Duck Pond Syrah 1999
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Duck Pond Cellars, now a part of the Great Oregon Wine Co., was established out of a love for fine wine and an innate appreciation for the farm-to-table culture and flavors of Oregon. Every bottle of wine crafted honors what it means to be a true Pacific Northwesterner and delivers its own belief that wine should be enjoyed as it was meant to be – celebrating life with friends and family around a bountiful table.
Each of the wines are tested by the Clean Label Project to ensure the lowest levels of environmental and industrial contaminants and toxins such as heavy metals. This starts in the vineyards and the lifelong friends and farmers chosen to partner with and, also controlled in the cellar and on the bottling line with great care. As innovators in the Oregon wine industry, this is the only winery to be certified pesticide-free by the federal government and were among the first commercial vineyards in Oregon to remove glyphosate from their wines.
These world-class wines are made under the watchful eye of Master Sommelier Brett Zimmerman in small, 1.5-ton batches that allow them to put more care and attention into each bottle.
Every bottle sold allows The Great Oregon Wine Company to give back to the community through a broad range of charitable causes including The Humane Society of the United States, the Wetlands Conservancy and the Life Time Foundation.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
One of Pinot Noir's most successful New World outposts, the Willamette Valley is the largest and most important AVA in Oregon. With a continental climate moderated by the influence of the Pacific Ocean, it is perfect for cool-climate viticulture and the production of elegant wines.
Mountain ranges bordering three sides of the valley, particularly the Chehalem Mountains, provide the option for higher-elevation vineyard sites.
The valley's three prominent soil types (volcanic, sedimentary and silty, loess) make it unique and create significant differences in wine styles among its vineyards and sub-AVAs. The iron-rich, basalt-based, Jory volcanic soils found commonly in the Dundee Hills are rich in clay and hold water well; the chalky, sedimentary soils of Ribbon Ridge, Yamhill-Carlton and McMinnville encourage complex root systems as vines struggle to search for water and minerals. In the most southern stretch of the Willamette, the Eola-Amity Hills sub-AVA soils are mixed, shallow and well-drained. The Hills' close proximity to the Van Duzer Corridor (which became its own appellation as of 2019) also creates grapes with great concentration and firm acidity, leading to wines that perfectly express both power and grace.
Though Pinot noir enjoys the limelight here, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay also thrive in the Willamette. Increasing curiosity has risen recently in the potential of others like Grüner Veltliner, Chenin Blanc and Gamay.