Winegrowers Club

Dear Winegrowers Club Members,

Always the anchor of our fall release is the flagship Mineral Springs Ranch Pinot Noir. This 2022 vintage is a miraculous wine fashioned from one of the most relentlessly challenging seasons in memory! The 2022 growing season in the Willamette Valley was marked by sheer unpredictability and constant stress, starting with a mild winter and transitioning into a surprisingly warm and dry March that prompted an early bud break. However, the season's promising start was abruptly challenged by a severe frost in mid-April, an event so rare it might be called once-in-a-lifetime. This frost significantly damaged emerging buds, delaying vine growth by three to four weeks.

Despite the setback, the resilience of the vines was evident as they rebounded with vigorous secondary buds. Fortunately, Pinot Noir has relatively fruitful secondary buds, so all was not lost in terms of potential crop yield. The arrival of warm, wet weather in June brought record summer rainfall, which challenged our organic mildew prevention regime like never before. But late budding meant flowering in warmer months, and these ideal flowering conditions helped set a quite reasonable crop. The only catch was we were nearly a month later than normal!  Although summer was consistently warm and moderate, by fall it was still apparent the vines required additional time to achieve full ripeness. September, our normal harvest month, passed with no activity.

Autumn's weather is notoriously unpredictable in the Pacific Northwest, but we breathed a collective sigh of relief when October brought a fortuitous "second summer" which continued well into the month, making October ‘22 the warmest and driest on record, allowing us to conclude the harrowing harvest in celebratory style.

The result of this nail-biting season is a Pinot Noir that is both vibrant and nervy, yet lush and structured. It presents irresistible aromas of red plum and wild cherries, underpinned by a hint of chalk and dried leaves. The palate sings with flavors of boysenberry, black plum, and delicate raspberry, with nuanced secondary notes of cherry pit and plum skin. This wine perfectly encapsulates the tension between structure and grace. The only regret? That there isn't more of it.

We’ve always had a quiet confidence in the quality of our Chardonnay as evidenced in our marvelous Blanc de Blancs Sparkling wines which date to our very first vintage in 1997. This 2017 vintage continues the tradition of refinement in technique and commitment to both farming and aging that is so critical to cultivating the precious nuances of traditional bottle-fermented wines.

The 2017 Mineral Springs Blanc de Blancs, crafted from biodynamically farmed Chardonnay grown at Mineral Springs Vineyard, stands out with distinctive character—character of place and vine. Like all our wines, this Sparkling wine’s essence is rooted in a commitment to farming first so that style never glosses over substance.

Patiently aged for six years on yeast, it was hand-disgorged in January of this year. The warm, bountiful conditions of the 2017 vintage are evident as you taste both fruit and mineral notes, clear signatures of place. The wine maintains remarkable freshness, and features flavors of fresh biscuit dough, white peach, and melon, enhanced by subtler notes of clover honey and wild apple. Picking at optimum ripeness contributed significant body to the wine, as evidenced by a modest dosage of only 3g/L to help balance its bright acidity. Blanc de Blancs has been a long-standing tribute to the quality of our Chardonnay and the deserving recognition of Willamette Valley Sparkling wine. Just 300 cases were bottled.

Speaking of Chardonnay, we are truly delighted to debut our first ever vineyard-designated Mineral Springs Chardonnay, vintage 2021. Like our 'White Label' Pinot Noir, this 'White Label' Chardonnay will only be bottled in exceptional vintages. The wine has been years in the making, starting with planting rare heirloom clones, followed by extended barrel aging and bottle maturation so by the time it reaches your doorstep, it’s in the perfect stage of evolution. It’s a wine of true character of place and genuine intrigue. 

This wine is crafted from Heirloom clones that offer important characteristics for success both in viticulture and winemaking. The small loose clusters are low yielding offering more intensity of flavor and sense of identity. The loose clusters shed rain and dry quickly, naturally avoiding rot and fungus that hamper heavier producing clones. While the yield may be meager, the results are anything but.

In one of Winemaker Chris Fladwood’s signature examples of restraint and respect for his fruit, after customary fermentations in French oak, the wine is assembled from selected barrels and then returned to small stainless-steel vessels to avoid burdensome oak contact. It was then allowed to leisurely reach the perfect point of evolution before bottling.

This wine exhibits a nervy character with laser-focused minerality, adding tension to the seamless texture that envelopes the palate. The flavors suggest Meyer lemon and Honeydew melon, accented by a ribbon of sea salt and Anjou pear. The finish is electric, hinting at savory herbs and just a touch of quince honey. This will always be a rare and precious bottling, offered first to our valued club members who enjoy priority access.

Sharing our wines and the stories behind them with you is truly one of our greatest joys. We are grateful for your patronage and engagement, and for every bottle we've shared over the years. If you have any questions or need assistance with your order, please don't hesitate to connect with us. We are available by phone, text, or email, seven days a week.

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