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For us, it will always be about the fruit since our first love lies with growing the grapes. We have been growing Pinot Noir at this site since the early 1980's. Its all we grow.
Carter fruit has gone to Ken Wright Cellars for many years now, and we are proud to have shared with Canary Hill the honor of being one of Ken's first two vineyard designates under the Panther Creek Label. Since 1990, both vineyards have continued as single vineyard bottlings with Ken Wright, retaining their distinctive tastes over the thirteen years.
In 1990 Domaine Serene Winery began to use the fruit from our Pommard Vines while Ken Wright kept the Wadensvil Clone. In 1999, 2000, and 2001 Domaine Serene made a Carter vineyard designate using the Pommard fruit with Tony Rynders as winemaker. We are very honored to have been associated with Panther Creek and Domaine Serene.
While there are no published ratings for vineyard management, Mark Gould would win top honors if there were.
Beginning with the 2002 vintage, the 3 acre Hillblock Pommard site forms the backbone of our own bottling. The Hillblock is the oldest area of the vineyard and, as our first grape growing experience, holds a particular connection for us.
 You may remember 2007 as the summer that went well until the rains hit. We had a cool, damp spring that yielded a surprisingly good fruit set. May, June, and July gave us weeks of moderately warm weather, with only a few really hot days in July. August and the first half of September were mostly hot, then the temperature dropped into the 70's. Rain and very cool weather started on the 29th of September, and just kept coming. Everyone's dilemma was whether to pick at the end of September when the grapes were close to ripe, avoiding the potential loss to mold and rot, or to wait and see if the grapes would mature completely. With crossed fingers, we elected to wait, and we're glad we did. The vineyard was in excellent shape, thanks to strong management, and the grapes came through. When we harvested on October 16 we were at 24.5 degrees Brix , a pH of 3.55, and solidly ripe flavors. The wine is delicately fruity with cassis, black cherry, and boysenberry flavors underlain by earthy, chocolate spice and held together with deliciously ripe tannins.
The 2006 growing season was hot and intense: the grape plants yielded generously and we had to drop green crop in the field, both to reduce yield and eliminate sunburned berries. The grapes came in on October 5 at 24.2 degrees Brix and 3.38 pH. They were deeply colored, slightly raisined from the hot weather, and with nicely browned seeds indicating ripe tannins. Flavors are rich and very available: black cherries, raspberries, and forest floor suffuse the nose, while cocoa, violets, and cassis inform the palate, and lead into the long finish. This wine will drink well early. For those who appreciate comparison to prior years, the 2006 seems most similar to our 2003, but with more delicacy and nuance. Ken Wright continues to make the wine, and Mark Gould to manage the vineyard.
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