FRIENDS & FAMILY SPRING 2023 ALLOCATION

Hello Friends and Family -
 
Greetings from the Hazelfern fam! Hope that you had a great winter and are gearing up for what is turning out to be a very busy Spring and Summer season.

We’ve spent winter here at Hazelfern bottling our new wines from the exceptional 2021 vintage and prepping the vineyard for an exciting year ahead. After sitting out the 2020 vintage due to fires and smoke here in the Willamette Valley, we are so excited to FINALLY have new wines to share! This year, we’ll also be introducing a couple exciting new vineyards starting with Three Cedars Vineyard this Spring.

We’re extremely proud to release the first of our new 2021 wines over the next few weeks. 2021 will go down as a vintage of extremes that magically produced fruit with perfect balance in the end! Summer featured a stretch of 95 days with no rain and two extreme heat waves (116 degrees!), but refreshing rains arrived in mid-September just before the grapes had ripened providing the vines with a metabolism boost that resulted in ripe sugars balanced with perfect acidity. The resulting wines are elegant, bright, age-worthy, very complex, and we’re so excited to finally share them with you! 

Follow along on Instagram for regular updates from the farm!
 
Spring Friends & Family Wine Allocation:

This Spring, we're back with a brand new vintage featuring some epic wines!

First up is our 2021 Pinot Noir from Stormy Morning Vineyard! It's been a couple years since we've had a Stormy Morning Vineyard Pinot Noir in the line-up, and we're so happy to be back with what we believe is the best Stormy Morning Pinot Noir we've made to date. The fruit profile is insane with aromas of white peach, nectarines, and strawberries, backed by fresh earth tones and fresh eucalyptus (classic Stormy Morning Vineyard).

Next up, we're excited to introduce you to Pinot Noir from Three Cedars Vineyard in the Laurelwood District AVA! We're very excited about the potential at Three Cedars Vineyard, and are now leasing the entire site and farming it (organically, of course) with our vineyard manager, Jessica Cortell. The 2021 Pinot Noir from Three Cedars is dreamy with a velvety texture and beautiful raspberry and floral aromatics. Three Cedars fruit also makes up the backbone of our 2021 Prime Cut Pinot Noir - needless to say, we're very excited about this vineyard.

Last, and certainly not least, is our single-vineyard Chardonnay from Rock Block - Hazelfern's crown jewel Chardonnay vineyard in the Willamette Valley's Cascade foothills. Rock Block vines sit in a pile of basaltic rocks at 1000 feet in elevation and produce exceptional fruit. In fact, the 2019 Rock Block Chardonnay earned 97 points from James Suckling and made Owen Bargreen's Top 100 wines of the year list. James Suckling also commented that the wine reminded him of Grand Cru Montrachet from Olivier Leflaive (dang, it feels like such a flex to write that!). We are thrilled to debut the 2021 Rock Block Chardonnay to our Friends & Family and hope you enjoy it.

The Spring Friends & Family allocation includes six bottles - 2 bottles each of 3 single vineyard wines from the exceptional and age-worthy 2021 vintage:
 
·      2021 Pinot Noir, Stormy Morning Vineyard, Tualatin Hills (Friends & Family $50/bottle)
·      2021 Pinot Noir, Three Cedars Vineyard, Laurelwood District (Friends & Family $50/bottle)
·      2021 Chardonnay, Rock Block, Willamette Valley (Friends & Family $50/bottle)
 
Be sure to check-out Bryan’s winemaking and tasting notes below.
 
In addition to the wines we’ve made for Friends & Family, we’re excited to release some limited edition wines including our brand new 2021 Prime Cut Pinot Noir (our most age-worthy Pinot Noir each vintage), and 2020 Syrah from Stoney Vine Vineyard in the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater (Walla Walla Valley). We are extremely proud of both of these wines, so grab them while they last.

Additional wines available this month:

  • 2021 Pinot Noir, Prime Cut, Willamette Valley (Friends & Family $75/bottle: Regularly $85/bottle)

  • 2021 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley (Friends & Family $30/bottle: Regularly $39/bottle)

  • 2021 Gamay Noir, Willamette Valley (Friends & Family $30/bottle: Regularly $45/bottle)

  • 2021 Trousseau, Chehalem Mountains (Friends & Family $30/bottle: Regularly $45/bottle)

  • 2020 Syrah, Stoney Vine Vineyard, The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater, Walla Walla Valley (Friends & Family $50/bottle: Regularly $60/bottle)

  • 2019 Chardonnay, Willamette Valley – LAST CALL - LIMITED QTYS REMAIN! (Friends & Family $30/bottle: Regularly $39/bottle)

  • 2019 Chardonnay, Prime Cut – LAST CALL - LIMITED QTYS REMAIN! (Friends & Family $62/bottle: Regularly $75/bottle)

UPDATE YOUR SHIPPING ADDRESS, CREDIT CARD, AND/OR ORDER ADDITIONAL WINES HERE

Fresh News:


We are truly grateful for all your continued support and enthusiasm for Hazelfern! Hope to see you in the barn this Spring.
 
