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The New Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia
Tom Stevenson edited by Orsi Szentkiralyi

Kelley Fox Wines ***V

This is a small-scale producer of wines with heart, soul, and deliciousness.

*** The best wines that money can buy without any allowances made for limitations of local style quality and quality.
V  Wines of exceptional value for money whether they are inexpensive or not.

KEY TO TASTE AND QULAITY SYMBOLS

How good a wine producer is and why a wine tastes the way it does are the twin pillars of this encyclopedia; thus, FACTORS AFFECTING TASTE and QUALITY and the STAR RATING SYSTEM are regular features. The taste guides are found in Appellations, Producers, and Styles. Stars are given for a producer’s general quality and do not necessarily apply to each wine that a producer makes. When a producer listing has no stars this indicates an acceptable but not outstanding standard.

2019 Kelley Fox Wines Pinot Noir Maresh Vineyard Royal Ann Block

The 2019 Pinot Noir Maresh Vineyard Royal Ann Block is spiced with white pepper, wild cherry, and roses. It has more structure on the palate, with vibrant energy, notes of wild strawberry, apricot, and fresh earth, and a floral perfume that lingers. Drink 2023-2034. 95
Audrey Frick (8/16/2022)

2019 Kelley Fox Wines Pinot Noir Hyland Vineyard Coury Clone

A bit darker profile, the 2019 Pinot Noir Hyland Vineyard Coury Clone is still beautifully transparent and has the soft perfume of crushed roses, wild ripe strawberry, and herbes de Provence. The palate is medium-bodied, with orange zest, pure red cherry, and dried herbs. The wine is long and persistent on the palate, with notes of purple flowers. Drink 2023-2034. 95

Audrey Frick (8/16/2022)

2019 Kelley Fox Wines Pinot Noir Weber Vineyard

The 2019 Pinot Noir Weber Vineyard is transparent with the elegant perfume of hibiscus, roses, and fresh strawberry. It is dry and medium-bodied, with cinnamon, dried raspberry, and incense. Drink it over the next 10 years or more. 94

Audrey Frick (8/16/2022)

2019 Kelley Fox Wines Pinot Noir Carter Vineyard

The 2019 Pinot Noir Carter Vineyard has a hint of delicate rusticity with its notes of turned soil, cherry, saddle leather, and pine. The palate is structured and dark-fruited, with black raspberry, turned earth, and wild herbs. It warrants time in the decanter to settle if opening now. Allow another 2-3 years in the cellar and drink 2025-2035. 94

Audrey Frick (8/16/2022)

2019 Kelley Fox Wines Pinot Noir Maresh Vineyard Star-of-Bethlehem Flower Block

The 2019 Pinot Noir Maresh Vineyard Star-of-Bethlehem Flower Block pours the palest shade of red and is fully transparent. It is lifted with aromas of hibiscus, pomegranate, and rosehip, and the palate is medium-bodied and floral, with fresh raspberry, crushed flowers, and orange peel as well as fine tannins and a soft texture. This is a gorgeous crystalline wine. Drink 2022-2032. 96

Audrey Frick (8/16/2022)

2021 Kelley Fox Wines Pinot Blanc Barbie

The 2021 Pinot Blanc Barbie is floral with jasmine, a more high-tone energy of lemon verbena, and fresh peach. The palate is dry and medium-bodied, with more tension, revealing notes of pear, yellow flowers, pithy grapefruit, and wet stone. Drink 2023-2030. 93

Audrey Frick (8/16/2022)

2021 Kelley Fox Wines Pinot Blanc Freedom Hill Vineyard

The 2021 Pinot Blanc Freedom Hill Vineyard is floral with white flowers, almond, and melon, and the palate is medium-bodied, offering notes of lime zest, white peach, and saline along with a chalky mineral texture. Drink 2023-2030. 92

Audrey Frick (8/16/2022)

2021 Kelley Fox Wines White Riesling Old Vine Maresh Vineyard

The 2021 White Riesling Old Vine Maresh Vineyard is highly aromatic, with fresh peach candies, tropical flowers, and soft lychee candy. The palate is dry but has ripe fruit up front and drives with lime acidity as well as ripe green apple candy and peach. Drink 2022-2032. 92

