2024 Croft Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc
AVA: Mt. Pisgah, Polk County-Oregon (Willamette Valley)
LOCATION: Bursell Rd.
SOIL TYPE: Bellpine (Marine Sedimentary)
YEAR PLANTED: 2005 and 2011
CLONAL MATERIAL: 100% Sauvignon Blanc
VINEYARD SIZE: 56 acres
PICKING DATES: October 10th
TONS/ACRE: 14.81 tons picked
OWNERS: Croft Family
PRODUCTION: 102 cases bottled
Site History: The vineyard was originally planted in 1983 by Chancey Croft, who was an Anchorage, Alaska based attorney, and his wife Toni. While being remote to most of the established wine region they did pick the property directly adjacent to Freedom Hill Vineyard which had been planted by Dan and Helen Dusschee in 1982. In 2013 their son Lee and his wife Terri took over the full time management of the site. The grandson, John Croft has taken over from them and works with Estaban Ramos who has been the long-time caretaker of the vineyard. This is a rare instance, in Oregon, of a three-generation family working on a property, learning, passing down knowledge, expanding the scope and quality of the site and modernizing along the way. Croft is an Oregon Tilth certified organic vineyard.
Site Characteristics: Croft is planted next to Freedom Hill Vineyard southwest of the town of Dallas, Oregon. It is now in the unfortunately monikered Mt. Pisgah, Polk County-Oregon AVA. Due to this we still use the regular Willamette Valley AVA. Croft is located toward the eastern edge of Freedom Hill and slopes down away from the summit of that hillside making it a lower and cooler site, ideal for growing Sauvignon Blanc. The soil is Bellpine which is an ancient marine soil that was once the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. This dense soil can produce tightly wound wines with explosive and dark fruit tones to them (in Pinot Noir). In white wines the soil type tends to show the minerally/saline characteristics of the soil and gives both aromatic interest and excellent elevated textural aspects.
The Block: We received many blocks from Croft in 2024 as we were buying in sort of a last minute arrangement. We separated out Block 5C from the rest of the fruit as it was planted in 2005 and then expanded in 2011. The block is planted to Clone 1 which is the most commonly planted Sauvignon Blanc clone in the world. This block, with much of the fruit being from 20 year old vines is one of the few Sauvignon Blanc sites in Oregon that has reached 20 years of vine age making it both a desirable block to work with and something quite unique.
Picking Dates, Tonnages, Tons/Acre: 14.81 tons were picked on October 10th. We were taking everything that was left in the vineyard so tons/acre is indeterminate.
Winemaking: All the fruit was immediately pressed after picking, allowed to settle, racked and inoculated with a Vitilevure Elixir yeast to promote balance and aromatic depth. The wine was fermented and finished primary fermentation in late October, 2024. It aged on the lees for its entire elevage and was bottled after about five months. It went through a complete secondary fermentation. This wine was lightly filtered for clarity.
Barrels: The wine was fermented and aged in a Vin et Terre sandstone amphora.
Notes: There is some form of the Prodigal Son with this vineyard and bottling. From 2004 through 2009 we produced a Croft Vineyard Pinot Noir and bought a few tons of Sauvignon Blanc that contributed to our Willamette Valley Sauvignon Blanc bottling, which was the only bottling of Sauvignon Blanc we did back then. What was likely some form of miscommunication led to the end of the relationship and we each went our separate ways. During the harvest of 2024 harvest John Croft, the grandson of Chancey Croft who planted the vineyard originally back in the mid-1980s, called and said he was looking for a buyer for some grapes that another winery (wineries?) had pulled out on at the last minute. This led to a revival of the relationship 15 years later. While we didn’t do vineyard designated Sauvignon Blancs back in the 2000s we certainly do now based upon the strength of our Estate Vineyard. Croft is certainly the best known Sauvignon Blanc vineyard in Oregon as many wineries have done bottlings from it over the years. We believe this bottling will show the unique characteristics of that site, the strength of our Sauvignon Blanc production and the re-assertion of a relationship between the 2 most notable Sauvignon Blanc ventures in the state.
Tasting Notes: As with all our white wines the label does a pretty accurate job of telling the story of this wine. White peaches and lime leaf are the name of the game with this wine. The marine soil contributes a note of crushed sea shell that lends the background complexity to this Sauvignon Blanc that separates it from our other iterations. Where this wine really stands out is with its amazing texture. There is a velvety nature to this wine that belies its high level of acidity. There is a creamy nature to this wine that is not heavy but just gives the overall feel an incredible level of pleasure and depth. This should fill out in flavor and overall size as it ages in bottle and should be a compelling wine for several years.
The wine finished with numbers of a TA of 6.3, a pH of 3.13, a free sulfur level below 10 ppm and a total sulfur below 50 ppm.
