Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2023 Pinot Noir Vespidae was primarily sourced from the Saint Dolores vineyard, with 20% from Temperance Hill, and was aged in a small percentage of new French oak (11%). In the glass, it presents a bright ruby color and offers a fruity and floral perfume in this vintage, with pure aromas of raspberry coulis, pressed purple flowers, fresh sweet herbs, and hints of rocky forest earth. It’s a pleasure on the palate, with a medium-bodied feel, ripe tannins, and a gravelly texture, retaining all its pure fresh fruit through the elegant finish, which has a hint of spice. Drink 2025-2038.
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.