Happy Hour Wine Tasting Featuring Kelley Fox, Bethel Heights and Brittan Vineyards Thursday, August 22 6:00 PM
“A mind of the caliber of mine cannot derive its nutriment from cows”. - George Bernard Shaw on wine
We like cows but we like wine better!
It’s crazy that summer is almost over an that means only a few more Happy Hour wine tastings at the wine bar. This tasting will feature three of the top wineries from the Willamette Valley and we have a lot of wines in stock from all three of these wineries as we have been fans of Bethel Heights, Brittan and Kelley Fox for a long time and when we like a winery we represent them by offering every wine they sell in South Florida as either in the store or available in 5-7 days. The wines that are not in store are at the distributor and can be ordered and delivered to us within a few days and we can usually deliver them to you in under a week if you are here in South Florida.
If you do not live in South Florida and we have to ship the wines we do not recommend shipping them over the summer months and have a HOLD Till COLD program in place where we will hold on to your wines aat our temperature controlled facility at no charge till the fall when you can ship the wines without them being exposed to the extreme summer heat.
On Thursday August 22nd will be tasting over a dozen wines from these three wineries and we have over 70 different wines from these three great producers on this offering going back to the 2013 vintage! The fee for this tasting is $75 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.
Happy Hour Wine Tasting Featuring Kelley Fox, Bethel Heights and Brittan Vineyards
Thursday, August 22
6:00 PM
2018 Kelley Fox Chardonnay Durant Vineyard Lark Block Dundee Hills
2022 Kelley Fox Wines Pinot Noir Mirabai Willamette Valley
2018 Kelley Fox Pinot Noir Maresh Vineyard Dundee Hills
2017 Kelley Fox Pinot Noir Hyland Vineyard Coury Clone McMinnville
2022 Bethel Heights Chardonnay Estate Eola Amity
2016 Bethel Heights Chardonnay Casteel Willamette Valley
2022 Bethel Heights Pinot Noir Aeolian Eola Amity Hills
2019 Bethel Heights Justice Vineyard Pinot Noir Eola Amity Hills
2023 Brittan Vineyards Chardonnay Willamette Valley
2022 Brittan Vineyards Pinot Noir Estate Mcminnville
2021 Brittan Vineyards Pinot Noir Basalt Block Mcminnville
2021 Brittan Vineyards Pinot Noir Cygnus Block McMinnville
2021 Brittan Vineyards Pinot Noir Heritage Block Mcminnville
Menu
Avocado Tartar Served on Parmesan Toast
Salmon in Fried Wonton with Hoisin Sauce
Pizza with Goat Cheese, Balsamic, Bacon and Figs
Beef Sliders with Gruyere and Mushroom Aioli
Chicken Quesadilla with Avocado Crème Fraiche
The fee for this tasing is $75 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.
A bit about the wineries at the tasting tonight and a complete list of wines available.
Anyone who avers that New World Pinot cannot match Burgundy for finesse and complexity has clearly never tried anything from this small, impressively consistent producer. Kelley Fox Wines is a small winery created in 2007 along with her father, Gerson "Gus" Stearns. The first vintage (2007) started with just over 100 cases. The annual case production is now between 2700 and 3000 cases, all from the historic Maresh Vineyard, the Demeter-certified biodynamic Momtazi Vineyard (both since the beginning) along with Hyland (1988 Coury Clone Pinot), Freedom Hill (barrel-fermented Pinot blanc), and beginning in 2018, Weber (1983 and 1988 Pinot), and Durant Vineyard (Chardonnay). Both Weber and Durant are family owned and farmed old vine vineyards in the Dundee Hills.
Kelley has been a full-time, year-round, on-the-floor Oregon Pinot noir winemaker since 2000. Her education includes a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Biology from Texas AM University. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with dual degrees in Biochemistry and Biophysics from Oregon State University and was admitted to the PhD program in Biochemistry.
Before completing her doctorate, She changed my path to pursue winemaking. Kelley learned winemaking not from a classroom or textbooks or from other regions, but directly from Oregon winemakers who had put in some serious time. She was deeply influenced by her dear friend and former employer, the late David Lett of The Eyrie Vineyards. David was the ultimate iconoclast who pioneered the Oregon wine industry in the 1960’s.
Kelley’s winemaking experience includes Torii Mor, Hamacher, and Eyrie, and ten years as winemaker at Scott Paul Wines (August 2005 to about mid-April 2015). kelley now happily work for her own winery exclusively.
Starting with the harvest of 2019, Kelley is producing her wines at the winery of dear, longtime friends, Ann and Dean Fisher of ADEA Wine Compa.
