Ridgecrest Old Vine Estate Gamay Noir 2019 (750ml)

100% Gamay Noir
ABV - 12.4% | TA - 7.3 g/L | pH - 3.22
AGING - 10 months 7% New & 93% Neutral French oak barrels
Clones - 221, 282 & 284
Production - 369 cases
Release - November 2020
Enjoy - Now - 2032

Vintage Notes
2019 was an old school Willamette Valley Harvest: watching weather reports, valuing coffee over beer, charging bird cannon batteries, and consoling old friends newly moved to Oregon from California. Chats, waiting to offload an ancient truck’s fruit, were punctuated by “cool growing season, early rains, hang time, sugar, birds, electric sunset, botrytis, more birds, sunny days are overrated anyway...”

Despite an old-school vintage, the concentration, depth of flavor, color and structure of recent years all seem to be there. And the old is new again!

About the Vineyards 
Ridgecrest Vineyards is dry-farmed sustainably according to LIVE (Low Input Viticulture & Enology) standards.

Established - 1980 | Planted - 1982 - current
Elevation - 480 - 690ft | Acreage - 120 total | 41 planted

Of those planted acres, only 2.5 are Gamay Noir, including 1 acre planted in 2019 and 1.5 acres of own-rooted vines planted in 1985, the oldest in the Willamette Valley.

Winemaker’s Notes
Our old vine Gamay gave us a lot of love in 2019, with an abundant harvest and more “traditional” Oregon vintage characteristics, brought on with a few spurts of rain and cooler days near the end of ripening, to show the traditional cool-climate of the Willamette Valley. This Gamay reflects the elegance and power from Ribbon Ridge, and a profile that Cru Beaujolais lovers will appreciate. The wine has a medium-garnet color with aromatics of green peppercorn staccato, spicy tobacco, cedar, and dried cherry accents, adding depth to a more persistent black cherry and chocolate core. Next, we envision biting a fresh, ripe, dusty plum, sensing the velvety sweet flesh of the fruit, and the clean, bright finish, accented with acid that is crisp and precise. Best served slightly chilled with your favorite wood fired pizza or grilled meats, or around the Thanksgiving table as a perfect complement to turkey and all the fixins.

Tech Sheet