By Regina Vaccari

As we ring in 2016 with new wines so festive and bright, we want to take a moment to pause and celebrate the past – vintages that mark where we’ve been and that have helped shape where we are headed (hint: we’re aiming for “up”).

We are proud that all of our wines are made with single vineyard fruit from our estate in Talent, Oregon. Each bottle is handcrafted to reflect the highest quality in wine making. Blends still excite us and we aim to use our best fruit in these endeavors, which seems to be paying off. Several of our awards this year were earned for our Orion’s Nebula, Dark Night and Epitome of Three – all unique red blends in their own right. Our whites are catching up, too, indicative when our 2014 Sauvignon Blanc and 2013 Chenin Blanc both scored 90+ points and were named ‘Editor’s Choice’ by the Wine Enthusiast – one of the world’s leading resources for wine news – this past August.

Here’s a snapshot of awards won in 2015…and, thanks for “indulging” us this time!

2015 Wine Press Northwest Platinum Wine Awards, Tempranillo ’10, Double Gold • Malbec ’11, Double Gold

2015 San Francisco Chronicle Competition, Malbec ’11, Gold • Sauvignon Blanc ‘14, Silver • Sangiovese ‘12, Silver • Syrah ‘11, Silver • Cabernet Franc ‘12, Silver • Orion’s Nebula ’11, Silver • Dark Night ’11, Silver

Oregon Wine Press (March Issue), Cabernet Franc ’12, “Top Value Picks”

2015 Finger Lakes Wine Competition, Tempranillo ’12, Gold • Orion’s Nebula ’11, Silver • Sangiovese ’12, Silver

Wine Enthusiast Buying Guide (August Issue), Sauvignon Blanc ’14, 92 Points, ‘Editor’s Choice’ • Primoris ’13, 91 Points, ‘Editor’s Choice’ • 2012 Sangiovese ’12, 89 Points • Syrah ’11, 89 Points

2015 Oregon Wine Experience, Malbec ’13, Gold • Primoris ’14, Silver • Petit Verdot ’13, Silver

2015 San Francisco International Wine Competition, Tempranillo ’12, Silver • Viognier ’13, Silver • Sauvignon Blanc ’14, Silver

Sunset Magazine’s Int’l Wine Competition, Sunset Buying Guide (October Issue), Tempranillo ’12, Silver

2015 Los Angeles Int’l Wine Competition, Tempranillo ’12, Silver • Sauvignon Blanc ’14, Silver

Portland Monthly Oregon’s 25 Best Wines Under $25 (October Issue), Sauvignon Blanc ’14, “Oregon’s Best Wines Under $25”

SIP Northwest Magazine – Best of the Pacific Northwest (October Issue), Malbec ’13, “Best Malbec”

2015 NW Food & Wine Festival, Dark Night ’13, Gold

Make plans to visit us in the New Year! Located in Central Point’s Artisan Corridor – a trifecta of the region’s most award-winning cheese, wine and chocolate – we’re now open daily from noon-5pm. Just 2 miles off I-5, left on exit 35.

While the vineyard crew is busy bringing in the grapes that will ultimately produce wines for our 2015 vintage, past vintages and current releases are gaining new recognition this month by a number of noteworthy publications. We’re proud to share the results of our latest ‘crop’ of wine awards with you. Look for the October 2015 issues of these publications, which hit newsstands this month.

Ledger David 2013 Malbec, “Best Malbec”
SIP Northwest Magazine’s ‘Best of the Northwest’

Ledger David 2012 Tempranillo, Silver Winner
Sunset Magazine’s Int’l Wine Competition, Sunset Buying Guide

Ledger David 2014 Sauvignon Blanc, ‘Best Wine Under $25’
Portland Monthly Magazine’s, “Oregon’s Best Wines Under $25”

Other recent wine awards include:

Ledger David 2014 Sauvignon Blanc – 92 Points, ‘Editor’s Choice’
“Fermented in stainless steel and one neutral barrel, this aromatic and compelling wine is clean, fresh and full of delicious fruit.” – Editor Paul Gregutt

Ledger David 2013 Primoris Chenin Blanc – 91 Points, ‘Editor’s Choice’
“Chenin Blanc is quite rare in Oregon, and this wine, from vines planted just five years previously, may inspire others to follow suit…The balance and length are just right and the varietal character is in evidence throughout.” – Editor Paul Gregutt

Ledger David 2013 Malbec, Gold Winner
Oregon Wine Experience, August 2015

2013 Petit Verdot, Silver Winner
Oregon Wine Experience, August 2015

2014 Primoris Chenin Blanc, Silver Winner
Oregon Wine Experience, August 2015

In addition, Ledger David’s Dark Night red blend was also recently reviewed by notable wine blogger Michael Chelus of Nittany Epicurean, just in time for the new 2013 vintage to arrive!

