Winemaker Notes
This is your show stopper for the main course, which could easily include a seared fillet, duck and brandied cherries, venison with fruit, squab, lamb, etc. Or just drink it outside on the patio with friends.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Pinot Noir Rastaban comes from the Brooks Estate's own vines and represents an equal proportion from each of their blocks. It has a clean and pure, almost Pommard-like bouquet with fine delineation if not the intensity that say, the 2012 would have bring. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, well-judged acidity, fine tension with a graceful, poised finish that leaves a dash of spice in the mouth. Not enormous length here, but still a well-crafted Pinot Noir that should drink well for 5-8 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.