Kelley Fox, Vermouth

“This wine tips its hat to the ancient connection of humans and plants– the true beginnings of vermouth and all botanical wines that came before and since. While we can't make any curative or medicinal claims, we can confirm the inclusion of 35 plants that each carry their own vital force, among the vitality of the wine itself. The ancients knew. Our bodies still know. In this regard, at minimum, we can think of this wine as a tasty aperitif before a meal to get the digestive juices flowing, and/or as a digestif post-meal to help break it all down. (A key component of our physical connection and response to the plants is their bitter flavor compounds, which stimulate digestive functioning via bitter receptors that are located not only on our tongue, but also in our stomach, lungs, heart and various other places throughout our body. For those who shy away from the idea of bitter, know that a key goal in the recipe creation was DELICIOUSNESS, which our taste tests confirmed with vermouth and non-vermouth fans alike.)

Kelley Fox Wines is a small winery created in 2007 along with Kelley's father, Gerson "Gus" Stearns. Though she has lived in the Willamette Valley for over 32 years, Kelly finds herself loving Oregon more and more every year. The first vintage (2007) started with just over 100 cases. The annual case production is now around 5000 cases, from vineyards including the historic Maresh Vineyard, Hyland Vineyard (1988 Coury Clone Pinot), Freedom Hill Vineyard (barrel-fermented Pinot blanc, Pinot noir, and Chardonnay), Weber Vineyard(1983 and 1988 Pinot), Durant Vineyard (Chardonnay and Pinot gris), Dux Vineyard (Chardonnay), Carter Vineyard (1982 old vine), and Canary Hill Vineyard.

She has been a full-time, year-round, on-the-floor Oregon Pinot noir winemaker since 2000. Education includes a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Biology from Texas AM University. Graduated Magna Cum Laude with dual degrees in Biochemistry and Biophysics from Oregon State University and was admitted to the PhD program in Biochemistry.