2017 Zenith Vineyard Pinot Noir
Eola-Amity Hills AVA
Tasting Notes
Fermented with 33% whole cluster (including stems).
"Rich dark plums and some foresty and earthy notes abound with a wealth of flesh and smooth-grained tannins on the palate. A rich finish." 93 points - James Suckling
About Zenith Vineyard
Founded in 2002 by Tim and Kari Ramey, Zenith Vineyard is an 83-acre vineyard located in the heart of the Eola-Amity Hills, adjacent to the historic St. Innocent Vineyard. It is a beautiful site expressing the area's unique terroir, featuring silty sedimentary soils laid down by the Missoula floods over 14,000 years ago. The Ramey’s commitment to sustainable practices and respect for the land helps to produce outstanding grapes each and every year.
The 2017 Vintage
2017 brought us back to what we consider a classic, cool-climate Oregon vintage, a year when our decades of experience paid off. Wet spring weather led to a more typical growing season compared with the past three vintages, all unusually hot. The summer of 2017 was warm and dry, leading to excellent flavor development in the fruit, but we thinned the crop considerably to ensure concentration and ripeness. Harvest was staggered because of the October rains, which meant long days for our crew during the windows of sun. 2017 wasn’t an easy year to farm, but the fresh, fully developed flavors of the vintage make it worth the hard work.