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Pebblestone Cellars 2017 Pinot Gris
From dusty gravel to glorious grapes
With a baby strapped into a backpack, Dick and Pat Ellis joined some friends to pick grapes in Woodside, California. For Dick, it was a revelation — these simple grapes turning into glorious wine. Soon, he started trying to ferment anything he could get his hands on.
Fortunately for us (and Pat), he soon gave up trying to ferment the backyard fruit and became a rather accomplished home winemaker. And soon enough, Dick and Pat were spending their days off searching for vineyard land in Napa and Sonoma. Eventually, they found the perfect spot — in Oregon’s Rogue Valley. And the rest is history.
Today, that backpack baby, his two siblings, and their spouses help run the family winery in Talent, Oregon. The rocky, gravelly soil of the Ellis Vineyard combines with a huge diurnal swing in the summer to produce grapes with the perfect contrast of sugar and acid for fantastic wines.
The property is a 26-acre site with 15 acres planted, and just enough room for the family homestead, a fantastic tasting room, and live music all summer long.
Cellar 503 Tasting Notes
Pebblestone Cellars, Medford, Oregon
2017 Pinot Gris
The first Pinot Gris planted in America was right here in Oregon in 1965. In the intervening decades, Pinot Gris has become associated with Oregon winemaking, second only to Pinot Noir. And that means, let’s be honest, that sometimes we Oregonians get a little bored by Pinot Gris.
Let me assure you — this 2017 Pebblestone is anything but boring. It has a complexity that dances in your mouth, and a thread of minerality delivered by the unique rock and gravel soils that inspired the winery’s name.
You’ll find the aromatic notes of white flowers and crisp apples, and those classic flavors of pear and citrus. But you’ll also taste a bare hint of almond, dare I say marzipan, that is so classic in the best Italian Pinot Grigio wines.
This is a perfect for a hot summer day. Serve it well-chilled as an appetizer wine with cheese and fruit, or with seafood or spicy Asian food.
A Cellar 503 selection in July 2021, Spotlight on Southern Oregon Rogue Valley | Pinot Gris
