Winemaker Notes
Planted in 1993, Louise Vineyard was named for Cristom winegrower &
owner Tom Gerrie’s great-grandmother, Louise Dinkelspiel.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This delivers an ethereal and fragrant impression on the nose with a bright, red-fruit theme that is framed in sweet spices and flowers. The palate has a strong array of ripe red cherries with sappy complexity and crisply defined tannins. Impressive tension here.
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Wine Spectator
Deeply structured, yet elegant and precise, with rose petal and dark cherry aromas, layered with wet stone and spiced tea flavors that build toward broad-shouldered tannins.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale to medium ruby, the 2016 Pinot Noir Louise Vineyard opens with classic aromas of black and red cherries, cola, dried earth and autumn leaves over a peppery, spicy background. It's medium-bodied and silky in the mouth with lovely red and black fruit layers accented by licorice, earth and black tea. It's framed with firm tannins and mouthwatering acidity, finishing long and lively.
Rating: 92(+?)
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Wine Enthusiast
This is the original block at the estate vineyard, and the wine remains tight and a bit astringent at the moment. Wild berries, orange peel and a touch of meat stock all combine, with stiff, chewy tannins. It has all the hallmarks of a wine that needs another couple of years to pull itself together. It should drink well through the 2020s.
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Wine & Spirits
The 2016 Louise is at once earthier and more fruit-driven than the 2016 Jessie Vineyard (also recommended in this issue). Leading with floral notes, it’s deeply flavored yet precise, the tannins holding the wine in a demonstrative grip, lasting with a sous bois scent.
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.”
Running north to south, adjacent to the Willamette River, the Eola-Amity Hills AVA has shallow and well-drained soils created from ancient lava flows (called Jory), marine sediments, rocks and alluvial deposits. These soils force vine roots to dig deep, producing small grapes with great concentration.
Like in the McMinnville sub-AVA, cold Pacific air streams in via the Van Duzer Corridor and assists the maintenance of higher acidity in its grapes. This great concentration, combined with marked acidity, give the Eola-Amity Hills wines—namely Pinot noir—their distinct character. While the region covers 40,000 acres, no more than 1,400 acres are covered in vine.