past vintages of pinot gris
2022 Pinot Gris
140 cases produced
unfined and unfiltered
$38
label-blackberry- the goats’ favorite treat!
Orange as always! We have been buying Pinot Gris from Brian and Jill O’Donnel at Belle Ponte for 6 years now and really enjoy working with this fruit! They are also in the Yamhill Carlton AVA. We fermented with skins and stems per BTF normal, giving this wine it’s color and more importantly red fruited flavors and more texture and tannin than if we pressed and just used the juice to make white wine. The resulting wine is copper in color and has some tannin and red fruited notes to it that make it absolutely delicious with seafood, particularly salmon or crab with lots of butter! We always crack open a bottle of our pinot gris when the first Dungeness crabs hit our table in the fall, I highly recommend giving it a try!
tasting notes - Inviting aromas dried cranberries and chamomile tea with a hint of fresh rolls out of the oven. The mid palate is bursting with apricot and cherry with and just enough tannin to hold the fruit into a long lingering finish that has the perfect lift of acid that calls for another sip.
scores -
92 pts — Paul Gregutt
91 pts — Wine Enthusiast
93 pts — International Wine Report
2021 Pinot Gris
140 cases produced
unfined and unfiltered
$38 (sold out)
label-snowberry from big table farm
This beautiful copper colored 'orange wine' is stunning from this warm complex vintage. We have been buying Pinot Gris from Brian and Jill O’Donnel at Belle Ponte for five years now and we couldn’t be happier! They are also in the Yamhill Carlton AVA. We fermented with skins and stems per BTF normal, giving this wine it’s color and more importantly red fruited flavors and more texture and tannin than if we pressed and just used the juice to make white wine. This wine is perfect with crab as well as lots of other seafood.
tasting notes -
Inviting aromas dried cranberries and camomile tea with a hint of fresh rolls out of the oven. The mid palate is bursting with apricot and cherry with and just enough tannin to hold the fruit into a long lingering finish that has the perfect lift of acid that calls for another sip.
scores -
93 pts — Purely Domestic Wine Report
2020 Pinot Gris
68 cases
unfined and unfiltered
$36 (sold out)
label - Assorted farm grasses, plants and weeds on the label
Orange as always! We have been buying Pinot Gris from Brian and Jill O’Donnel at Belle Ponte for four years now and we couldn’t be happier! They are also in the Yamhill Carlton AVA. We fermented with skins and stems per BTF normal, giving this wine it’s color and more importantly red fruited flavors and more texture and tannin than if we pressed and just used the juice to make white wine. It is exceptionally seafood friendly!
scores—
93 pts — Owen Bargreen
2019 Pinot Gris
133 cases
unfined and unfiltered
$32 (sold out)
label - chicory from our lower pasture
From the Rivenwood Vineyard farmed by Belle Ponte. We started buying this fruit from Brian O’Donnell in 2017 to replace Wirtz and continued to make it in the same style, fermented on the skins to make a wine that is food friendly. The resulting wine is copper in color and has some tannin and red fruited notes to it that make it absolutely delicious with seafood, particularly salmon or crab with lots of butter! We always crack open a bottle of our pinot gris when the first dungeness crabs hit our table in the fall, I highly recommend giving it a try!
scores —
93 pts— Purely Domestic Wine Report
2018 Pinot Gris
133 cases produced
unfined and unfiltered
$48 (sold out)
label - thimbleberry and fescue
This is our second year working with fruit grown by Brian O’Donnell of Belle Ponte. We were super happy with the 2017 and are equally delighted with the 2018. Fermented on the skins per usual, with just the right amount of tannins and acid and sweet fruit. I can’t wait to have this wine with a seafood meal, oysters on the half shell and Dungeness crab immediately come to mind! Bottled without fining or filtration, just like all the other wines I make.
tasting notes -
Inviting aromas of roasted peaches and warm spices leap out of this copper hued Pinot Gris. A satin texture on the palate carries flavors of apricots and dried orange peel. Spices warm the finish balanced by just enough acid to frame the wine.
scores —
93 pts — Washington Wine Blog
93 pts — Purely Domestic Wine Report
90 pts— Wine & Spirits
92 pts — Vinous
2017 Pinot Gris
130 cases
unfined and unfiltered
$48 (sold out)
label - Big Table Farm Ancient and Invasive Plants
User warning: This is not a white wine! We've made this wine in the same fashion since 2010. It is fermented on the skins and stems. This reddish/grayish grape makes a copper colored wine that explodes with fruit, body, texture and salinity. The result is a very full-bodied luscious wine with lots of fruit and structure, but the freshness of a white wine. Bone dry, malolactic complete and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Seafood, especially fattier versions, has always been an amazing accompaniment. We hope you love this wine as much as we do!
tasting notes - Inviting aromas of roasted peaches and ripe apricots rise from this sunset-hued Pinot Gris. A satin texture on the palate carries flavors of dried blossoms and herbs, stone fruit and dried orange peel.
