2016 PINOT NOIR
viagem
VINEYARDs | Coelho Estate, Zeitoun, Delfina
APPELLATION | willamette valley
WINEMAKER | Chris Bertsche
HARVEST DATES | SEPTEMBER 19–october 15, 2016
BOTTLING | february 8, 2018
ALCOHOL | 13.3%
PRODUCTION | 5 cases
The Wine
Viagem, meaning “journey” in Portuguese, celebrates the fearless journey of the Coelhos in packing up their young family and moving to Oregon to plant a vineyard, the epic journey along the Oregon Trail that led to the formation of this beautiful state, and the long journey in getting approval for the proposed Van Duzer Corridor AVA. This special cuvée represents a journey through our vineyards in the northern Willamette Valley and is an equal blend of the best barrels from Delfina Vineyard (McMinnville), Zeitoun Vineyard (Eola-Amity Hills) and Coelho Estate Vineyard (Van Duzer Corridor). Delfina Vineyard is primarily planted to Dijon 115. Delfina’s 115 contributes that unmistakable bright and fresh Willamette Valley core to our wines. Zeitoun Vineyard is planted to an unknown field blend of various clones, among which we believe there is Wädenswil, Pommard and 115. Zeitoun contributes a generally plummy aspect with dark fruit and moderate tannins. Coelho Vineyard is planted to Pommard and Dijon 777 clones. The Pommard fruit gives dark cherry and mid-palate to the blend. The Dijon 777, with its small berries chock full of seeds, contributes tannic structure, a light red cherry fruit, and wonderful aroma.
We picked the fruit in each vineyard for optimal sugars, acidity, and ripeness of tannins at different dates during September and October of 2016. We fermented each wine separately (Delfina was whole-cluster fermentation and the other two were destemmed or partially destemmed). At the conclusion of malolactic fermentation, we chose a barrel from each vineyard that we felt best expressed that vineyard and that would contribute best to a food-friendly blend. After blending, we transferred the wine to one new French oak barrel and two neutral French oak barrels for the remainder of the approximately 16-month period in barrel. We bottled the wine in February 2018 without fining or filtering.
The WInery
Located in and anchoring the town of Amity since 2004, Coelho Family Wines focuses on handcrafting Pinot noir from four estate vineyards: Delfina (McMinnville), Zeitoun (Eola-Amity Hills), and Coelho and Perrydale Hills (Van Duzer Corridor). Every single-vineyard wine is crafted using a single yeast in the cellar and a single cooper for the élevage. This allows our range of Pinot noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot gris to speak for their soil and for themselves. To honor our Portuguese heritage, we also make a vintage Port-style wine from six Iberian varietals.
Learn more about Coehlo Winery
Follow: @coelho_winery
View this lot as a PDF