The wines are made to reflect the land, the vines, the fruit of the vines, the year, and everything else unknown and unseen that comes with those things. They are Oregon wines, and hopefully, they are wines specifically of their vineyards. That said, the wines are not really "made" at all. She has no end result in mind each year for the what the wines will be. Kelley is not Pygmalion. What she is doing still takes a lot of inner and outer work- by responding to the essence of the fruit from each block, which is carrying the essence of the earth that bore it, along with the details of the year ( the weather, the stars and the planets, etc. etc.).
In the spirit of not being heavy and serious, the wine label honours the pariah of Oregon Pinot: the humble and mysterious earwig. While they are certainly not pests, these persistent little creatures sometimes dwell between the berries inside the grape clusters here. They can live inside the must for an impossibly long time, too. Kelley is always tring to rescue them when doing pigeage, and has developed quite an admiration and genuine affection for them. There is no deeper meaning. The label was designed by Peter Ballman.
2022 Kelley Fox Nerthus Willamette Valley
Price: $25.00 Your Price: $22.00
2023 Kelley Fox Wines Gruner Veltliner Willamette Valley, USA
Price: $32.25 Your Price: $28.38
2023 Kelley Fox Chardonnay Willamette Valley
Price: $33.00 Your Price: $29.04
2023 Kelley Fox Chardonnay Durant Vineyard Lark Block Dundee Hills
Price: $39.00 Your Price: $34.32 Quantity in Stock: 2
2019 Kelley Fox Chardonnay Durant Vineyard Lark Block Dundee Hills
Price: $45.00 Your Price: $39.60 Quantity in Stock: 17
2018 Kelley Fox Chardonnay Durant Vineyard Lark Block Dundee Hills
Price: $42.00 Sale Price: $34.00 Quantity in Stock: 24
2023 Kelley Fox Wines Pinot Noir Mirabai Vineyard McMinneville
Price: $48.00 Your Price: $42.24
2022 Kelley Fox Pinot Noir Weber Vineyard
Price: $105.00 Your Price: $92.40
2022 Kelley Fox Pinot Noir Durant Vineyard Willamette Valley
Price: $105.00 Your Price: $92.40
2022 Kelley Fox Wines Pinot Noir Mirabai Willamette Valley
Price: $45.00 Your Price: $39.60 Quantity in Stock: 39
2022 Kelley Fox Pinot Noir Maresh Vineyard Liminal Willamette Valley
Price: $105.00 Your Price: $92.40
2022 Kelley Fox Wines Freedom Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, USA
Price: $105.00 Your Price: $92.40
2022 KELLEY FOX PINOT NOIR MARESH VINEYARD Golden Crowned Sparrow WILLAMETTE VALLEY
Price: $105.00 Your Price: $92.40
2022 Kelley Fox Wines Canary Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills
Price: $105.00 Your Price: $92.40
2021 Kelley Fox Wines Weber Vineyard Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills, USA
Price: $105.00 Your Price: $92.40
2021 Kelley Fox Wines Pinot Noir Canary Vineyard Willamette Valley
Price: $105.00 Your Price: $92.40 Quantity in Stock: 11
2021 Kelley Fox Wines Freedom Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, USA
Price: $93.00 Your Price: $81.84 Quantity in Stock: 9
2021 Kelley Fox Wines Carter Vineyard Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills, USA
Price: $90.00 Your Price: $79.20 Quantity in Stock: 12
2019 Kelley Fox Pinot Noir Hyland Vineyard Magnum
Price: $225.00 Your Price: $198.00
2019 Kelley Fox Wines Maresh Vineyard Pinot Noir Dundee Hills
Price: $85.00 Sale Price: $69.00 Quantity in Stock: 6
2018 Kelley Fox Pinot Noir Mirabai Willamette Valley
Price: $40.00 Sale Price: $34.00 Quantity in Stock: 13
2018 Kelley Fox Pinot Noir Maresh Vineyard Dundee Hills
Price: $85.50 Sale Price: $69.00 Quantity in Stock: 21
2018 Kelley Fox Wines Hyland Vineyard Coury Clone Pinot Noir McMinnville
Price: $60.00 Sale Price: $49.00 Quantity in Stock: 6
2017 Kelley Fox Pinot Noir Hyland Vineyard Coury Clone McMinnville
Price: $59.00 Sale Price: $49.00 Quantity in Stock: 23
2020 Kelley Fox Sweet Vermouth
Price: $67.50 Your Price: $59.40
United by their interest in wine, in 1977 Ted Casteel, Pat Dudley, Terry Casteel, and Marilyn Webb abandoned the academic life and, together with Pat’s sister Barbara Dudley, bought 75 promising-looking acres northwest of Salem, with 14 acres of newly planted cuttings in the ground. They moved to the vineyard in 1978 (except Barbara, who was in California working as a lawyer for farmworkers with the Agricultural Labor Relations Board) and started a new life. In 1979 they cleared and planted 36 more acres. In 1981 they harvested their first crop and started home winemaking in Terry’s basement. In 1984 Bethel Heights produced their first commercial vintage of 3000 cases: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Gewurztraminer, all Estate Grown.