Audrey Frick (8/16/2022)

2021 Kelley Fox Wines Chardonnay Durant Vineyard Lark Block

The 2021 Chardonnay Durant Vineyard Lark Block is vibrant with lime zest, green pear, and white flowers. The palate is tension-filled with green apple, chamomile, and chalk. It is fully dry and medium-bodied, with zippy and energetic drive. Drink 2023-2032. 93

Audrey Frick (8/16/2022)

2021 Kelley Fox Wines Gruner Veltliner Willamette Valley

The 2021 Gruner Veltliner Willamette Valley is fresh with pineapple, white flowers, and fresh herbs. The palate is medium-bodied and saline, with green apple, salted lime, and savory chive, and it has a long, refreshing finish. Drink 2022-2028. 92

Audrey Frick (8/16/2022)

2021 Kelley Fox Wines Nerthus

Composed of Muscat, Pinot Gris, and Riesling, the 2021 Nerthus is perfumed with lychee, peach rings, and wild strawberry. The palate is medium-bodied and fresh, with raspberry, and candied citrus, and rose petals. Drink 2022-2025. 91

Audrey Frick (8/16/2022)

© 2023 Jeb Dunnuck | Reprinted with Permission

2018 Pinot Noir “Maresh Vineyard” Red Barns Blocks– Kelley Fox Wines (Dundee Hills)

The Red Barn Blocks on the Maresh Vineyard are also one of the original parcels to go in the ground here in 1970, when Jim and Loie Maresh planted their first vines. The 2018 vintage will be the last that Kelley produces from this parcel of vines. At fifty percent, the Red Barn Blocks includes just a bit more whole clusters than the regular Maresh bottling this year. It delivers a magical aromatic constellation of cherries, fraises du bois, mustard seed, turmeric, gentle smokiness, incipient cinnamon, a gorgeous base of soil, cherry blossoms and cedar. On the palate the wine is pure, full, focused and dancing, with a sappy core, stunning transparency and grip, ripe, utterly refined tannins and superb lift and bounce on the very long, complex and perfectly balanced finish. This is a pinot noir of understated magic and mystery. 2026-2065+. 95.  p.160 (Number Eighty-Seven | May-June 2020)

2019 Pinot Noir “Canary Hill Vineyard”- Kelley Fox Wines (Eola-Amity Hills)

This is the first I have seen of a Canary Hill Vineyard bottling of pinot noir from Kelley Fox and it is simply beautiful. The vineyard is owned by Ken Wright, with the parcel that Kelley purchases grapes from having been planted in 1999. The 2019 Canary Hill bottling comes in at a 48 cool 12.5 percent octane and delivers a beautifully refined, black fruity nose of dark berries, cassis, a complex array of gentle herb tones that recall bay leaf, cumin and thyme, coffee bean, dark soil tones and a topnote of currant leaf. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, vibrant and intensely flavored, with a lovely core of fruit, superb transparency and grip, ripe, buried tannins and a long, tangy and complex finish. This is so effortless and light on its feet, while still showing off outstanding depth and backend energy. 2029-2080. 93. (November-December 2020 | Number Ninety)

2019 Pinot Noir “Carter Vineyard”- Kelley Fox Wines (Eola-Amity Hills)

The Carter Vineyard is another new (to me) bottling of pinot noir from Kelley Fox. This vineyard is also owned by Ken Wright, with the first vines having been planted here in 1983, which include the parcel of Wädesnwil clones on francs de pied from which this wine is crafted. The wine is just a touch riper than the Canary Hill, reaching an even thirteen percent and offering up a vibrant bouquet of cherries, red plums, a gorgeous base of soil tones, clove, gamebird, fresh thyme, a touch of sweet stems and a discreet foundation of cedar. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and soil-driven, with a lovely core, fine-grained tannins and beautiful balance and grip on the long, complex and very promising finish. Fine juice. 2030-2080. 93+. (November-December 2020 | Number Ninety)

