Winemaker Notes
Explosive aromatics of fruit and flowers. On the palate, red and black fruit with spice highlights. Ripe tannins with plenty of body and elegance.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Fresh strawberry with raspberry and floral aromas. Hints of stems. Gorgeous purity of fruit. Medium to full body with juicy fruit and fine tannins. Very layered and flavorful. Tightens up at the end.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Sourced from three vineyards, the ripe but transparent red 2021 Pinot Noir VGR is a lovely expression of a regional wine, with ripe raspberry, mossy earth, and spicy notes of licorice. Juicy and approachable on the palate, with juicy fruit filling its medium frame, it’s long on the palate, with fine tannins and a hint of warming spice on the finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Pinot Noir VGR comes from grapes harvested September 9–17. It opens with very pretty strawberry jam and Italian plum aromas accented by wafts of tangerine peel, bitters and floral perfume. The light-bodied palate is finely astringent, with taut acidity lending focus to its perfumed fruit, and it has a long, layered finish. With its freshness and floral character, it drinks beautifully straight from the bottle.
Home of some of the planet’s most amazingly elegant and expressive Pinot noir, the Willamette Valley is a pastoral, mixed landscape of green, bucolic rolling hills, dramatic forestlands and small, independent, friendly wine growers. As a leader in environmental stewardship, the valley has some of the nation’s most protective land use policies, with two-thirds of its vineyards farmed sustainably and over half, organically. While the valley claims a cool, continental climate, and is heavily influenced by the cold, moist winds of the Pacific Ocean, its warm and dry summers allow for the steady, even ripening of Pinot noir.
The potential of Willamette Valley Pinot noir continues to attract the investment of serious growers and winemakers both locally and from abroad, as naturally the finished wines bring accolades from professionals and enthusiasts. With a range of styles from delicate dried cherry, raspberry and hibiscus to stronger notes of truffle, mocha, plum and spice, a fine Willamette Valley Pinot noir is a perfect expression of both character and grace.