Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2023 Pinot Noir Old Eight Cut pours a youthful ruby with a light haze and opens with ripe raspberry, wet stone, and floral perfume. It’s both approachable and expressive, offering impressive length and a clear sense of place. This standout value is drinking beautifully. Rating: 93+
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Pinot Noir Old Eight Cut was fermented with 25% whole clusters and matured for 11 months in 10% new oak. It has inviting aromas of pomegranate, orange peel, juniper, bitters and forest floor. The medium-bodied palate is delicately styled with crunchy, floral flavors and fine, chalky tannins. It’s enlivened by vibrant acidity and has a long, nuanced finish.
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Vinous
The 2023 Pinot Noir Old Eight Cut opens with a delicate mix of dusty violets, crushed stone and blackberry. Ripe red berry fruits glide across the palate, guided by juicy acidity. The finish is medium in length and pleasing, leaving a cool-toned sensation and lingering inner florals.
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.