“This set of 2019s represents yet another stellar collection of graceful wines from Kelley Fox, who has been making some of the Willamette Valley’s most finely detailed, perfumed, unadorned and elegant Pinots for some time now. While she is deeply rooted in the Dundee Hills, especially the legendary Maresh vineyard, she’s beginning to branch out, and in this vintage, she produced her first wines (both outstanding) from the famed Carter and Canary Hill sites in the Eola-Amity Hills. Her work with fruit from McMinnville’s famed Hyland vineyard is extremely impressive as well. Word has gotten out and the wines have become increasingly more difficult to track down, so this is yet another winery where going directly to the source is a smart move. It’s a two-person operation, so the odds are high that you’ll be dealing with Kelley herself.”
“Having established herself as one of Oregon’s top producers of Pinot Noir, Kelley Fox is increasingly turning her attention to white wines, which she admits are probably her true “wine loves” on a personal level. She drinks a lot of Chablis, Blanc de Blancs Champagne, and Puligny-Montrachet, when she can find it, and it’s easy to deduce that given her light touch with Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc, even in hot years.”
“Vivid red. Spice-accented raspberry, cherry and rose pastille aromas, along with hints of woodsmoke, cola and baking spices. Silky and focused on the palate, offering lively red fruit, allspice and floral pastille flavors that deliver power with zero fat. Fine-grained tannins frame a very long, spice-tinged finish that shows outstanding clarity and building florality. 50% whole clusters. Drinking window: 2021-2029. 95 points
Kelley Fox has successfully navigated the 2018 vintage, which often produced large-scale, dark-fruited wines, crafting a set of graceful, exotically perfumed and balanced wines that in no way suggest that they’re the product of a ripe year. Her ‘18s lean toward her 2016s, 2015s and 2014s in style for their relative depth and power, with plenty of whole cluster influence and an unadorned personality, thanks no doubt to the use of neutral oak.”
“Limpid magenta. Expansive aromas of ripe red fruits, incense and Asian spices carry smoky mineral and floral overtones. Juicy and precise on the palate, offering alluringly sweet raspberry preserve, rose pastille and spicecake flavors that deepen and spread out slowly with air. Delivers a compelling blend of power and elegance, finishing with silky, polished tannins and superb clarity and floral-driven persistence. 50% whole clusters. Drinking window: 2022-2030. 95 points
Kelley Fox has successfully navigated the 2018 vintage, which often produced large-scale, dark-fruited wines, crafting a set of graceful, exotically perfumed and balanced wines that in no way suggest that they’re the product of a ripe year. Her ‘18s lean toward her 2016s, 2015s and 2014s in style for their relative depth and power, with plenty of whole cluster influence and an unadorned personality, thanks no doubt to the use of neutral oak.”
“Having established herself as one of Oregon’s top producers of Pinot Noir, Kelley Fox is increasingly turning her attention to white wines, which she admits are probably her true “wine loves” on a personal level. She drinks a lot of Chablis, Blanc de Blancs Champagne, and Puligny-Montrachet, when she can find it, and it’s easy to deduce that given her light touch with Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc, even in hot years.”
