Winemaker Notes
This beautiful & complex pinot noir is produced from an old vine section of our vineyard in Monroe planted in Pommard & Wädenswil clones. The Claudia's Choice always greets you with notes of Raspberry and cherry cola and finishes with polished tannins & spice. These vines usually ripen a bit later and often set smaller clusters. The Claudia’s Choice wines are not meant to be fruit forward—we want to display the big, dark, and complex character that typifies our Claudia’s Choice release
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
You have no choice but to love Claudia, one of the Willamette Valley's iconic Pinot Noirs. Claudia mesmerizes with aromas of dark raspberries, violets, wet slate and the lemon and saline combination of an Atlantic beach pie. Mulberries and earthy blackberry tea , rule the palate, supported by silky tannins and crisp acidity.
Editors' Choice -
Jeb Dunnuck
Deep red/ruby-colored, the 2022 Pinot Noir Claudia’s Choice is named after Claudia Broadley, the winery’s co-founder. It’s perfumed and expressive on opening in the glass, showing off notes of potpourri (but even more intense, with soapy flowers), candied cherries, and sweet forest herbs. Medium-bodied, it offers a very appealing palate, with fine, well-defined tannins, ripe acidity, and a clean finish with good length. It’s perfumed but I like it a lot and would gladly enjoy this over the coming 6-8 years.
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.