Winemaker Notes
Bouquet of dragon plum, elderberry tea, rose stem, fresh turmeric, and graphite. On the palate: porcini, Ligonberry, tarragon, miso, and tobacco leaf. Lively acidity and structured tannins frame notes of vibrant fruit and a long, earthy finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Attractive red cherries and raspberries with notes of wild herbs and woody, earthy complexity. The palate has a sinewy, tart feel with a smooth run of tannins into the silky, ripe red-cherry finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
Janus is a blend of various vineyards, more widely available and priced below most of the Brooks Pinots. Lovely aromatics entice with scents of violets and berries, while tart acidity amp up the fruit. Restrained barrel aging adds a light hint of chocolate around well-modulated tannins.
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Wine Spectator
Sleek and elegantly styled, with expressive raspberry and blueberry notes accented by orange zest and brown spice hints. Drink now through 2025.
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.