Winemaker Notes
Rainier cherry, strawberry Bon Bon and red flowers are the liftoff for juiciness that builds itself around a line of tangy spice and acidity. A considerable finish dashed with stony minerality is somewhat unexpected and plenty welcome, just like this wine's place at any holiday table.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
An elegantly complex red, with a dark core of fruit framed by raspberry, strawberry and fresh herb notes that build structure toward medium-grained tannins. Drink now through 2030.
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Vinous
The 2023 Gamay Noir Seven Springs is coy in the glass, mixing rose petals, sweet lavender and black cherries. Energy and verve drive the palate as citrus-infused wild berry fruit cascades throughout. A peppery floral freshness and a hint of tart blackberry linger as the 2023 tapers off with a juicy personality.
Delightfully playful, but also capable of impressive gravitas, Gamay is responsible for juicy, berry-packed wines. From Beaujolais, Gamay generally has three classes: Beaujolais Nouveau, a decidedly young, fruit-driven wine, Beaujolais Villages and Cru Beaujolais. The Villages and Crus are highly ranked grape growing communes whose wines are capable of improving with age whereas Nouveau, released two months after harvest, is intended for immediate consumption. Somm Secret—The ten different Crus have their own distinct personalities—Fleurie is delicate and floral, Côte de Brouilly is concentrated and elegant and Morgon is structured and age-worthy.
Running north to south, adjacent to the Willamette River, the Eola-Amity Hills AVA has shallow and well-drained soils created from ancient lava flows (called Jory), marine sediments, rocks and alluvial deposits. These soils force vine roots to dig deep, producing small grapes with great concentration.
Like in the McMinnville sub-AVA, cold Pacific air streams in via the Van Duzer Corridor and assists the maintenance of higher acidity in its grapes. This great concentration, combined with marked acidity, give the Eola-Amity Hills wines—namely Pinot noir—their distinct character. While the region covers 40,000 acres, no more than 1,400 acres are covered in vine.