Winemaker Notes
Located in Eola-Amity Hills AVA, Canary Hill Vineyard is on volcanic based parent material at 450-550 ft elevation on an East inclination. This wine is fruit focused. Juicy fruits of boysenberry and black cherry dance with tropical hints of guava and orange peel for a lively, luscious mouthfeel and a silken finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This is one of a pair of Eola-Amity Hill vineyards owned by Ken Wright. Its all-Pommard fruit dates back to the early 1980s, and brings deep, saturated flavors of blood oranges, juicy raspberries and black cherries. The volcanic soils add a suggestion of earth and saline minerality to this fresh and delicious effort. —
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Wine Spectator
Harmonious, offering tiers of raspberry, sassafras and savory tea flavors that take on richness and complexity on the long, layered finish. Drink now through 2029.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: From the Bourbon capital in Kentucky to the Willamette Valley via Monterey County, vintner Ken Wright firmly established himself as one of Pinot Noir's greatest champions. His winery currently produces 13 single vineyard bottlings of that finicky grape variety. The 2017 Ken Wright Canary Hill Pinot Noir is pure and elegant. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits bright red fruit and attractive minerality in its aromas and flavors. Pair it with grilled Loch Duart salmon. (Tasted: February 12, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Running north to south, adjacent to the Willamette River, the Eola-Amity Hills AVA has shallow and well-drained soils created from ancient lava flows (called Jory), marine sediments, rocks and alluvial deposits. These soils force vine roots to dig deep, producing small grapes with great concentration.
Like in the McMinnville sub-AVA, cold Pacific air streams in via the Van Duzer Corridor and assists the maintenance of higher acidity in its grapes. This great concentration, combined with marked acidity, give the Eola-Amity Hills wines—namely Pinot noir—their distinct character. While the region covers 40,000 acres, no more than 1,400 acres are covered in vine.