Thanks!
-Laura, Bryan, Adalyn, Ava, Gus & Sadie

LAURA LAING ENJOYING A GLASS OF PINOT NOIR AT HAZELFERN CELLARS

About the 2021 Vintage in the Willamette Valley:


2021 will go down as a vintage of extremes that magically produced fruit with perfect balance in the end! 

The 2021 vintage was set-up with a warmer than average winter save for an epic ice storm on February 15th. That knocked out power to several areas of the Willamette Valley for over a week. With generally mild winter conditions, bud break occurred 2-3 weeks earlier than average here at Hazelfern on April 5th.

After a warm and sunny May, early June brought scattered showers during flowering. The rains knocked flowers off the vines reducing fruit set and naturally thinning yields to about 75% of normal. After the early June rains, the weather turned extremely warm and dry for the rest of summer with no rain for 95 days into early September. 

Heat Waves: The Willamette Valley endured two extreme heatwaves with temperatures reaching 116 degrees – hot enough that we attempted to fry eggs on the driveway here at the winery on June 28th! The second heat wave arrived in August, and we sprayed our vines with clay to retain freshness and shade the ripening grapes from sun burn. 

The magic arrived in September! Refreshing rains finally arrived in early-September just before the grapes had finished ripening providing the vines with a metabolism boost that resulted in ripe sugars balanced with perfect acidity. Despite the hot and dry summer, the 2021 wines are elegant, bright, age-worthy, very complex, and we’re so excited to finally share them with you! 

(qty. 2) 2021 Pinot Noir, Stormy Morning Vineyard, Tualatin Hills, Willamette Valley
*$60 / $50 (Friends & Family)

Stormy Morning is back! I know we have several die-hard Stormy Morning fans, and I'm thrilled to share that this is the best and most ageable vintage I've seen from this vineyard so far!
 
Stormy Morning Vineyard was the very first commercial vineyard we started working with in 2014, when we convinced growers/owners Bill and Mary Lowblad that we were going to be a real winery and to let us pick 1 ton of their beautiful organic Pinot Noir.
  
Each vineyard has its own personality, and my winemaking goal is to let the vineyard do the talking. With each vintage, I learn more about the site and the type of wine it wants to make. Stormy Morning Vineyard is in a unique location – the very northern border of the Willamette River almost to the Columbia River – and the story is definitely the breadth of exotic fruit flavors. As I’ve gotten to know the site over the past couple years, I’ve made tweaks to the winemaking (less whole cluster stem inclusion) and barrel selection to really bring that unique fruit forward even more.
 
Stormy Morning Vineyard grows very unique Pinot Noir. We lean all the way into the fruit's unique profile in the cellar and love the resulting wines from this site!
 
Always known for transparent strawberry aromas, Stormy Morning also has some unique accents that are worth mentioning. In barrel, the wines often smell like tropical tree fruits with flavors like peaches and nectarines. Stormy Morning Vineyard is also famous for fresh eucalyptus and mossy aromatics that evolve more into dried tobacco and fresh earth notes with age.

The flavors and concentration of the 2021 Stormy Morning Pinot Noir are the richest and most luscious I have seen from this site to-date. As these vines get older, it's also been cool to see the tannin structure of the wines evolve and become more prevalent. That said, this wine is not only ageable, it is flat out delicious!

Tasting Notes:
 
Layers of complex personality wrapped into one delicious package. An exotic fruit stripe rainbow of ripe strawberries, white peaches, and farm stand nectarines accented by rose petal, tangerine, eucalyptus, Oregon nettles, fresh earth, and terracotta minerality. This wine flies its own flag and is definitely ready for summer!
 
Delicious with:  goat cheese, pork, wild salmon

100% Pinot Noir
13.2% alcohol
 
Geek out:

  • Aged 13 months in 100% French Oak (15% new oak)

  • Featured clones: Dijon clones 115 and 777

  • 5-day cold soak

  • 21-day fermentation

  • pH: 3.56

  • Unfined and Unfiltered


Vineyard Facts:

Stormy Morning Vineyard:

  • Dijon clones 115 and 777 planted in 2001

  • Dry farmed using organic farming principles

  • Northern Willamette Valley in the coastal range with warm days and cool coastal nights

  • Soil: Loess Windblown Soil

  • Elevation: 250-500 ft

Pinot Noir @ Three Cedars Vineyard planted on a beautiful north facing slope in the Laurelwood District AVA.

(qty. 2) 2021 Pinot Noir, Three Cedars Vineyard, Laurelwood District, Willamette Valley
*$60 / $50 (Friends & Family)

I'm so excited to welcome a brand new vineyard to the Hazelfern family this Spring - please help me in welcoming Three Cedars Vineyard!

