Et Fille Winery

Et Fille 2006 Pinot Noirs
An Avalon Find is selected as
a Wine Spectator "Up and Coming" Oregon Winery

Et Fille received 93 point scores from Wine Spectator for two of their 2005 Pinots. Wine Spectator's December 15, 2007 issue will profile Et Fille as one of three up-and-coming Oregon wineries.

Et Fille is the Indie winery you want to know. That's why Avalon sends Et Fille wines to the Avalon Reserve Pinot Noir Club every year.

Howard makes Pinot noir with his daughter, Jessica, thus the "Et Fille" (and daughter). Their tasting notes for each wine, included below, are written as a dialog between two palates and two generations.

Avalon's President, Jean Yates, and VP Sales & Marketing, Marcus Looze, conduct the same dialog with their tasting notes below.

6 - Et Fille Willamette Valley 06 $23.95
2- Et Fille Kalita 06 $37.95
2- Maresh 06 $42.95
2- Palmer Creek 06 $31.95

Avalon Says:
Jean: Delicate, feminine - the qualities ascribed to the lighter Burgundies of the Cotê de Beaune apply to the 2006 Palmer Creek. A delicate scent of red fruit and spice intertwines with tarragon, fennel, anise, marjoram, and minerals in the nose. Hints of licorice and nutmeg can be detected. Red currant, tart red cherry, and red raspberry flavors sweeten and fatten in the mouth, and fine grained tannins are detectable, inobtrusive but present. A hint of violets adds to the finish. The grapes are all 777 clone, planted in 1999-2000. Howard suggests waiting at least two years for best flavors.

Marcus: The most "old school" (or Burgundian, if you prefer) Pinot from Howard, the 06 Palmer Creek has a nose of tarragon, star anise, cherries, and oodles of complex minerals. Loads of pie cherry hit the front of your palate and sweeten as the wine moves to the finish. OK, I need to do that again--too much fun. Structured and vibrant, the 06 will develop nicely over the next six yerars or six minutes in your glass..

Dad: Complex red berry & floral aromas. Red berries and minerals on the palette and in the long finish.

Fille: Drinking our 2005 Palmer Creek feels like cruising down the road in a convertible on a sunny afternoon-expansive, freeing, and undemanding. It has a plum color and its aroma is punctuated by a woodsy character that opens to a creamy mouth feel. This wine will complement appetizers or meals of poultry, pork, or salmon.

Jean: Maresh fruit, once almost exclusively sold to Rex Hill, is now shared among several top producers - Penner-Ash, St. Innocent, and Daedalus, among others. For this wine, Howard was sold two acres of 100% Pommard fruit from vines planted in 1990. The Maresh shows the greater complexity of older vine Pommard, with the sweet red cherry that dominates many younger vine Pommard based Pinots only present in passing.

The nose offers ripe blackberry, black plum, boysenberry, and pie cherry mingled with toasted coffee bean and hints of sweet tobacco. Flavors range from ripe berries to red pie cherry, with sweetly focused fruit in a creamy finish that goes on and on and on. A sense of minerality runs through the wine. Cellarable for 3-10 years, drinking nicely now with aeration.

Marcus: Silky, creamy, ripe boysenberry and blueberry with a smidge of cherry jam. I've spent more hours than I can recall describing that magical Pinot characteristic where the perfectly sweet fruit just camps out on the middle of your palate. The 06 Maresh has it in spades, and yet retains an elegant balance. The finished is focused and the tannins are linked with a white pepper spice that complements the fruit.

The Winery Says:

Dad: Light color, complex nose & palette of pie cherries & minerals. Lavish mouth feel. Trance-like, long, complex finish.

Fille: This wine is grown in the Dundee Hills’ red soil. As such, the color of this wine looks like the earth climbed right up into the glass and settled in. The aroma is highlighted by violet and yields to a palate of chocolate and vanilla. This is smooth luxury- like the curved lines of a Jaguar.

Jean: The Kalita is Howard's most intense Pinot in 2006. The wine shows forward ripe fruit, complex spice notes from barrel toast, and a robust balance. Made from vines planted in 1999, 90% Pommard and 10% Wadenswil. The Wadenswil adds a "blue fruit" note of ripe, spicy blueberry. The wine is a bit muscular yet approachable. Howard says drink now or cellar for up to 6 years.

Marcus: A broad-shouldered beauty. Super-ripe, yet with all the necessary "stuffing"--tons of blueberry and dark dried cherry with spicy cinnamon cream accents. For fans of bigger Pinots, the Kalita hits it out of the park.

Dad: Black cherries throughout, with cola and herbs on the complex nose and palette, and into the very long finish.

Fille: Did you know we are baseball fans? Not only have we survived running the winery together, but Dad is a Yankees fan while I am a Red Sox fan. Dad says our 2006 Kalita has the power of Alex Rodriguez, but I think it is like Big Papi David Ortiz. Either way, the intense blackberry color leads to a palate of jammy cherries and plum. This can hold up to meal of beef, lamb, or game.

Jean: Made from new grape sources in 2006, Et Fille's Willamette Valley is 100% Pommard, and the typical red cherry flavors of the clone dominate. Howard used 25% new oak barrels for aging, from Meyrieux cooperage, with the interiors burned to "house toast". The distinct Meyrieux oak adds sweet spicy flavors and a textured, silky mouth feel to the wine. Initially, the scents of spice and incense mingle with red raspberry and ripe strawberry notes. Flavors are immediately appealing - classic Pommard red cherry, red raspberry, and red cherry candy are joined by savory hints of rosemary and toasted coffee bean on the finish. Drink now or cellar 2-5 years.

Marcus: How do you follow up such an outstanding value as the 2005 Et Fille Willamette Valley? With a better 2006. For all the delicious aromas and flavors, the appeal is the texture--silky silky. And it doesn't hurt to have red berries shaded with sandalwood incense and minerals on the nose. Ripe red cherry with hints of strawberry and raspberry swishes around your mouth, while a savory, toasty note appears on the long finish. Howard: please make more!

Dad: Raspberries & red cherries on the intense nose and palette, followed by a long finish.

Fille: Our 2006 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir is like Cameron Diaz- fun, spirited, and more attractive than the girl next door. It has a cranberry color, nose of red cherries and strawberries with a hint of rose, and a palate that finishes with white pepper and spice. This is a sipping wine- perfect before dinner.

Wine Spectator Et Fille Pinot noir 2005 vintage ratings:

2005 ET FILLE Pinot Noir Maresh Vineyard 93 points
"Supple and velvety in texture, this bursts with blueberry and currant fruit, with creamy, spicy overtones adding depth to the distinctive finish. Has tremendous presence and style, yet remains refined. Best from 2008 through 2015. 125 cases made." –HS

2005 Et Fille Pinot noir Elton Vineyard 93 points
" Crisp and immensely generous, pumping away at its blackberry, cherry and delicate spice flavors on a lithe, medium-weight frame, with a finish that won't quit. An expressive wine with great presence. Best from 2008 through 2015. 126 cases made. –HS

2005 ET FILLE Pinot Noir Kalita Vineyard 91 points
"On the light side, with a polished edge to the raspberry and sweet cream flavors, lingering on the delicious finish. Drink now through 2015. 91 cases made." –HS

2005 ET FILLE Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 88 points
Lithe, open-textured and appealing for its plum and dried tomato flavors that linger nicely against refined acidity. Drink now through 2011. 140 cases made. –HS

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and we answer email on Sundays.

Avalon Wine
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