Winemaker Notes
With its deep, sumptuous ruby color, La Source Pinot Noir offers a bouquet of mixed berry compote, citrus peel, nutmeg and a purple flower note — woolly blue curl comes to mind — that plume in width and concentration on the palate. A twist of spice tingles beside crackling acid; together they are the frame for juicy fruit and tannins that linger through a finish paved with minerality. Year after year, La Source is defined by the freshness and purity of fruit from this higher-elevation block.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
This dynamic red shows finesse and impeccable structure, with expressive flavors of raspberry and blueberry accented by stony mineral, star anise and forest floor tones that build richness and tension toward refined tannins. Drink now through 2034.
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James Suckling
Deep and complex, this pinot offers aromas of ripe cherries, pomegranate skin, dried blood oranges and red spices. Clean and focused, it has a medium body with a very fine, seamless textured and juicy acidity. Bright and fresh, it shows lively, delicious fruit and a long and racy finish. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Pinot Noir La Source is bursting with scents of pomegranate, blood orange, mushrooms, mossy bark and holiday spice. The medium-bodied palate has a silky texture and floral, citrusy flavors. It’s balanced by bright acidity and has a long, layered finish.
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Vinous
The 2023 Pinot Noir La Source opens with a perfumed blend of dusty violet florals and lavender, followed by crushed blackberries. Silken in feel and pliant, it offers a wash of ripe red berry fruits enhanced by a nuance of sour citrus. Minerality emerges on the finish, heightened by a bump of residual acidity as a hint of sour cherry keeps the palate salivating for more. Nicely done.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
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.