Winemaker Notes
A study in terroir in one word: Flood. A vibrant purple, there’s a black fruit thrust to the aroma, adorned by a touch of star anise and cola. The flavors are more demonstrative - dark and blue, rippling, pure, saturating, they reach the edge of your mouth the way color reaches the edge of the glass. In its texture the wine is at its most seductive, the purity of fruit held in place by a skidding, gravelly grip.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A ripe, dark-fruited style with aromas of spiced plums, dark cherries and currants, as well as spicy oak. The palate has a succulent feel with espresso-laced dark cherries holding center stage. Needs time to settle and integrate.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale to medium ruby, the 2017 Pinot Noir The Flood opens with inviting aromas of cranberry jelly, smoked meats, baked blackberries, woodsmoke and nuances of tangerine and sweet red berries. The palate is medium-bodied and über silky with bitters-laced fruits, a finely grained frame and juicy acidity to lift the finish.
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Wine Spectator
Pairs backbone with polish, offering rose petal, raspberry and stony mineral accents that slowly unfurl toward refined tannins. Drink now through 2028.
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Wine Enthusiast
The texture and detail elevate this wine, although the fruit is rather light and there's a whiff of tack room leather. Tones of black cherry, cola and a dusting of ash anchor the palate, with a dash of cold-brewed coffee through the finish.
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.