Evesham Wood Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir 2016
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2016 offered a reprieve from the string of warmer vintages we’ve seen lately with a marked cooling in October. These wines are focused right out of the gate.
There is a slight change in the label this year. And as with most of my changes to Evesham Wood we’re going back to the way it used to be. Prominently displayed on the label now is “Eola-Amity Hills Cuvee”, an attempt to not just signify that the wine was grown exclusively in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA, but that it is select blend of barrels chosen to highlight the growing region and worthy of distinct recognition.
Bright red and black cherry, subtle black tea notes, cranberry and a crunchy texture with some spice on the finish. This wine will continue to show well for 10 plus years.
Other Vintages
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James
Suckling
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.