I've wanted to make a Pinot Noir from the Laurelwood District AVA for several years and finally got the chance after meeting Keith and Jane Johnson, owners of Three Cedars Vineyard, in 2020. 

The Laurelwood District is famous for producing textured and elegant Pinot Noirs with beautiful floral aromatics (specifically red rose petal). The Laurelwood District is nested on the North side of the Chehelam Mountains AVA, and the soils are a unique wind blown Loess (called Laurelwood). Geology Nerd Alert: It is believed that the floral aromas are caused by small iron BB's called pisolites that are unique to the Laurelwood soils.

Three Cedars Vineyard sits on a north facing slope in the hills West of the town of Sherwood, OR. The vineyard is farmed using organic practices by our vineyard manager, Jessica Cortell, and is planted to three clones of Pinot Noir: Pommard, Dijon 115, and Dijon 667, and we lease all the blocks of Pinot Noir.

In 2021, we picked the Pinot Noir over the course of three separate pick dates. Given the warm summer, we wanted to do one pick really early for freshness and acidity, and then two later picks for flavor complexity and concentration. I also added 15-20% whole cluster for added texture.

I have fallen in love with the elegance and velvety texture I'm seeing from this vineyard, and am so excited to work with the fruit long term. I hope you enjoy our newest kid as much as we have been!

Tasting Notes:
 
Elegant, charming, and dreamy. Wild raspberries, red rose petals, hibiscus tea, and rhubarb, are accented by marjoram, allspice, black walnut, cocoa dust, and crimson clover. Velvety texture with discreet tannins that linger in the background and carry the long and delicious finish.

Delicious with:  gruyère cheese, mushrooms, quail/pheasant, and filet mignon
 
100% Pinot Noir
13.4% alcohol
 
Geek out:

  • Aged 14 months in 100% French Oak (23% new oak)

  • Featured clones: Pommard and Dijon clones 115 and 667

  • 5-day cold soak

  • 14-day fermentation

  • 15% whole cluster fermentation

  • pH: 3.62

  • Unfined and Unfiltered

Vineyard Facts:

Three Cedars Vineyard:

  • Clones: Pommard and Dijon clones 115 and 667 planted in 2013

  • Dry farmed using organic farming principles

  • Laurelwood District AVA in the Chehalem Mountains

  • Soil: Laurelwood (wind-blown Loess)

  • Elevation: 540-595 ft

High elevation and incredibly rocky basalt soils make Rock Block an incredible site for growing world-class Chardonnay.

(qty. 2) 2021 Chardonnay, Rock Block, Willamette Valley
*$60 / $50 (Friends & Family)

Those of you who know me well or follow us on Instagram, know that I love Willamette Valley Chardonnay! I love to make Chardonnay, and I love to drink Chardonnay. It's a huge focus for us in the winery, and in 2021 we made five (%!!!) different Chardonnays that I'm so stoked about!

TAKE A TOUR OF ROCK BLOCK W/ BRYAN
 
Chardonnay from the Willamette Valley is not your mama’s Chardonnay – no oily and flabby butter bombs out here. I love that Chardonnay can be made in so many styles, and that the decisions I make as a winemaker can really impact the outcome of the wine.
 
The 2021 Rock Block Chardonnay is our fourth vintage of single-vineyard Chardonnay from our Rock Block Vineyard on the eastern edge of the Willamette Valley in the hills outside a small town called Scotts Mills. This vineyard is special you guys. It’s very high elevation at almost 1000 feet and the soils are incredibly rocky which is great for growing really good Chardonnay.
 
This Chardonnay is 100% barrel fermented and barrel aged, but is balanced with refreshing high elevation acidity. The Rock Block Chardonnay has incredible texture and a touch of perceived floral sweetness (although it's completely dry) that balances the high elevation juicy acid structure. 

Tasting Notes:

Texture for days. Ripe fruit flavors of d'anjou pear, honeydew melon, dried wild apple, lemon curd, and madarin zest are layered with accents of jasmine, orange blossom, cracked white pepper, allspice, and stoney minerality on the long finish.

Delicious with: bleu cheese, mushrooms, pork chops
 
100% Chardonnay
13.5% alcohol

Geek out:

  • Aged 13 months in 100% French Oak (24% new oak)

  • Featured clones: Dijon 76, 95, 96, and 809

  • 35-day fermentation

  • Full malolactic fermentation – six months

  • pH: 3.48

 Vineyard Facts:
 
Rock Block:

  • Dijon clones 76, 95, 96, and 809 planted in 2007

  • Dry farmed using LIVE Certified and Salmon-Safe practices

  • Eastern edge of the Willamette Valley in the Cascade Foothills

  • Soil: McCully Clay Loam

  • Elevation: 1000 ft

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