Big Table Farm Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2016
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James
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Winemaker Notes
This wine is a true representation of the northern Willamette Valley as all 8 pinot sites I work with end up in this bottling, from south of Salem to north of Forest Grove. It would be arrogant of me to think I could predict which fruit will turn into the best wine so I treat all with equal diligence. I think this approach makes this bottling different but on par with our vineyard designates. It is more affordable because we make a lot more of it, but it gets the same care and handling as the rest of the wines.
The freshness of the fruit captures you while the richness makes you lean in to drink in the aromatics in a few more times. This wine is giving some darker fruit, espresso and cacao alongside the raspberry and hint of plum. Its rich fruit is held in check with bright acidity. This wine delivers purity of fruit character and just the right amount of tannin and acid to invite you to slow down and take it in.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
A luminous wine in a generous vintage, this draws from all eight vineyards Brian Marcy uses in his production. It shows a woodsy, tea-like spice, but in the end, it’s the fruit that may seduce you—it’s like biting into a fresh wild strawberry, experiencing the burst of fruit, that lift and tingle of acid, the clarity and balance between the two. This is a wine of energy, finesse and delicious length.
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Wine Spectator
Effortlessly elegant and complex, with vibrant rose petal, savory smoke and raspberry accents that glide along a silky texture toward the long finish. Drink now through 2024.
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James Suckling
Some strongly sappy aromas with wild herbs and red fruit, intermingled in upbeat, youthful and floral style. The same feel on the palate, which offers fresh, red-cherry flavors and a wealth of complexity and a juicy, fresh resolve. Try from 2020.
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Wine Enthusiast
Though this multi-vineyard is blend priced below the winery's vineyard designates, it was given the same exacting care. A substantial wine, it's lush with blackberry, black cherry, lemon peel and orange blossom scents and flavors. Barrel aging has added clove and other spice notes. A stylish effort that outperforms its price.
Other Vintages
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Robert
Parker
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The duo behind Big Table Farm are winemaker Brian Marcy and artist/farmer Clare Carver. In 2006 the moved to Oregon from Napa, where Brian had been making wine for ten years, and bought property in the Willamette Valley (about an hour outside of Portland).
This Oregon adventure is inspired by their desire to grow grapes, make wine, and to have the space for all of Clare's animals and Brian's wacky projects. The farm and winery are named after the goal to provide a gracious and welcoming table for themselves and friends, with a cornucopia of hand-crafted food and wine.
And now, almost ten years after Brian and Clare took the leap, they have developed this land into a working farm and built a barn and winery. They both feel lucky to live there and are both still in awe and deeply grateful for the chance to build this dream and share it with you!
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.