Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/688647
70 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } JUNE/JULY 2016 palate, burnished, pleasantly bitter tertiary notes of apple seeds and walnut skins wrapped around a surprisingly fresh vein of acidity. I had never encountered a Pinot Gris like this. My server suggested raclette as an ideal match for this unexpected rar - ity. Yes, raclette, I thought, closing my eyes, sa voring the imagined pairing. The tasting I'd attended earlier in the afternoon showcased vintages spanning from 2004 to 2014, beautifully illustrat - ing this point: Some domestic Pinot Gris can withstand aging, and indeed, will even improve with time. The notion that we can and should cellar these wines is contrary to how we've been taught to view this very old, mutated clone of Pinot Noir. Current vintages were fresh and showy with lush, tropical aromas of ripe mango and pine - apple, or bruised pear and Golden Deli- cious apple. Almost all of them expressed minerality in one fashion or another ; wet stones, talcum powder and even a touch chalkboard dust. As they mature, an array of secondary and tertiary notes emerges, along with a texture that's grown silkier and rounder with age—subtler, more complex aromas and flavors of smoke and spice, dried orange peel, almond skins and granu - lated honey. A Steady Hand Perhaps what is most intriguing about King Estate is the winery's dedication to main- taining stylistic continuity across decades, the winemaking team never giving in to trends or fickle experimentation. Vintages have a rhythm and cadence, and they are artfully woven together by faithfulness to style. Under Ed's pragmatic leadership and with early help from industry visionaries like Will Bucklin, Merry Edwards and the brilliant André Tchelistcheff, the wines' blueprint defined in early vintages has remained the standard. Ed explained, "I have done my part to soak up my share of aged white wines, but I kept running into people who were surprised—still—to hear of these very old white wines from Oregon that have held up so well. Almost in frustration, I turned to our winemaking team, Spencer Spetnagel and our talented Lab Director, Brent Stone, and proposed that we do the technical work to understand how these lovely older Oregon Brent Stone is Lab Director at King Estate. Kevin Sommelet is the winemaker at King Estate.