Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
An earthy and spicy red with leaves and mushrooms. Medium to full body, firm and silky tannins and a flavorful finish. Lively acidity.
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Wine Enthusiast
Peppery herbal notes populate the nose, leading into flavors of brambly red fruits. The wine gathers strength on the midpalate, finishing with a flourish of strawberry preserves. There's a touch of rhubarb pie and a dusting of cocoa in the mix as well, and for an Oregon Pinot Noir made in such quantities (more than 10,000 cases) it offers exceptional depth and density.
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Wine Spectator
Light and tangy, with fuzzy tannins around a deftly balanced core of pastel raspberry and floral flavors, finishing with refinement and gaining momentum as the finish lingers. Drink now through 2019. 10,743 cases made.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Pinot Noir Evanstad Reserve is raised in barrel for 16 months using 57% new oak. It has a more complex bouquet compared to the Yamhill Cuvée with attractive raspberry and briary scents, the oak neatly integrated here. The palate is medium-bodied with more red fruit than black, approaching soft(ish) tannin with a slight tinniness towards the finish that will hopefully recede with time. Enjoy this over the next 6-8 years, but don't hesitate if you feel like keeping it in the cellar for another 12-18 months.
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.