Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
High-toned aromas of red cherries, hibiscus, citrus peel and lead pencil shavings. The palate is bright and energetic, with crunchy tannins and focused acidity, giving notes of red apples, blood oranges and raspberry bush. A lovely balance of fruit and savory undertones.
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Vinous
The 2023 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley is so pretty as vivid notes of Earl Grey and sweet lavender complement crushed blackberries. Round textures and ripe wild berry fruits soothe, while crunchy mineral tones add form and a hint of blood orange embellishes the close. The 2023 tapers off with excellent length and floral persistence, leaving a pleasantly chewy sensation that lingers.
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Wine Spectator
Supple and elegantly complex, with delicate raspberry and cherry flavors laced with rose petal, orange peel and dusky spices as this glides toward fine-grained tannins. Drink now through 2033. 2,154 cases made.
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.