For the first thirty years Ted was responsible for managing the vineyards and Terry made the wine. Pat and Marilyn shared responsibilities for marketing and business management. Over thirty years they grew their wine production to 10,000 cases, and made common cause with our fellow pioneers to establish the Willamette Valley as the home of New World Pinot Noir.
Meanwhile, five cousins grew up knowing the tidy rows and wild hidden places of Bethel Heights as their backyard playground, science lab and adventure park. Now they have taken their places as co-owners, co-workers, and stewards of this place.
In 2005 Ben Casteel (son of Terry and Marilyn) took over from his father as Winemaker at Bethel Heights. In 2007 Jon Casteel (second son of Terry and Marilyn) launched Casteel Custom Bottling, a mobile bottling company that serves wineries throughout Oregon, including Bethel Heights of course. Mimi Casteel (daughter of Ted and Pat) worked with the family at Bethel Heights until 2017 when she started farming her own vineyard at Hope Well and launched her Hope Well Wine project. Jessie Casteel grew up among the vines at Bethel Heights, but now lives in Chicago. Jessie brings a creative outlier perspective to the direction of the family business and serves as our ambassador in Chicago and points east.
So where did the name Bethel Heights came from? They found the answer in a small booklet written in 1941 by John E. Smith called Bethel, Polk County, Oregon. According to Smith, “One of the earliest settlers in this vicinity was Rev. Glen O. Burnett who came to Oregon in 1846 and built his house half a mile or so north of the present location of Bethel School. To the heights eastward, he gave the name ‘Bethel Hills’, Bethel being the name of the church in Missouri that he had recently served as pastor.”
The property now known as Bethel Heights Vineyard was originally platted in 1909 and recorded under the name Bethel Heights Walnut Groves. A number of the original walnut trees and their children still flourish around the edges of the vineyard.
Since 1984, both the Estate Pinot Noir and Estate Chardonnay have been the most transparent statement of Bethel Heights terroir that they produce, the sum of all its parts. Old vine storytelling delivered with tension and energy – these wines are the foundation of this producer and a statement to the terroir of their vineyards.
2023 Bethel Heights Vineyard Estate Chardonnay Eola-Amity Hills, USA
Price: $38.25 Your Price: $33.66
2022 BETHEL HEIGHTS CHARDONNAY CASTEEL WILLAMETTE VALLEY
Price: $84.00 Your Price: $73.92
2022 Bethel Heights Chardonnay Estate Eola Amity
Price: $33.75 Your Price: $29.70 Quantity in Stock: 11
2021 Bethel Hieghts Estate Chardonnay Eola Amity Hills
Price: $36.00 Your Price: $31.68 Quantity in Stock: 11
2019 Bethel Heights Chardonnay Estate Eola Amity
Price: $30.00 Your Price: $26.40 Quantity in Stock: 1
2018 Bethel Heights Chardonnay Casteel Willamette Valley
Price: $84.00 Your Price: $73.92
2016 BETHEL HEIGHTS CHARDONNAY CASTEEL WILLAMETTE VALLEY
Price: $78.00 Your Price: $68.64 Quantity in Stock: 6
2015 Bethel Heights Chardonnay Casteel Willamette Valley
Price: $78.00 Your Price: $68.64 Quantity in Stock: 7
2015 Bethel Heights Chardonnay Justice Vineyard WILLAMETTE VALLEY
Price: $67.50 Your Price: $59.40 Quantity in Stock: 6
2014 Bethel Heights Chardonnay Estate Eola Amity (1.5 Liter)
Price: $75.00 Sale Price: $59.00 Quantity in Stock: 3
2014 Bethel Heights Chardonnay Casteel Willamette Valley Magnum
Price: $125.00 Your Price: $110.00 Quantity in Stock: 4
2013 Bethel Heights Chardonnay Estate Eola Amity
Price: $29.50 Your Price: $25.96 Quantity in Stock: 1
2022 Bethel Heights Pinot Noir Estate Eola Amity Hills
Price: $40.50 Your Price: $35.64 Quantity in Stock: 6
2022 Bethel Heights Pinot Noir Aeolian Eola Amity Hills
Price: $60.00 Your Price: $52.80 Quantity in Stock: 10
2022 Bethel Heights PINOT NOIR LEWMAN VINEYARD Willamette Valley
Price: $81.00 Your Price: $71.28
2022 Bethel Heights Pinot Noir Casteel Eola-Amity Hills Magnum
Price: $195.00 Your Price: $171.60
