Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A supple texture shapes abundant black and red fruit in this well-concentrated, polished and composed wine. A full body and suede-textured tannins give it a nice heft on the palate. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Pinot Noir Evenstad Reserve, opens with broody tar and forest floor aromas before revealing brighter tones of raspberry jam, cinnamon and blood orange. The light-bodied palate features concentrated, savory red fruit framed by silky tannins and bright acidity, and it has a very long, spicy finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
The aromas coming from this glass of wine are as clean and fresh as wintertime alpine air, with lilacs and wet stones encircling a bushel of ripe blackberries and a handful of lemons. The wine’s black-cherry, cola and citrus flavors are backed by soft acidity and somewhat chewy tannins.
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Wine Spectator
A handsome red, with deep flavors and structure, offering blueberry and cherry flavors that are laced with forest floor and dusky spices as this moves toward firm tannins. Drink now through 2031. 8,095 cases made.
Ken and Grace Evenstad founded Domaine Serene Vineyards and Winery in 1989 when they purchased 42 acres of just-logged land in the Dundee Hills of Oregon and built a five-level, gravity flow winery to produce ultra-premium Pinot Noir. Today, Domaine Serene produces wines from six individual vineyard estates in the Willamette Valley planted exclusively to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Each estate offers a diversity of soils, clones, rootstocks, microclimates, slopes, and elevations that add distinguishing complexity and elegance to the wines.
The Evenstads now own over 1,000 acres, more than 360 of which are planted to vine in three AVAs of the Willamette Valley and are actively preserving Oregon White Oak trees and the biodiversity of the region. They have achieved LIVE certification, the highest certification in the world for sustainable viticulture. Domaine Serene’s wines have won many accolades and awards, including 200 wines scoring 90 points or higher by Wine Spectator. Their 2013 Evenstad Reserve Pinot Noir was recognized as #3 Wine in the World, while the 2014 Evenstad Reserve Chardonnay received 95 points and was ranked the #2 Wine in the World according to Wine Spectator. Over the years, Domaine Serene has opened three Oregon Wine Lounges in Portland, Bend, and Lake Oswego that offer wine club members, locals, and visitors an elevated wine experience.
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.