The aroma of warm marmalade, yellow plum, and honey is accompanied by fresh lemongrass, white lavender, and green tea. On the palate, the elegant mouthfeel spreads with flavors of dried apricot, mango, and vanilla bean. The aftertaste is a beautiful acidity and a slight sweetness and saltiness reminiscent of salted caramel. 2019 reminds me of the Oregon of the past, where Dick and Nancy Ponzi founded this wine 50 years ago. It was a vintage that made me feel the reason for coming to this place.
After a mild summer with some humidity, we entered September with dry weather. First, we started harvesting for sparkling and rosé, and then sunny and rainy weather continued, giving the grapes time to grow. The Chardonnay and Pinot Noir ripened slowly, harvested with beautiful acidity and freshness, and by late October, they had become great wines in our cellar. Elegant and with a low alcohol content, they are able to fully express the charm of the Willamette Valley in a cool year. This year required producers to make use of their experience, learning, and results, and experience was extremely important in this vintage. After sorting, we press the whole bunches without adding sulfites and let them settle for 12 hours before barrel fermentation. It was then fermented cold with indigenous yeasts in French oak (100% old barrels). 100% MLF followed by weekly stirring on the lees for the next 6 months. It was racked in the fall and transferred to older barrels for bottling in the spring of 2021. It was aged in barrels for a total of 20 months and then aged in bottle for an additional year. Dick and Nancy Ponzi moved their young family to the Willamette Valley in the late 1960s with a passion to create world-class Pinot Noir. After many visits to Burgundy and an exhaustive search for the ideal location, they purchased 20 acres on a small farm southwest of Portland, Oregon. At the time, no one thought of this place as a good place to grow Pinot Noir, but Dick and Nancy realized that the northern Willamette Valley's climate was ideal for Pinot Noir. And so, in 1970, Ponzi Vineyards was founded. Ponzi Vineyards has always strived to elevate the quality of Oregon grape growing while maintaining an unwavering commitment to the traditions of fine winemaking. This philosophy has been carried on by the second generation of the Ponzi family for over 25 years, under the leadership of President Anna Maria Ponzi and Winemaker Louisa Ponzi. The vineyards are located in the Laurelwood AVA, a new AVA permitted in 2020, located within the Chehalem Mountains AVA. The company is based in the Laurelwood District. All 130 acres of vineyards are LIVE Certified Sustainable, the world's highest standard for sustainable grape growing and winemaking. Based on the concept that "varietals must match the terroir and climate," Ponzi Vineyards continues to raise the bar in Oregon and remains at the forefront of the top winemakers in the United States. In 2021, the company was acquired by the Bollinger family, owners of Champagne House Bollinger. Anna Maria will be in charge of sales and marketing, and Louisa will continue to serve as director of cultivation and winemaking, and will continue to produce high-quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as Oregon's pioneers.