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View the PDF version (9 meg) "Marty Clubb has built L’Ecole No 41 into one of Walla Walla’s flagships...making wines that represent the region, the wines that signify Walla Walla."
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Fall 2007 Dear Friends of the Winery, 25 Years of Winemaking By the time you receive this newsletter our first truckload of 2007 grapes will have arrived, prompting us to raise our glasses and toast the beginning of L’Ecole’s 25th harvest. Oddly, that will be the second 25th anniversary this year as Megan and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in June. In October, add those two together and it is the big 50 for me. Sigh, pause, move on. Hopefully obvious, L’Ecole has been immensely successful during this first quartercentury and the future couldn’t be brighter. If I could encapsulate this success in two items, it would come down to place and people. It is our strength in these two assets that has been the engine of our success. I intend to elaborate on these two items in this newsletter and in the year to come, but more on that after we take a short look at the past. The Washington wine industry has undergone staggering and dynamic growth in the last 25 years. L’Ecole was the 100th wine bond issued in Washington State in 1983 and at that time only 20 wineries were crushing grapes. Today there are more than 500. The Walla Walla Valley has certainly been in the forefront of some of that growth. Following in the giant footsteps of Leonetti and Woodward Canyon, L’Ecole No 41 was founded by Megan’s parents Jean and Baker Ferguson in 1983. Megan and I eagerly came up from California in the fall of 1983 to work harvest. By the late 1980s Jean and Baker were thinking about a real retirement and Megan and I moved to Walla Walla in 1989 to take over the winery. In the early years most of our wines were produced from premium vineyards in the Columbia Valley, the core portion of our portfolio even today. As Walla Walla expanded so did its vineyards and L’Ecole began to produce Walla Walla Valley appellation wines, starting with Pepper Bridge Vineyard Apogee and Seven Hills Vineyard Merlot in 1993. We were fortunate to become partners in Seven Hills Vineyard in 1997 and today we are the largest producer of wines from this vineyard, producing single vineyard Estate Semillon, Merlot, Syrah, and a Bordeaux blend, Perigee. Seven Hills Vineyard was named by Wine & Spirits Magazine as one of the Ten Great Vineyards of the World in the fall of 2004. We have been blessed with many accolades and positive wine reviews in the intervening years. It would be almost silly to start listing scores, but a few of the more significant highlights during the last ten years might illuminate our track record. For six consecutive years (2002-2007) L’Ecole No 41 was honored as a Winery of the Year by Wine & Spirits Magazine. Twice we landed a wine in their 100 Best Wines and twice in their 100 Best Values. Two times Wine Enthusiast Magazine included L’Ecole in their Top 100 Wines. At the Wine Spectator we have been honored three times with a wine in their Top 100 Wines and three times accepted the coveted distinction of pouring at the New York Wine Experience. And finally, a once in a lifetime honor, Wine Press Northwest named us their Winery of the Year in 2004, the number one winery chosen out of 600 wineries considered. I am immensely proud of these accomplishments. Place and people have been the drivers of much of our success. Our viticultural region is unique in the wine world. There is no other location that has this unusual combination of latitude, geology, mineral-rich ice age soils, lack of rainfall, intense sunshine and natural, own-rooted vines gelling together into this perfect climate for wine. We have preached at great length about some of our best vineyards, including Seven Hills Vineyard and Pepper Bridge Vineyard, and their individual micro-climates and terroir that give us that “signature” typicity of a specific vineyard site. As our wine industry grows, there will be more and more focus on such unique vineyard sites. The old adage is true: wine is made in the vineyard. What isn’t often discussed or given credit are the people involved in winegrowing and winemaking who allow us to harness this gift of place and terroir and turn it into wine that is really quite special. In the vineyard, our viticulturalist and field workers take pride in their meticulously balanced canopies, uniformity of crop, and sustainable field practices that improve soil health and minimize herbicides and pesticides. At the winery, rigorous attention to detail and state-of-the-art enological practices keep quality at the forefront of all decisions. On the sales front, we take great pride in working with only the best wine distributors across the country, those particularly focused on small, quality driven wineries such as ourselves. Finally, our consumer direct and tasting room sales staff are totally focused on the consumer, that is you, our best customers. I have been fortunate to have built our winery and vineyards with friends, employees, and partners who share a passion and commitment to quality and excellence in all aspects of our winemaking, from the vineyard to the bottle to you, the consumer. So this 25th Anniversary is a celebration and tribute to them, the people behind our brand whose enthusiasm, dedication, commitment, perseverance and unrelenting passion have built us into one of the best wineries in Washington State. Thank you all!
New Wine Releases
Mark your calendars now!
Vins de L’Ecole members are invited to share in this special celebration as we commemorate our 25th harvest. Enjoy a selection of wine-paired hors d’oeuvres, re-visit favorite standout wines from the past and sample a future star still in barrel. Look forward to tasting our December releases – 2005 Pepper Bridge Vineyard Apogee, 2005 Seven Hills Vineyard Estate Perigee, 2006 Fries Vineyard Semillon and 2006 Seven Hills Vineyard Estate Ice Wine. December release wines will be available for purchase by Vins de L’Ecole members at this event. Members may also pick up their November Wine Club Selection, please let Jaime know if you would like to do so ahead of time. Space is limited. RSVP to jaime@lecole.com or (509) 525.0940. Complimentary Vins de L’Ecole Wine Club
Selections – November
Calendar of Events
Martin and Megan Clubb, and the staff of L'Ecole Nº 41 |
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2006 Columbia Valley Semillon
2006 Seven Hills Vineyard Estate Semillon
2006 Columbia Valley Chardonnay
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