2022 Bethel Heights Pinot Noir "Casteel" Eola-Amity Hills
Price: $93.75 Sale Price: $90.00 Your Price: $82.50
2022 BETHEL HEIGHTS JUSTICE VINEYARD PINOT NOIR EOLA AMITY HILLS
Price: $87.00 Your Price: $76.56
2022 Bethel Heights Pinot Noir Estate Eola Amity Hills Magnum
Price: $97.50 Your Price: $85.80
2022 BETHEL HEIGHTS PINOT NOIR AEOLIAN EOLA AMITY HILLS MAGNUM
Price: $112.00 Your Price: $98.56
2019 Bethel Heights Justice Vineyard Pinot Noir Eola Amity Hills
Price: $60.00 Your Price: $52.80 Quantity in Stock: 4
2018 Bethel Heights Pinot Noir Aeolian Eola Amity Hills Magnum
Price: $119.00 Your Price: $104.72 Quantity in Stock: 1
2017 Bethel Heights Pinot Noir Aeolian Eola Amity Hills Magnum
Price: $97.50 Your Price: $85.80 Quantity in Stock: 6
2015 Bethel Heights Pinot Noir Flat Block Magnum
Price: $159.00 Your Price: $139.92 Quantity in Stock: 1
2015 Bethel Heights Pinot Noir West Block Magnum
Price: $159.00 Your Price: $139.92 Quantity in Stock: 1
A bit about Brittan Vineyards:
It took years to find the ideal site on which to grow Pinot Noir but after an exhaustive search, Brittan Vineyards began on an 128-acre hillside in Oregon in December 2004. The soils are a mixture of glacial deposits and volcanic material, with a predominant presence of broken basalt.
At that time, there were 18 acres of existing vines. However, close to 50% has subsequently been re-planted in order to fine-tune the viticultural practices and improve the clonal and rootstock combinations. This included one of the first plantings of the Swan clonal selection of Pinot Noir in Oregon.
After dropping all of the crop in 2005 to allow the vines to get better established, the first two Pinot Noirs from the mature vines on the property came from the 2006 vintage, a total of 720 cases.
In the spring of 2008, an additional 3.5 acres of Pinot Noir were planted, which are now in production— the rocky soils and low water retention often means that it takes five years for a vine to get into production.
In addition to the Pinot, 4 acres of Chardonnay and 1.5 acres of Syrah have been planted. These are two varietals that benefit greatly from a cool growing climate.
“We have east, south and west exposures to choose from on a cool, windy site on the edge of the Coastal Range. As a result, I believe I have found a site where I can grow unique wines, wines that truly speak of this place.” - Robert Brittan
Robert Brittan left Stags’ Leap Winery in Napa after 16 years as Winemaker and Estate Manager to fulfill his dream of making Pinot Noir and Syrah from unique sites in cooler climates. His winemaking career began in his dorm room at Oregon State University, where he was a physics and philosophy major.
Being both geeky and broke, he soon realized that alcohol was an attractant to co-eds, so he began his career in fermentation sciences in order to get a date. He ultimately completed his education at UC Davis and moved to Napa Valley, where he made wines for Far Niente, Saint Andrews and Stags’ Leap Winery.
With 45 years of experience growing grapes and making wine, he brings a significant amount of viticultural and winemaking knowledge to Brittan Vineyards. He has always had a passion for Pinot Noir, and hopes that with the fruit from the Brittan estate vineyard in the foothills of the Coastal Range, he can bring a new voice to the McMinnville AVA, and help form the style and definition of Pinot Noir from this recently designated winegrowing region.
In addition to his own wines, Robert is also the winemaker for several other brands, to include: deLancellotti, Fairsing and Winderlea. As a result, Robert is now making wines from all six of the sub-AVA’s of the Willamette Valley and has learned first hand that Pinot Noir lends itself to many wonderful interpretations, depending on the soils and microclimates where it is grown.
Ellen has always had a passion for food and wine, so after spending the first twenty years of her career working in Financial Services, she finally decided to give up the corporate world to do something she would do even if she didn’t get paid to do it.
