Winemaker Notes
The 2022 Casteel includes five blocks selected from Lewman Vineyard and the Western slopes of Bethel Heights, which unintentionally form a straight North-South line between the two vineyards. This was born of many blind tastings at the blending table, not a conscious choice to pull from a specific vein of the property. For sheer volume, 2022 was one of the most generous vintages in recent memory, and at this state of play the wines are very exciting, show tremendous potential and fascinating variations based on pick date and site.
Professional Ratings
-
Decanter
The top cuvée of each vintage is fixed with the family name, Casteel. In 2022 it includes five blocks selected from Lewman Vineyard and the western slopes of Bethel Heights. It's noteworthy per winemaker Ben Casteel that this wine is not comprised of the oldest vines on the estate but from grafted vines ranging from 26 to 30 years. Concentrated aromatics of dusty rose petals, smoky hoisin sauce and notes of toasted sesame oil. The palate is intense, centred around opaque bramble fruits, there is a muddled strawberry freshness, further carried by spicy chicory root, tart pomegranate, and delicious notes of dried anise. A wine of elegance certainly but with concentration and structure to unwind beautifully over a decade.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Pinot Noir Casteel is youthfully shy and takes plenty of air to reveal intoxicating scents of pomegranate liqueur, blackberry jam, Earl Grey tea leaves and earth. The medium-bodied palate is concentrated and powerful! It offers generous layers of dark fruit, earth and spice, gaining purity as it airs in the glass. It's structured by fine, chalky tannins and mouthwatering acidity and has a long, floral and spice-laced finish.
-
James Suckling
Bright and vivid pinot with cherries, cranberries, dried rose hips and dried herbs on the nose. Medium-bodied, clean and refreshing on the palate, offering vivid red berry and citrus notes. Crunchy and minerally.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Blackberries dominate an aromatic set that includes loamy soil and the salinity of a maritime breeze. Cherry and lime-zest flavors match with a leathery texture, muscular tannins and juicy acidity. When you open this wine, make a toast to Terry Casteel.
-
Wine Spectator
Precise and structured, offering handsome flavors of raspberry and blueberry that take on crushed stone, black tea and savory spice notes as this builds tension toward broad-shouldered tannins. Best from 2025 through 2032. 954 cases made.
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.