Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Light and zingy, with a refreshing tang to the raspberry, chocolate and floral flavors as they zip through a long, lively finish. Best from 2018 through 2024.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Pinot Noir Bonnie Jean Vineyard, from vines on a former cherry orchard planted in 2006 and 2012, has a pleasant, chocolate-tinged bouquet with fine definition, the fruit here a little darker than some of Ken Wright's other 2014 vineyard offerings. The palate is medium-bodied with supple red cherry and soy tinged fruit, fine tannins, nicely composed with commendable persistence on the tart finish. It will drink well for 12-15 years.
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.