Raptor Ridge, “Vineyard Select” Pinot Gris on Sale

Raptor Ridge, “Vineyard Select” Pinot Gris

“Vineyard Select” is sourced from three Willamette Valley vineyards. One is the Zenith Vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills, where soils combine marine sediments and volcanic basalt and Pacific currents passing through the Van Duzer corridor are most acutely felt. Other sources are the Dion Vineyard in the Chehalem Mountains and the Logsdon Ridge vineyard, also in Eola-Amity.  

Raptor Ridge was founded in 1995 by Scott and Annie Schull, who started out on a hobby scale from their barn in Hillsboro. They cleared an old cherry orchard to create their 27-acre estate vineyard, which is planted to Pinot Noir and Grüner Veltliner (and is supplemented by fruit from contract growers). They opened their winery on the estate vineyard site in 2009.

Whole clusters of Pinot Gris grapes are “direct-pressed” to stainless steel tanks for fermentation (rather than being de-stemmed first), after which the wine spends an extended period in tank aging on its lees (spent yeasts). Malolactic fermentation is blocked, as a means of preserving crispness, but there is ample fruit concentration lending a well-rounded mouthfeel.

Deep straw-gold in the glass with a coppery tint, there are lots of juicy fruit aromas to lead off—green apple, Anjou pear, melon, lemon curd—along with hints of white flowers, loose tea, and wet stones. The palate is fleshy and nearly full-bodied, but the alcohol is modest and the finishing acidity brisk and refreshing. A great choice for simply prepared Pacific salmon or Dungeness crab.