Winemaker Notes
The Æolian has evolved in the eleven vintages since its inception, beginning as a means of expressing the ever-changing nature of their younger blocks, which now aren’t so young anymore, turning 22 years old in 2023. In 2023 they continued to explore the Aeolian outside of the framework of these blocks, striving to find a wine that shows the freshness of fruit we covet in their wines while also continuing to feature the propulsive energy their wines derive from their cool, marine air. It’s
this fidelity to the wine's namesake that has moved the Aeolian to something beyond a wine moored to a single parcel, but allowing the vintage to lead us to new frontiers.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
A bright ruby color, the 2023 Pinot Noir Aeolian Estate is lifted and spicy. Made since 2014 from younger vines, it offers aromas of cranberry, cinnamon, crushed flowers, stony earth, and brambly herbs. Medium-bodied, it floats on the palate with ease, with a seamless texture and its spices lingering through the finish. Drink 2025-2040.
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Decanter
Classic aromas of earth, rich violets and buoyant fresh forest berries typical of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. The Aeolian has long been a wine crafted from Bethel Heights' second-generation vines, planted in 2002, with some inclusion of the Justice Vineyard in more recent years. Silky, yet with oomph on the palate, a melange of blue and black berry fruits.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Pinot Noir AEolian comes primarily from vines planted in 2001. It’s bursting with scents of wild berries, bergamot, tea leaves, earth and violet. The medium-bodied palate delivers layer after layer of ripe, fragrant fruit. It’s structured by silky tannins and vibrant acidity and has a long, layered finish.
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Vinous
The 2023 Pinot Noir Aeolian is spicy, with violet and rose tones complementing blackberries and nuances of sage. The palate is round and supple, displaying inner floral tones and juicy wild berry fruits. Structured yet not forbidding, cool-toned acidity refreshes the palate with each sip. Remarkably pretty.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Running north to south, adjacent to the Willamette River, the Eola-Amity Hills AVA has shallow and well-drained soils created from ancient lava flows (called Jory), marine sediments, rocks and alluvial deposits. These soils force vine roots to dig deep, producing small grapes with great concentration.
Like in the McMinnville sub-AVA, cold Pacific air streams in via the Van Duzer Corridor and assists the maintenance of higher acidity in its grapes. This great concentration, combined with marked acidity, give the Eola-Amity Hills wines—namely Pinot noir—their distinct character. While the region covers 40,000 acres, no more than 1,400 acres are covered in vine.