Winemaker Notes
Our Two Estates Pinot Noir is a barrel selection chosen to produce the best reflection each vintage of our Twelve Oaks Estate and Anne Amie Estate vineyards. It is a graceful, elegant and restrained Pinot noir, with enough structure for long-term aging.
Grapes were hand-picked and brought directly to the winery in 1/2-ton totes in perfect condition. They were then put onto a belted incline, and de-stemmed into two-ton, open-top, stainless steel fermenters. The must was cold-soaked for five days. Fermentation was complete in 10 days, then the wine was pressed back into two-ton tanks, settled overnight and racked into French oak barrels. The wine aged in French oak for 16 months, racked into neutral French oak after 10 months. It was then blended and bottled unfiltered and unfined and bottle-aged for a minimum of 12 months before release.
Critical Acclaim
All Vintages
Pinot reigns supreme at Anne Amie Vineyards with Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc forming the heart of our production. Complimenting the Pinot family, we also produce small selections of Riesling from our Willamette Valley estate vineyard on the hillside directly in front of the winery. As with all great wines, ours start in the vineyards and we are fortunate to have some of Oregons best sites, both those farmed by us and those we contract with to purchase. Our vineyards (as do the ones we purchae from) receive only the minimal required treatments and yields are severely reduced to yield fruit with great depth and complexity.
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.