Roll in the Shea

Today Shea Vineyard produces some of the most sought after fruit in the Willamette Valley. Owned and operated by the Shea family, 135 acres of Pinot noir supply fruit to 22 wineries, including Shea Wine Cellars.  All but one produce a Shea Vineyard designate.

Bill Sweat, of Winderlea, signing autographs at Roll in the Shea

Everyone is not painting with the same shade of red. Rolling hills and a natural division into east and west parcels afford differences in aspect, slope, and altitude.  Five Pinot noir clones are planted Pommard, Wadenswil, and the Dijon clones 777, 115, and 114.  In winemaking the artists get involved early in the process, influencing the fruit in the vineyard.  Shea is quick to credit Vineyard Manager Jesus Marin for expertly overseeing each winemaker’s instructions for pruning, thinning, and picking their blocks.  Of course when the grapes arrive, these artists really start mixing colors and the wine becomes a product of hand and land.

Mark Vlossak of St Innocent describes, “The variations from the different blocks of Shea Vineyard are distinct. The fruit is never monochromatic.  It allows the winemaker to say ‘This is Shea and express the grape, terroir, and the winemaker’s vision.’”

Mark Vlossak, St. Innocent.  Voted “Winemaker with the Best Hair”

In an attempt to demonstrate the many shades of Shea, Penner-Ash Wine Cellars hosts an annual progressive tasting.   Guests meet a community of winemakers who use fruit from Shea Vineyard and experience the wines side by side.

Each year a “punny” name is chosen.  This April it was “Roll in the Shea” where ten wineries poured their expressions of Shea Vineyard.  Small bites were catered by Recipe, out of Newberg, to accompany the wines served on the fermentation deck at Penner-Ash.  Winemakers described their specific blocks of Shea Vineyard and their individual influence on the finished wines.  “It’s quite unique to be able to taste wine from ten different producers working with the same site,” said Lynn Penner-Ash.  Some plan trips to Oregon around the event.  This year guests arrived from Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Texas, Virginia, California, and Washington.

Vintage was at the forefront of the discussion.  Boedecker Cellars, Shea Wine Cellars, Rex Hill, and Elk Cove Vineyards poured 2012s.  Pinot noir from this warm and steady vintage were lush and spicy.  One winemaker referred to 2013 as the “prozac vintage.”  The 2013 growing season began like 2012 and ended with heavy rains in late September.   Winemakers talk in terms of picking before and after the rains.

Mark Vlossak, St. Innocent Winery, barely got his fruit in before the deluge.  Rain was predicted for 11 a.m on Saturday September 28th.  Believing the rain would come earlier, few winemakers planned to harvest that day so there was a surplus of unscheduled harvesters.  Vlossak quickly booked a crew.  He recalls, “The fruit arrived at the winery at 11 a.m.  The rain started at 11:01 and accumulated approximately 4.5“ over the next 48 hours.”

Regardless of when the grapes were picked, the 2013 Pinot noir showed well  – a sign of talented winemaking.  Pouring 2013 Pinot noir were Penner-Ash Wine Cellars, Stephen Goff, Winderlea Vineyard and Winery, Bergstrom Wines, St. Innocent Winery, and Raptor Ridge Winery.

In addition to the walk-around tasting Lynn and Ron Penner-Ash lead two intimate “Defining Shea” seated seminars, each featuring five producers and an introduction by Dick Shea.  These guided “barrel” tastings of 2014 Pinot noir were a peek at the painting in progress.  The first seminar included Raptor Ridge, Rex Hill, Boedecker, Winderlea, and Stephen Goff.  At the second seminar each place setting had samples from Bergstrom, Shea, and Elk Cove using clone 777; Penner-Ash using Wadenswil; and St. Innocent using Pommard.  Each represented different blocks from Shea Vineyards plus the winemaker’s influence.  Most will be blended with wine from other Shea Vineyard blocks before release.

Raptor Ridge barrel samples from Shea Vineyard fruit

Dick Shea began the discussion on common ground – the vintage. “2014 was a wonderful vintage.  We kept waiting for something to go wrong but it was smooth sailing.”  Josh Bergstrom said, “2014 smells and tastes like sunshine.”  Lynn Penner-Ash agreed.  “I have never seen this level of quantity AND quality fruit.” Although Penner-Ash has contracted Shea fruit since 2002 and finds “no matter what the vintage, the site consistently produces great wines.”

Of course everyone took this wonderful fruit, dipped a paintbrush, and used a different stroke.  Bergstrom and Shea showed fruit from opposite ends of the same block.  The only difference was Shea used 30% whole cluster which he finds can add spice, roundness, and depth of flavor versus more pure fruit flavors without whole cluster.

Vlossak, spoke about the structure and the backbone of the Pommard clone and influence of the Shea site. “Shea is the most ageable wine I produce.  I suggest it for people buying an  ‘anniversary wine’ capable of aging 18 years.”

Adam Campbell, Elk Cove, has a soft spot for the sweet fruitiness of clone 777. Bergstrom agreed.  “The 777 clone is the tenderloin cut, the jelly jar, always juicy and fruity with a sweet core.  Able to stand alone, it is also blended with the opulent darkness of other Dijon clones and the classic structure of the Pommard and Wadenswil clones.”

Lucky for wine enthusiasts the combinations of hand and land create many varied masterpieces.  A list of wineries using Shea Vineyard fruit can be found at http://www.sheawinecellars.com/vineyard/.  Visit, taste, and see which shade of Shea speaks to you.