Winemaker Notes
The 2019 Dopp Creek opens with pretty aromas of rich red fruit and savory herbs, which carry through on the palate. The wine is clean, balanced, and well-structured with a core of bright fruit and a round, supple mouthfeel. It finishes with a hint of pomegranate, rosemary, and warm spice. This wine drinks beautifully now, and will age gracefully over the next five to eight years.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A vibrant, fresh and delightful pinot with wild raspberries, sliced mushrooms, lemon zest, fresh herbs, violets and peppercorns on the nose. It’s medium-bodied with ultra-fine tannins and bright acidity. So elegant and transparent. Fantastic value. Drink now or hold.
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Wine Spectator
Slowly unfurls, opening with taut raspberry and stony mineral, then drawing in a rich and plush texture that glides toward refined tannins. Drink now.
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Wine Enthusiast
Lovely details of rosemary and thyme are dappled throughout this wine, which is anchored in light red fruits such as pomegranate and wild raspberry. There are phenolic highlights also, framing the moderately ripe tannins. The savory side of the grape is on display here, in a well-balanced and complex bottle.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
The Chehalem Mountains is a northwest-southeast span of several distinct mountains, ridges and peaks in the northern part of the Willamette Valley. Of all of Willamette Valley's smaller AVAs, it is closest to the city of Portland. Its highest summit, Bald Peak at an elevation of 1,633 feet, serves to generate cooler air for the rest of the AVA and its hillside vineyards. The region covers 70,000 acres but only 1,600 acres are planted to vines; soils of the Chehalem Mountains are a mix of basalt, ocean sediment and loess.