Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Suave and mineral, this wine is blended from vineyard sources representing the volcanic “Fire” soils of the Willamette Valley. It’s more red-fruited than its counterparts, with scents of cherries, cedar, sassafras and forest floor. A tannic component to the texture girds the wine while serving as a springboard, keeping it high-toned and elegant. A long-ager, it will reward the patient.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 The Fire, from parcels located on volcanic soils, has more delineation on the nose, and is more reserved than The Flood, with engaging floral scents seeping through those layers of luxuriant dark cherry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins. I noticed here more red fruit than The Flood, perhaps more clarity of terroir, and it comes with a refined, tensile and satin-like finish that will make you swoon. Excellent.
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Wine Spectator
Fresh and vibrant, with a layer of refined tannins underlining the currant and black cherry fruit, turning steely on the finish. Best from 2015 through 2020. 1,379 cases made.
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.