Winemaker Notes
The wine showcases aromatics of candied white flowers, pomegranate and a flinty minerality, with compelling flavors of bright red fruits, mouth-watering acidity and fresh garden soil. It is framed by super fine tannins and stays focused on the palate. Loads of freshness and energy in this wine, owing in part to the whole-cluster fermentation, with a slight carbonic character. Élevage took place in 30% new French oak barrels over a period of 17 months. It’s a luscious, complex and textured Pinot Noir that is a great success in a challenging vintage.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
There are 175 cases of the 2020 Pinot Noir Memorialis, a mix of 777, Pommard, and 115 clones that was 30% destemmed and is still resting in 25% new French oak. It has a rocking nose of ripe redcurrants, mulberries, scorched earth, and peppery herbs to go with medium to full-bodied richness on the palate. Balanced, elegant, and layered, with good acidity, it's a beautiful barrel sample.
Barrel Sample: 94-96 -
Wine Spectator
Spirited yet refined and polished, with multilayered blueberry and raspberry flavors that take on forest floor, sandalwood and other dusky spice accents toward fine-grained tannins.
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.