Winemaker Notes
Pair with venison chops with blackberry compote, salmon with bacon & lentils.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Blended from four estate vineyards, this new release actually trums the much-lauded 2008. Aromatics are lovely, a beguiling mix of rose petals, raspberries, earth and herb. The wine has finesse, fine acidity, tension and length. Fine for drinking now, but cellarable for the next decade.
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Wine Spectator
In this light and airy Pinot, the seductive raspberry and strawberry fruit floats easily over a soft bed of ripe tannins, lasting into a delicate finish. Drink now through 2017. 2,200 cases made.
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.