Winemaker Notes
Enjoy bright floral notes of lilac alongside red raspberry, anise and black pepper.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
It’s hard to imagine a better Oregon Gamay, a variety attracting growing interest among many of the state’s wineries. Loaded with rich, ripe berry fruit, this is a juicy and delightful bottle, balanced and sporting just the right natural acidity. It’s too good to be called a porch pounder, yet somehow that description fits perfectly. Editors’ Choice
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The pale to medium ruby colored 2017 Gamay Noir has delicate hints of eucalyptus, leather and underbrush with citrus peel and amaro accents over a core of crushed blackberries and cranberries. The medium-bodied palate is soft, grainy and fresh, finishing on a note of dried herbs.
Delightfully playful, but also capable of impressive gravitas, Gamay is responsible for juicy, berry-packed wines. From Beaujolais, Gamay generally has three classes: Beaujolais Nouveau, a decidedly young, fruit-driven wine, Beaujolais Villages and Cru Beaujolais. The Villages and Crus are highly ranked grape growing communes whose wines are capable of improving with age whereas Nouveau, released two months after harvest, is intended for immediate consumption. Somm Secret—The ten different Crus have their own distinct personalities—Fleurie is delicate and floral, Côte de Brouilly is concentrated and elegant and Morgon is structured and age-worthy.
The Chehalem Mountains is a northwest-southeast span of several distinct mountains, ridges and peaks in the northern part of the Willamette Valley. Of all of Willamette Valley's smaller AVAs, it is closest to the city of Portland. Its highest summit, Bald Peak at an elevation of 1,633 feet, serves to generate cooler air for the rest of the AVA and its hillside vineyards. The region covers 70,000 acres but only 1,600 acres are planted to vines; soils of the Chehalem Mountains are a mix of basalt, ocean sediment and loess.