Winemaker Notes
Rich, dark, and intense fruit flavors take top billing in this 2016 Elouan Pinot Noir, a wine that beautifully reflects the warm and dry growing season. Dark ruby in color, the wine powers up with aromatics of a plum pie, mixed-berry jam and smoky, game-bird characteristics that set the stage for flavors of cherry, blackberry, boysenberry, and smoked bacon. The balance is excellent, with solid structure, superb depth and concentration, rich tannins, and a nice smoky, earthy finish.
Pair with pork loin, pan-seared salmon, Peking duck or veal with a mushroom sauce.
Professional Ratings
-
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: Pinot Noir is one of the wine world's most challenging grape varieties to taste, evaluate, and rate. The grape is so individualistic and must often be understood in its own context—where it was grown, how was it made, and who is the winery's target audience. The 2016 Elouan is a very New World style wine. TASTING NOTES: This wine is quite delicious and beautifully crafted for contemporary tastes. Its aromas and flavors of candied fruit, boysenberries, and plums combined with its rounded palate pair it nicely with a savory pork tenderloin. (Tasted: May 25, 2018, San Francisco, CA)
While the Willamette Valley and Pinot Noir are a like a fairy tale match made in heaven, most of Oregon is in fact, a glorious source of Pinot noir. Claiming over half of its total area under vine, Pinot noir also thrives in Southern Oregon’s Umpqua and Rogue Valleys where sedimentary and volcanic soils dominate hillside vineyards and cool temperatures create the perfect environment for Pinot noir. Also, Oregon’s Columbia Gorge is becoming increasingly popular for Pinot noir production. What sets Oregon Pinot noir apart from the Pinot of other regions, both New and Old World, is its innate combination of grace with both power and restraint.
SWS479858_2016 Item# 355310