Pinot Noir |
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| Vintage | 2021 |
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| Sku | 27601 |
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| Size | 750ml |
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Rated 93 Points by James Suckling
A juicy and tasty pinot with aromas of dark cherries, sliced mushrooms, chocolate strawberries, cardamom and nutmeg. Medium-bodied, creamy and well-balanced, with fine-grained tannins and a bright finish. Drink now or hold.
Colene Clemens Dopp Creek Pinot Noir 2021
Chehalem Mountains, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Vintage: 2021
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Appellation: Chehelem Mountains
Alcohol: 14.1%
Winemaker Notes
Dopp Creek represents the broadest combined expression of our Estate, and embodies our most approachable and versatile wine. The 2021 Dopp Creek opens with pretty aromas of rich red fruit and savory herbs, which carry through on the palate. The wine is clean, balanced, and well-structured with a core of bright fruit and a round, supple mouthfeel. It finishes with a hint of pomegranate, rosemary, and warm spice.
Winemaking
The 2021 growing season was another warm and dry one, but certainly not the warmest of recent memory. Harvest began on September 13 and continued through the 17, after which we took almost a week off due to a small shot of rain, and resumed picking the 23 through the 26. Once in the winery, the fruit was 100% destemmed into small stainless steel tanks and began a 4 - 5 day cold soak. Following this, tanks were gently warmed, and fermentation by indigenous yeast began and continued for 10-14 days.
Throughout primary fermentation, the tanks were gently punched down by hand twice daily. Once fermentation was complete, the wine remained in tank for 5-7 days of extended maceration, after which it was drained and the skins and seeds went to press very gently to procure the remaining juice. Both the free-run juice and pressed juice went directly to barrel without settling. After aging for 11 months in 32% new, 20% 1 year, 29% 2 year, 18% 3 year, and 4% 4 year old French oak barrels, the wine was blended in September and bottled in December of 2022.
Chehelem Mountains AVA
With such diversity of elevations, soils and aspects, this region offers wines of great complexity and intrigue. The cool climate and endless combinations of soils and elevations produce wines with defined structure, offering notes of strawberries and cherries in cooler vintages and darker fruit in riper years. The Chehalem Mountains’ dramatic terrain and diverse soils make extremely complex and delicious wines.
Colene Clemens Dopp Creek Pinot Noir Description
Colene Clemens Vineyards
Located where the Chehalem Mountains converge with Ribbon Ridge, our 122-acre property was acquired in 2005 and first planted in 2006. With an elevation of 350 to 650 feet, this rocky, south-facing hillside is composed of marine sedimentary and volcanic basalt soils. Completely dry-farmed, our 62-acre vineyard consists of five different clones: Wädenswil, Pommard, Dijon 115, Dijon 114, Dijon 667, and Dijon 777.
Our farming practices can best be described as sustainable, and we utilize organic farming whenever possible. We are firm believers in taking care of our soil, practicing crop reduction for low yields, and hand harvesting our fruit at its optimal physiological ripeness.
Our Story
My name is Joe Stark. My wife Vicki and I own Colene Clemens Vineyards and Winery which we named in honor of Vicki's mother. I grew up in Gaston and met Vicki, a Portland native, when she took the position of librarian at Gaston High School. A chance meeting led to a relationship that has lasted more than forty years now. We have a wonderful son, Aaron, a beautiful daughter, Adriane Jetton, two perfect grandchildren, Max and Margo, and their father, Eric, the best son-in-law in the world.
While growing up, I had worked in my father's small cabinet shop but had always wanted to have my own business. In 1980 Vicki and I were finally able to make that happen and with time, hard work and good fortune that business grew and prospered. Over the ensuing years we were privileged to be able to develop an appreciation for fine wines, especially Pinot Noir. Of course no one could have imagined when we first met that Oregon's northern Willamette Valley would prove to be some of the world's premier property for growing first-class Pinot Noir - right in our own back yard. As we acquired the means, it seemed a natural progression that we would someday develop our own vineyard and winery with the hopes of creating something of natural lasting beauty and value that we could leave to our family.
It took many years of searching for the perfect place to pursue this dream. A very old abandoned farmstead and orchard that had lain fallow for many years would be that place. Possessing ideal aspect (south facing), elevations (350ft to 650 ft) and an array of high quality, proven Pinot Noir soils, not to mention fantastic views, no place could have been better. Even more implausible to us, our vineyard is not two miles from the little rental home where we lived when our first child, Aaron, was born.
From the beginning it has been our goal to do everything possible to make the very best Pinot Noir that we can. No compromise has been made in vineyard preparation, farming practices and wine making. Steve Goff, our gifted and dedicated winemaker and vineyard manager, has utilized the most diligent, time-tested and non-invasive protocols in both the vineyard and winery to further this goal.
Vicki and I, along with Steve and all the others involved with Colene Clemens Vineyards and Winery, look forward to many years in pursuit of the "perfect" Pinot Noir - that illusory, if unattainable, holy grail of winemaking. Salud!