Spices warm the finish with subtle notes of cumin and cardamom.
scores—
93 points — Washington Wine Blog
92 points — Purely Domestic Wine Report
93 points — International Wine Report
2016 Pinot Gris
125 cases
unfined and unfiltered
$48 (sold out)
label - Big Table Farm Wild Flowers
We've made this wine in the same fashion since 2010. It is fermented on the skins and stems. This reddish/grayish grape makes a copper colored wine that explodes with fruit, body, texture and salinity. The result is a very full-bodied luscious wine with lots of fruit and structure, but the freshness of a white wine. Bone dry, malolactic complete and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Seafood, especially fattier versions, has always been an amazing accompaniment. We hope you love this wine as much as we do!
scores—
91 points — International Wine Report
90 points — The Wine Advocate
2015 Pinot Gris - Wirtz Vineyard
159 cases produced
unfined and unfiltered
$48 (sold out)
label - big table farm pasture
We've made this wine in the same fashion since 2010. It is fermented on the skins and stems. This reddish/grayish grape makes an orange wine that explodes with fruit, body, texture and salinity. Seafood, especially fattier versions, has always been an amazing accompaniment. We hope you love this wine as much as we do!
tasting notes-
The nose suggests cherry and pomegranate, cinnamon, coconut, red apple, black tea. The wine coats the palate with an oily and broad texture. The tannins are very fine. The finish shows tart fruits with a lingering earth pumpkin quality and the cinnamon/clove spice.
scores—
92 points — International Wine Report
90 points — Josh Raynolds — Vinous
90 points — Wine Spectator
2014 Pinot Gris - Wirtz Vineyard
162 cases produced
unfined and unfiltered
$48 (sold out)
label - erosion control plants from around BTF
We've made this wine in the same fashion since 2010; five years in, we still think that using everything the grape has to offer is best. Henceforth it is fermented on the skins and stems, the reddish/grayish grape makes an orange wine that explodes with fruit, body and texture and salinity. Seafood, especially fattier versions, has always been an amazing accompaniment. I fully expect the 2014 version of this wine to hold up its end of the bargain.
tasting notes-
Immediately complex showing tertiary spice flavors over fruit. Cumin, fall leaves, and spice. Apricot, dried strawberry, and golden raisins add sweetness to the root spice flavors. The wine coats the palate with an oily and broad texture. Has a great balance of fruit and textural complexity.
scores—
90 points — Wine Enthusiast
2013 Pinot Gris
Wirtz Vineyard
145 cases produced
unfined and unfiltered
$48 (sold out)
label - wild flowers from our hedgerow
As in past vintages we took a traditionally white grape and left it on it’s skins to add color and texture to the wine, and then pressed and finished fermenting to dryness in neutral french oak barrels to soften and round out the wine. This is an 'orange wine.’
Tannins are firm and present and the acidity makes this wine a perfect seafood wine.
This wine is pretty and has great fruit now but will cellar well.
2012 Pinot Gris
Wirtz Vineyard
110 cases produced
unfined and unfiltered
$48 (sold out)
label - thistle from the big table farm pasture
This wine is fermented on the skins briefly and then finished in barrel to dryness and malolactic complete, bottled without fining or filtration.
2012 was a beautiful growing season and has produced some gorgeous wines, the Pinot Gris is also typical of the vintage and displays the same great ripeness, coating mouthfeel and wonderful balance. As in past vintages the tannins are firm and present and the acidity makes this wine politely ask to be paired with seafood of all kinds.
This wine shows: watermelon, acacia flower, underripe peach, bubble gum, cinnamon, cardamom, peanut shells. Oily entry, very spicy, cinnamon and acacia flower are concentrated up front. The tannin provides a welcome tension in the wine and cuts the oily quality down.
This wine will cellar well.
2011 Pinot Gris
Wirtz Vineyard
110 cases produced
unfined and unfiltered
$48 (sold out)
label - legumes from big table farm
Since last year’s release of this unusual wine, to our delight ‘orange wines’ have enjoyed some attention. The 2010 was a successful ‘experiment’ and I’ll have to say 11 is every bit of ten and more...
Like with 2010, we took a traditionally white grape and left it on it’s skins to add color and texture to the wine, and then pressed and finished fermenting to dryness in neutral french oak barrels to soften and round out the wine.
The result is a very full-bodied luscious wine with lots of fruit and structure, but the freshness of a white wine. It is an amazing companion to seafood. Bone dry, malolactic complete and bottled unfined and unfiltered.
2010 Pinot Gris
Wirtz vineyard
125 cases produced
unfined and unfiltered
$48 (sold out)
label - orchard and fescue grass of big table farm
Unless you have seen the actual Pinot Gris fruit, you wouldn’t guess that the grapes are a rosy grey (gris) color when ripe. We have decided to utilize this aspect of the grape to make a wine that is a little bit different than most.
The grapes were gently fermented on their skins for a brief time to add some color and texture to the wine, and then pressed and finished fermenting to dryness in neutral french oak barrels to soften and round out the wine.
The result is a very complex wine that has characteristics of both a white and the striking tannins of a red. Orange peel, watermelon, wet asphalt greet you, the rich pallet of red fruit and spice is framed by firm tannins and balanced acidity.
This wine, as well as the rest of our ten’s, is definitely a food wine. Bone dry, malolactic complete and bottled unfined and unfiltered.