Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Pinot Noir Marjorie Vineyard comes from a low-density planted vineyard affected by phylloxera (in 2012 one barrel of younger vines was added, and in 2013 it is around 10% of the production.) It has an elegant and floral bouquet, chalky in style, reserved but with plenty of finesse. I like this reserved style of Pinot Noir. The palate is medium-bodied with a slightly leafy opening, the sappy red berry fruit borrowed from the Jessie Vineyard, with a dash of spice towards the finish that lingers nicely in the mouth. This is very fine, again, very Burgundian and persistent, a 2013 that has the foundations to give a decade or more drinking pleasure.
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Wine & Spirits
Soft spicy accents—cardamom, anise, hints of five-spice—give this pinot noir some complexity and savor. The flavors, lent textural heft from whole-cluster fermentation, are at once burly and tense, with a firm acid structure framing the wine’s plushness. It feels like sinking into a suede armchair, with much of the pleasure coming from how the plushness is structured, suede in a sturdy frame. Cellar.
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.