Winemaker Notes
Our 2018 Dundee Hills Reserve Pinot Noir displays a dark ruby color. Nuanced aromas of dried cherries, rose petals and earth set the tone. Juicy wild strawberry and cherry coat the palate with notes of sage highlighted in the background. The use of new French oak barrels in this wine supports the fruit and adds a touch of baking spice aroma where the contribution of older French oak barrels allows the tannins to develop gracefully over time. The finish is silky and long, which is a characteristic of Dundee Hills Pinot Noir.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Four Graces Dundee Hills Reserve Pinot Noir impressive with its sturdy and well-built structure. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits concentrated black fruit, light chalkiness, and oaky accents in its aromas and flavors. Enjoy it with grilled lamb chops. (Tasted: September 9, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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Tasting Panel
Pleasing aromas of dried leaves, cherry, and tomato leaf lead to a silky palate. Plum skin and dark cherry define the flavor profile, as do blooming rose petals, a thread of minerality, and a savory finish of espresso and cigar leaf. Aged nine months in 25% new French oak.
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Wine Enthusiast
A pretty violet aroma leads the way into a solid wine packed with blueberry, blackberry and plum fruit flavors. A hint of cola and a streak of dark chocolate contribute to a potent, powerful Pinot that can take on almost any sort of meat entrée, including a big burger.
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.