Winemaker Notes
Soft rose gold/yellow in color displaying aromas of stone fruit, shortbread and brown spice. The palate is rich and round, with inviting flavors of dried apricots, nectarines with a blood orange like acidity. The back pallet is supple with lasting finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
I always struggle with the proper way to evaluate a white Pinot Noir, but I really enjoyed sipping this one. It has cidery aromas of green apples and white peaches that strongly suggest spring has sprung. Peaches dominate on the palate, accented by notes of lime and white tea. This is crisp and refreshing stuff.
Made from red wine grapes, White Pinots are generally richer and more golden than most white wines, with great viscosity and a textured mouthfeel. In production, only a fraction of the juice is pressed out, which avoids releasing tannins and color. Flavors of apple, pear, and melon fruit are common, as well as baking spice and ginger. The idea is old in Champagne, where Blancs de Noirs ("white from black") have long been made from Pinots Noir and Pinot Meunier, but as a still wine, the style is relatively new.
Stretching southwest from the city of McMinnville, the AVA with the same name covers about 40,000 acres across 20 miles until it meets the Van Duzer Corridor. This corridor is the only break in the Coast Range whose gap allows the cool Pacific Ocean air to flow eastward into the Willamette Valley.
The Pacific's moderating winds hit McMinnville’s south and southeast facing slopes where cool-climate varieties—namely Pinot noir and Pinot blanc thrive on ridges at between 200 to 1,000 feet in elevation.
Soils here are primarily uplifted marine sedimentary loam and silt, with alluvial formations; McMinnville receives less rainfall than its neighbors to the east because it is situated in the rain shadow of the Coast Range.