Winemaker Notes
An overdelivering Pinot Noir with spicy acidity and bright fruit flavors from our estate vineyards in the Willamette Valley. Cropped around two to three tons per acre and fermented in small lots with yeasts chosen to highlight the fruit, leading to charming cherry, raspberry, and pomegranate flavors highlighted by earthy leather overtones more commonly found in premium Pinots. Medium-bodied with silky tannins, a wine to pair with a wide range of foods.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
The name references the somewhat abstract red line drawing of a bunny on the front label. Bunny aside, in the bottle is a tannic, muscular wine, a far cry from the lighter, fruitier Pinots generally found at this price. Extended maceration post-fermentation and aging in 20% new French oak has upped the dark fruits, tannins and espresso flavors. Bold enough to pair with a burger or flank steak. Drink soon.
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.