Cheers to past, current and future vintages!

By Kiley Evans

Dateline: San Francisco, CA.
Event: The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.
Result: Ledger David Cellars brings 9 medals back to the Rogue Valley including 4 for our first vintage efforts!

2011 Malbec. 2011 Dark Night. 2011 Syrah. 2012 Epitome of Three. Our first vintage of these crowd favorites medal at the 2015 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Tack on awards for 2011 Orion’s Nebula, 2013 Sauvignon blanc, 2012 Sangiovese, 2012 Cabernet franc, and 2013 Primoris Chenin blanc, too.

Why is this a big deal? First of all, the fact that we are such a young winery makes us a legitimate David versus Goliath when compared to the big name established wineries. It’s a role we really enjoy, too. Secondly, we validate our focus on both varietal wines and blends. Our first Tempranillo-based blend, 2011 Dark Night, our first Syrah-based blend, 2012 Epitome of Three, and our flagship Cabernet franc-based blend, 2011 Orion’s Nebula, all brought home some hardware. Imagine the look on the judge’s faces when the bags are removed and our wines are standing right there toe to toe with the big brands with international reputations! We can almost hear the judges say, “That wine is from where? They grow that in Oregon? Seriously?”

The sheer size of the SF Chronicle Wine Competition, over 6,400 entries, is what makes it such an important measurement for our wines. The event conducts blind tastings by some of the country’s most highly regarded professionals in the wine, restaurant, travel, journalism, and academic industries. When the size of the playing field is considered, a medal at the Chronicle Competition is considered more prestigious than most others. Here’s to a great contest and inspiring results!

By Winemaker Kiley Evans

The 2014 award season was been very kind to Ledger David Cellars, but how does one recap a season in which we entered only a few wine competitions and had stars emerge in each one? There are literally hundreds of competitions held annually throughout the country. Some producers like to tout 25 medals for an individual wine. Our philosophy on competitions is somewhat different. We could enter 30 or more wine competitions per year, but we prefer to enter only a few highly competitive and invitation-only contests so that our medals carry a bit more weight. In our eight competitions in 2014 we earned 17 medals. There isn’t room to mention each one individually, and that limitation always draws some less-than-kind glares from the wines not mentioned, so be kind to those wines when you visit Le Petit Tasting Room, but we can cover the major highlights.

First up, our 2011 Cabernet franc. By no means are producers of Cabernet franc in the Pacific Northwest few in number. In reality, we’re one of probably several hundred PNW producers when you consider Washington, Idaho, British Columbia, and Oregon. When we got the invitation from SIP Northwest to be considered in a “Best of the Best” competition we were flattered. When we got the news we won we were ecstatic. Look. The Cab franc is beaming, too.

Second in line is the 2011 Syrah. Syrah is a great match for the Ledger David Cellars estate vineyard. During the growing season Syrah obviously enjoys our east-facing slopes as it develops and ripens. We really enjoy the wine it produces, as well. The judges for Portland Monthly’s annual “Oregon’s 50 Best Wines” agreed. We ranked #35 in their tasting. There are easily 1,000 wines produced in Oregon in any given year. This distinction is both huge and humbling.

Last, but certainly not least, our 2011 Malbec. This is the first Malbec for Ledger David Cellars. We have always held Malbec in high regard and our site has produced some pretty good Malbec fruit, but we had to be certain we measured up before we took the plunge to bottle a varietal Malbec. When the wine was shipped to the 2014 Los Angeles International Wine Competition we had no expectations. A few weeks later we got the news: Gold Medal, 93 points, and the second highest rated domestic Malbec. Yep, quite a year!

With all of these things in mind and the end of our harvest season approaching we thought a little tribute to these wines to finish off the year would be fun so we are planning a “Best of the Best” weekend for Sat., Nov. 22 and Sun., Nov. 23. A $10 tasting fee will apply and we’ll have our three award winners available in their remaining limited quantities paired with small bites from Déjà Vu Bistro & Wine Bar in Jacksonville. Think we should make this an annual event?