Winemaker Notes
Wadenswil clone, 80% whole cluster, wild yeast fermentation. Fermented in an open top wood fermenter for 14-21 days. Starting with pump overs and then two punch downs a day 25% new French oak barrels the balance neutral. 14-18 months in barrel.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Three-fifths was whole-cluster fermented, and the wine spent 18 months in 20% new French oak. This bottling amplifies the house style, which favors ripe, concentrated flavors of strawberry and raspberry fruit, adding highlights of chocolate and espresso. A whiff of dried straw wraps this up.
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.