“I’m looking for more ripeness and softer tannins,” says Luisa Ponzi of her 2011 Pinot Noir Tavola, Aand this year we got that in our lower-elevation sites, avoiding some of the bitterness that some of the older (vine) sites got. I pressed more gently and fermented at lower temperature. This was also the first year in which I tried using some enzymes,” namely on this wine. Juicy boysenberry and black raspberry are indeed sweetly ripe and their feel on the palate soft. Hints of leather and game add well-integrated intrigue, and this disappoints only very slightly for not being longer in finish. Still, it will reward at table over the next couple of years.
I got to see the tasting room and visitors’ center side of the new Ponzi winery on my latest visit, and all I can say is that neither intelligence nor expense were spared in constructing that facility. In the evolution of Luisa Ponzi’s white winemaking (for more about which – along with many other details on this estate – consult my Issue 202 introduction) includes a wholesale movement toward steam-treated rather than toasted wood, as well as the introduction of 500 liter barrels. The idea, clearly, is to avoid too much overly woody flavor and where there is an obvious contribution from barrel – as with the Acacia now also being sparingly used here – then not one that would be associated with tannins or resins that could harden mouth-feel or arrest the flow of primary juiciness. Ponzi’s is nowadays among those Willamette white wine collections – modest in number but impressive in stature – that are leading the way into a world-class flourishing; and they are only going to get better as vines age; vine genetics are more discerningly selected; and methods are honed. With her 2011 Pinots, Ponzi confessed to having for the first time in her career experimented a bit with enzymatic as well as tannin additions, “because in a year like this when you’re faced with fruit that is compromised in a lot of cases and just barely reached ripeness, you kind of have to reach out for tools that might help.” The results testify to her success.
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