Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Lively, lithe and inviting, offering an array of red fruit, floral and spice overtones, coming together on the focused, deftly balanced finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
This cuvée is billed as the "little sister" to the winery's Evenstad Reserve, and the flavors fit the title. There is a pleasing roundness and an immediate accessibility, with flavors of red fruit and light chocolate in the foreground. Brambly berries are at the core, with highlights of malted milkshake, spice and a hint of finishing citrus.
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.