Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
There’s a strong, savory and spicy thread here with a layer of fragrant allure that really charms, as well as a core of ripe red cherries. The palate has a well worked web of tannin and a nicely sustained finish. Drink over the next six years.
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Wine Enthusiast
Here is a fresh, fruity wine, fermented with 30% whole clusters and native yeast. Scents and flavors combine leaf and stem with wild berries, and finish with firm tannins. It’s compact and balanced, offering fine value and the prospect of drinking well over the next half decade
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.