Winemaker Notes
Deep magenta. Focused and complex with intense and lively aromas of strawberry, blackberry, and spice. Lush and elegant flavors of cranberry and blackberry with subtle layers of sweet pipe tobacco and cedar. Supple tannins with a lingering finish.
Pair with duck cassoulet, Rigatoni with chicken in a gorgonzola cream sauce, and sautéed garlic bacon mushrooms.
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
“Missoulan Wash” refers to the Ice Age–era floods that exposed volcanic and sedimentary soil in Oregon’s northwest corner. Aged eight months in new and used French oak, this bold and graceful Pinot Noir from winemaker Joseph Wagner grew in that well-drained terrain and clearly benefited from the cool climate. Notes of slate and deep plum are sumptuously integrated with dried violets, sweet tobacco, and blackberry as well as tannins that evoke espresso and dark chocolate.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 Elouan Missoulan Wash Pinot Noir Reserve shows up with excellent strength from start to finish. TASTING NOTES: This wine firm and lasting on the palate. Enjoy its aromas and flavors of ripe berries and wood with grilled lamb chops. (Tasted: April 21, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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.