2019 Pinot Noir “Maresh Vineyard”- Kelley Fox Wines (Dundee Hills)

The vines in the Maresh turned fifty in 2020, so that is at least one good thing that has come out of this ill-fated year. However, they were doing just fine at age forty-nine, to hear this lovely wine tell the story! Kelley Fox’s 2018 Maresh Vineyard bottling is notably light and transparent in color this year (like a liquid ruby in the glass), coming in at the vintage’s evenkeeled 12.5 percent and delivering an equally beautiful red fruity blend of strawberries, cherries, blood orange, a nice youthful touch of sweet stems, a dollop of wild thyme, stunningly complex soil tones, rose petal and a touch of cedar. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and defined by its beautiful soil, with a touch of sappiness to the red fruit at the core, tangy acids, buried tannins and outstanding mineral drive and grip on the long, tangy and very complex finish. This is breathtakingly beautiful young pinot noir. 2030-2080+. 95. (November-December 2020 | Number Ninety)

2019 Pinot Noir “Maresh Vineyard” Royal Ann Block– Kelley Fox Wines (Dundee Hills)

The 2019 Royal Ann Block pinot noir from Maresh Vineyard is just a shade deeper-hued than the Maresh Vineyard bottling this year, but it shares that same fire brilliance to the color in the glass. The bouquet is lovely, wafting from the glass in a refined blend of cherries, cherry blossoms, a hint of red plum, gamebird, a very complex base of soil, gentle notes of cardamom, fresh nutmeg and mustard seed and a very discreet dollop of cedar. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and a tad more reserved in personality than the straight Maresh Vineyard cuvée, with a beautiful core of red fruit, excellent transparency and bounce, fine-grained tannins and a long, tangy and complex finish. This will want just a couple more years in the cellar to fully blossom than the Maresh, but will be dazzling when it is ready to drink. 2032-2080+. 95. (November-December 2020 | Number Ninety)

2019 Pinot Noir “Maresh Vineyard” Star-of-Bethlehem Flower Block- Kelley Fox Wines. 

The Star-of-Bethlehem Flower Block in the Maresh has become one of my favorite bottlings of pinot noir in all the US, and the 2019 version is everything one would expect in the synthesis of a very special terroir and a great vintage, brought together under the thoughtful trusteeship of Kelley Fox. The nose delivers an elegant and perfumed blend of strawberries, cherries, a hint of sweet beetroot, cloves, mustard seed, turmeric, a refined base of soil tones, wild flowers and cedar. On the palate the wine is vibrant, full-bodied and transparent, with great intensity of flavor, a lovely core, buried tannins and a long, bouncy and very complex finish. This seems a touch more like the straight Maresh in structure this year, as compared to the slightly more reticent Royal Ann pinot and will only need about a decade to really blossom into completeness. It is a wine of total, delicate honesty and a rare bird. Tuck it away and watch it take flight. 2030-2080+. 96. (November-December 2020 | Number Ninety)

This set of 2019s represents yet another stellar collection of graceful wines from Kelley Fox, who has been making some of the Willamette Valley’s most finely detailed, perfumed, unadorned and elegant Pinots for some time now. While she is deeply rooted in the Dundee Hills, especially the legendary Maresh vineyard, she’s beginning to branch out, and in this vintage, she produced her first wines (both outstanding) from the famed Carter and Canary Hill sites in the Eola-Amity Hills. Her work with fruit from McMinnville’s famed Hyland vineyard is extremely impressive as well. Word has gotten out and the wines have become increasingly more difficult to track down, so this is yet another winery where going directly to the source is a smart move. It’s a two-person operation, so the odds are high that you’ll be dealing with Kelley herself.

