Kelley Fox, Momtazi TIR Pinot Noir 2016

Kelley Fox Wines is a small family winery run by just two people, Kelley Fox (winemaker) and her brother, Gerson Stearns (general manager). The first vintage was 2007, starting with just over 100 cases. The annual case production is now just shy of 2000 cases, all from the historic Maresh Vineyard and the Demeter-certified biodynamic Momtazi Vineyard. 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. That said, the wines are not really 'made' at all.  As the winemaker, Kelley Fox has no end result in mind each year for the what the wines will be. What she is doing is responding to the essence of the fruit from each block, which she hopes is carrying the essence of the earth that bore it, along with the details of the year (the weather, the stars and the planets). Kelley graduated Magna Cum Laude with dual degrees in Biochemistry and Biophysics from Oregon State University and was admitted to the PhD program in Biochemistry and writes that 'before completing the doctorate, I changed my path to pursue winemaking. I learned winemaking not from a classroom or textbooks or from other regions, but directly from Oregon winemakers who had put in some serious time. I was deeply influenced by my 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 1960s. My winemaking experience includes Torii Mor, Hamacher, and Eyrie, and ten years as winemaker at Scott Paul Wines (August 2005 to about mid-April 2015). I now happily work for my own winery exclusively.