After working in a lovely little family winery in Yountville, she joined Rudd Winery in Oakville, where she had the wonderful opportunity to launch and manage a new luxury wine brand for Leslie Rudd. In the course of her ten years with the Rudd Group, she also was involved in the group’s other food and spirits related projects, to include Dean & DeLuca, Edge Hill Winery, Distillery No. 209, PRESS Restaurant and Oakville Grocery. It was a dream come true to be immersed in a world of gourmet food and luxury wine and spirits.
Having grown up in Seattle, studying French and Spanish Language & Literature at the University of Washington, she longed to return to her North West roots, so needless to say she was thrilled to be joint owner of the beautiful Brittan Vineyards winery in McMinnville.
While Robert oversees the vineyard and winemaking, Ellen manages the business operations for Brittan Vineyards. In addition, Ellen has worked as General Manager for the Carlton Winemakers’ Studio and as the Director of Wine Education at Linfield College. In order to give back to a wine community that has been so welcoming and supportive, she has also served as Chair of the Oregon Wine Board, President of the Oregon Winegrowers’ Association, and Chair of the International Pinot Noir Celebration. She currently sits on the board of Visit McMinnville and is a member of the Linfield Wine Education Advisory Council.
2023 Brittan Vineyards Chardonnay Willamette Valley
Price: $45.00 Your Price: $39.60 Quantity in Stock: 16
2022 Brittan Vineyards Estate Chardonnay McMinnville
Price: $54.00 Your Price: $47.52 Quantity in Stock: 11
2023 BRITTAN VINEYARDS PINOT NOIR ESTATE MCMINNVILLE
Price: $45.00 Your Price: $39.60
2022 BRITTAN VINEYARDS PINOT NOIR ESTATE MCMINNVILLE
Price: $45.00 Your Price: $39.60 Quantity in Stock: 70
2021 Brittan Vineyards Pinot Noir Estate McMinnville
Price: $54.00 Your Price: $47.52 Quantity in Stock: 8
2021 BRITTAN VINEYARDS PINOT NOIR HERITAGE BLOCK MCMINNVILLE MAGNUM
Price: $162.00 Your Price: $142.56
2021 BRITTAN VINEYARDS PINOT NOIR HERITAGE BLOCK MCMINNVILLE
Price: $76.50 Your Price: $67.32 Quantity in Stock: 10
2021 Brittan Vineyards Pinot Noir Gestalt Block McMinnville
Price: $69.00 Your Price: $60.72
2018 Brittan Vineyards Pinot Noir Gestalt Block McMinnville Magnum
Price: $133.50 Your Price: $117.48 Quantity in Stock: 6
2018 Brittan Vineyards Pinot Noir Gestalt Block McMinnville
Price: $60.00 Your Price: $52.80 Quantity in Stock: 12
2021 BRITTAN VINEYARDS PINOT NOIR BASALT BLOCK MCMINNVILLE MAGNUM
Price: $162.00 Your Price: $142.56
2021 BRITTAN VINEYARDS PINOT NOIR BASALT BLOCK MCMINNVILLE
Price: $76.50 Your Price: $67.32 Quantity in Stock: 12
2018 Brittan Vineyards Pinot Noir Basalt Block McMinnville Magnum
Price: $133.50 Your Price: $117.48 Quantity in Stock: 8
2018 Brittan Vineyards Pinot Noir Basalt Block McMinnville
Price: $75.00 Your Price: $66.00 Quantity in Stock: 8
2017 Brittan Vineyards Pinot Noir Basalt Block McMinnville Magnum
Price: $127.50 Your Price: $112.20 Quantity in Stock: 4
2021 BRITTAN VINEYARDS PINOT NOIR CYGNUS BLOCK MCMINNVILLE MAGNUM
Price: $162.00 Your Price: $142.56
2021 Brittan Vineyards Pinot Noir Cygnus Block McMinnville
Price: $76.50 Your Price: $67.32 Quantity in Stock: 14
2019 Brittan Vineyards Pinot Noir Cygnus Block McMinnville
Price: $75.00 Your Price: $66.00 Quantity in Stock: 15
2018 Brittan Vineyards Pinot Noir Cygnus Block McMinnville Magnum
Price: $133.50 Your Price: $117.48 Quantity in Stock: 7
2018 Brittan Vineyards Pinot Noir Cygnus Block McMinnville
Price: $75.00 Your Price: $66.00 Quantity in Stock: 2
2017 Brittan Vineyards Pinot Noir Cygnus Block McMinnville Magnum
Price: $127.50 Your Price: $112.20 Quantity in Stock: 2
2015 BRITTAN VINEYARDS PINOT NOIR CYGNUS BLOCK MCMINNVILLE MAGNUM
Price: $165.00 Your Price: $145.20 Quantity in Stock: 1
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