Four Graces Pinot Blanc 2006
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2019-
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Wilfred
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Named for the four daughters of the founders, The Four Graces are sustainably farmed, well-tended vineyards with the goal of producing rich, elegant, delicious, and complex wines.
The Black family purchased an existing vineyard in the Dundee Hills of the Willamette Valley in 2003 as a family retreat. They immediately began turning the estate into a sustainably farmed, well-tended vineyard with the goal of producing rich, elegant, delicious and complex wines.
That same year, The Four Graces was founded. The winery is named in honor of the Black’s four daughters.
In 2005 the Black’s purchased the Doe Ridge property in Yamhill-Carlton to continue the growth of the brand. They chose a site in a differing appellation to add complexity and variety.
This vineyard has been turned into one of the largest experiments of its kind with forty acres farmed sustainably through the L.I.V.E (low impact viticulture and enology) program.
Today,The Four Graces is owned by Bill Foley and produces Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Blanc renowned nationally and internationally for their balance, elegance, complexity, and richness. The wines are crafted under the guidance of Marc Myer’s who has been in the industry since 2008 and believes both the Dundee and Yamhill-Carlton estates are stunning at first glance and he can’t wait to work with the fruit that comes off of these properties.
Approachable, aromatic and pleasantly plush on the palate, Pinot Blanc is a white grape variety most associated with the Alsace region of France. Although its heritage is Burgundian, today it is rarely found there and instead thrives throughout central Europe, namely Germany and Austria, where it is known as Weissburgunder and Alto Adige where it is called Pinot Bianco. Interestingly, Pinot Blanc was born out of a mutation of the pink-skinned Pinot Gris. Somm Secret—Chardonnay fans looking to try something new would benefit from giving Pinot Blanc a try.
Home of the first Pinot noir vineyard of the Willamette Valley, planted by David Lett of Eyrie Vineyard in 1966, today the Dundee Hills AVA remains the most densely planted AVA in the valley (and state). To its north sits the Chehalem Valley and to its south, runs the Willamette River. Within the region’s 12,500 acres, about 1,700 are planted to vine on predominantly basalt-based, volcanic, Jory soil.