Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Notes of red fruit, spices, savory herbs and hints of chocolate. Medium-bodied, crunchy and juicy, with fine tannins and a flavorful, weighty finish.
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Vinous
The 2021 Pinot Noir Estate opens with a rich blend of brown spice and cherry sauce elevated by hints of dusty sage. This sweeps across the palate with lifted textures and succulent red berry fruits underscored by tactile mineral tones. It finishes spicy and long with a lingering tension but only gently tannic.
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Wine Enthusiast
A rich strawberry sorbet aroma is accented by traces of dark chocolate, violets and salty Marcona almonds. The wine's clean and fresh mouthfeel is home to blueberry, boysenberry cedar and tart lemon citrus flavors. A moderate amount of acidity intersects with sturdy tannins to create a sense of balance.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Running north to south, adjacent to the Willamette River, the Eola-Amity Hills AVA has shallow and well-drained soils created from ancient lava flows (called Jory), marine sediments, rocks and alluvial deposits. These soils force vine roots to dig deep, producing small grapes with great concentration.
Like in the McMinnville sub-AVA, cold Pacific air streams in via the Van Duzer Corridor and assists the maintenance of higher acidity in its grapes. This great concentration, combined with marked acidity, give the Eola-Amity Hills wines—namely Pinot noir—their distinct character. While the region covers 40,000 acres, no more than 1,400 acres are covered in vine.