Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Representing a mere 98 cases from four parcels of Dijon clone #115 in this Dundee Hills site further described in my Issue 202 review, the J. K. Carriere 2011 Pinot Noir Anderson Family delivers rich beef stock as opposed to the bloody and gamy allusions I found in the corresponding 2010. The fruit here, however, is tender and almost delicately fresh, making for the sort of contrast one often witnesses in top-notch Burgundian Pinots. There is also a stony undertone to this wine’s energetic and persistently savory performance. Look for high performance through at least 2022.
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.