Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
A reserve wine in honor of Ted and Terry Casteel, the brothers who founded the winery, this has a dark resolve. Its red plum and floral scents, its focus and depth all gain with a day of air. But its texture is the marvel here, firm and muscular, as forceful as the winds that channel into the property through the Van Duzer Corridor, with an acidity that gives the wine an almost propulsive quality. Decant it for leg of lamb.
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Wine Spectator
Supple, open-textured, dark and appealing, with pillowy blackberry and dark plum flavors, gliding easily into a long and polished finish. This has expressiveness and detail. Drink now through 2020.
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Wine Enthusiast
This cuvee builds upon the forward, pretty, fruit-driven profile of the 2012 vintage. A mix of rose petals, raspberries and Bing cherry flavors, it glides smoothly into a finish with soft tannins and a streak of cola.
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.