From Oregon’s 2019 Pinot Noirs – A Return to Classicism (Feb 2022) by Josh Raynolds

Kelley Fox Wines 2019 Pinot Noir Hyland Vineyard Coury Clone – 96 pts
McMinnville, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Drinking window: 2025 – 2035

Shimmering garnet. Finely detailed aromas of fresh red berries, incense, star anise and candied rose; a smoky mineral overtone builds in the glass. Sappy and penetrating in the mouth, offering vibrant red currant, raspberry, blood orange and spicecake flavors accented by a smoky mineral note. Finely etched, energetic and racy in character, with excellent finishing thrust, resonating spiciness and polished tannins that lend discreet final grip. Josh Raynolds, February 2022

Kelley Fox Wines 2019 Pinot Noir Carter Vineyard – 94 pts
Eola Amity Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Drinking window: 2025 – 2035

Light, bright red. Assertively perfumed aromas of red and blue fruits, botanical herbs and exotic spices, along with a smoky mineral overtone. Juicy and precise on the palate, offering sweet, mineral-driven raspberry, kirsch, rose pastille and spicecake flavors that deepen and spread out steadily with air. Delivers a suave blend of power and finesse, and finishes with subtle tannic grip and reverberating bitter cherry and licorice notes. Josh Raynolds, February 2022

Kelley Fox Wines 2019 Pinot Noir Canary Hill Vineyard – 95 pts
Eola Amity Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Drinking window: 2025 – 2035

Vivid ruby-red. Vibrant red berry, potpourri and Indian spice aromas are complemented by deeper suggestions of cola and mocha. Plush and seamless in texture, offering finely detailed black raspberry, cherry cola, fruitcake and candied rose flavors that become sweeter with air. Finishes smooth and extremely long, with resonating spiciness and slowly mounting, polished tannins. Josh Raynolds, February 2022

Kelley Fox Wines 2019 Pinot Noir Weber Vineyard – 96 pts
Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Drinking window: 2025 – 2035

Bright scarlet. Deeply aromatic cherry cola, black raspberry, licorice and Asian spice scents, along with a smoky mineral topnote. Juicy and energetic on the palate, offering mineral- and spice-laced black raspberry, bitter cherry, rose pastille and botanical herb flavors that deepen steadily with air while maintaining energy. Delivers a superb blend of power and finesse, and finishes extremely long, with harmonious tannins and clinging cherry and spice notes. Josh Raynolds, February 2022

Kelley Fox Wines 2019 Pinot Noir Maresh Vineyard – 94 pts
Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Drinking window: 2024 – 2034

Shimmering red. Smoke- and spice-accented cherry, raspberry and blueberry scents are complemented by suggestions of savory herbs and pungent flowers. Shows very good depth as well as energy to bitter cherry, black raspberry and espresso flavors that take a sweeter turn through the back half. Dusty tannins frame the persistent finish, which leaves cherry pit and fresh bay notes behind. Josh Raynolds, February 2022

Kelley Fox Wines 2019 Pinot Noir Maresh Vineyard Star of Bethlehem Flower Block – 97 pts
Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Drinking window: 2025 – 2035

Translucent, vivid red. A highly perfumed bouquet evokes fresh red fruits, star anise and potpourri, along with a bright mineral overtone. Juicy, lithe and finely detailed on the palate, offering sweet, mineral- and spice-driven strawberry, candied rose and blood orange flavors that deepen and spread out slowly with air. Delivers a seductive blend of power and finesse and finishes with harmonious tannins, outstanding clarity and wonderful persistence. Josh Raynolds, February 2022

Kelley Fox Wines 2019 Pinot Noir Maresh Vineyard Royal Ann Block – 96 pts
Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Drinking window: 2025 – 2035

Glistening red. Vibrant red fruit, baking spice and potpourri aromas are complemented by building floral and smoky mineral topnotes. Densely packed yet lithe in character, showing outstanding clarity to juicy Chambord, boysenberry, cherry and floral pastille flavors that are braced by an undercurrent of juicy acidity. Smoothly plays power off finesse and finishes impressively long and sappy, with sneaky tannins shaping lingering lavender and botanical herb notes. Josh Raynolds, February 2022

Kelley Fox Wines 2019 Pinot Noir Mirabai – 93 pts
Willamette Valley, Oregon
Drinking window: 2023 – 2031

Shimmering red. Vibrant red fruit and floral scents, along with building spice and succulent herb elements. Juicy and focused on the palate, offering animated strawberry and cherry flavors that smoothly blend depth and energy. Supple tannins add shape to a long, red-fruit-dominated finish that leaves a hint of spiciness behind. Josh Raynolds, February 2022