Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale to medium ruby-purple colored, the 2015 The Fire reveals crushed raspberries and red cherry notes with hints of lavender, underbrush, dusty earth and moss. Medium-bodied, finely crafted, elegant and with oh-so-satiny tannins, the delicate bramble berry and earthy flavors are lifted by the lively acid backbone and it finishes with good persistence.
Rating: 92+ -
Wine Spectator
Focused and well-built, with violet and black raspberry aromas and layered, slightly brooding cherry and black tea flavors that linger toward refined tannins.
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.