Winemaker Notes
A guest appearance by Wind Ridge Vineyard out of the Ribbon Ridge AVA enhances the complexity of the 2018 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. The typical all red fruit is matched by darker elements from the sedimentary soils leading to a broader Pinot experience...never a bad thing! The color is penetrating garnet…crystalline and bold. Graphite, citrus, anise and mushroom round out the nose which is primarily fixed on ripe red cherry. The mouth is high intensity and mouth-watering. Subtle tannin supports a soft and inviting mouthfeel highlighted by ripe cherry again as well as floral accents. This is a complete wine…dark and light, elegant and powerful.
Crowley Wines was founded in 2005 with a focus on transparent, terroir-driven winemaking. Starting at the source, they favor older clones of Chardonnay and the classic Wadenswil and Pommard Pinot noir clones due to their late ripening nature and acid retention.
Crowley works with family owned vineyards and prefer cooler, high elevation sites. Their friends and growers are committed to non-irrigated and low impact farming. They are members of the Deep Roots Coalition and their primary vineyard sources are LIVE certified or certified organic. In the winery their highest priority is to create the most direct evidence of both vintage and place while making elegant and exciting wines. This means (wine geek alert!) minimal acid additions, no extraction enzyme, employing native yeasts, extended aging in mostly neutral oak and minimal fining or filtration. Crowley values purity of expression over stylized wines and hold essential the belief that they cannot improve on nature.
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.