Winemaker Notes
This is a bright red beauty with a subtle smokey aroma and deep, complex fruit notes. Taut and focused on the palate, a hint of red berry reminiscent of fresh strawberry jam is complicated with a lovely underlying spiciness and earth. With super-fine tannins and a satisfyingly long finish, this is a classic representation for the lover of age worthy Pinot Noir.
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The transparent ruby-colored 2022 Pinot Noir Estate is pretty and floral with notes of lovely, fresh red cherries, roses, spices, and fresh forest herbs. It’s pure and lifted on the palate, with fine-grained, well-defined tannins, and while it’s approachable, it has an elegant, defined structure. Weightless, but with a juicy feel, the wine is fully dry and should be very appealing over the next 8-10 years.
-
James Suckling
A pure, elegant, complex and savory red that shows all the diverse flavors of the grape variety, from red cherries to black tea to savory herbs. A medium body and moderate tannins support fresh red fruit, cloves and minerals. Tangy and well balanced. From organically grown grapes. Drink now or hold.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Eyrie's estate wine Pinot Noir soars like an eagle with aromas of blackberries, violets and the pine needles, duff and mushroom qualities often found on a forest floor. Tart black cherry and lemon zest flavors are joined by notes of cacao nibs and a wee bit of bone marrow. Crisp acidity and silky tannins offer ample support.
-
Wine Spectator
Attractive and elegantly refined, with expressive flavors of raspberry and cherry accented with cinnamon, black tea and spice notes that end with fine-grained tannins. Drink now through 2034. 293 cases made.
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.”
Home of the first Pinot noir vineyard of the Willamette Valley, planted by David Lett of Eyrie Vineyard in 1966, today the Dundee Hills AVA remains the most densely planted AVA in the valley (and state). To its north sits the Chehalem Valley and to its south, runs the Willamette River. Within the region’s 12,500 acres, about 1,700 are planted to vine on predominantly basalt-based, volcanic, Jory soil.