Winemaker Notes
Floral and spice focused. Juicy and plush with dried blueberry, black cherry, marionberry and hints of warm spices, including nutmeg and cardamom.
Ken Wright Cellars is devoted to showcasing the inherent quality of selected vineyard sites. With a clarity and breadth that is unequaled by other varieties, we believe Pinot noir best expresses the character of these sites. Rather than stamping wine with a varietal trademark, Pinot noir is the ultimate vehicle for conveying the aroma, flavor and texture of the location in which it is grown. Ken Wright Cellars produces a single vineyard Pinot Noir from 13 different vineyard sites in the Northern Willamette Valley.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Sourced from young vines, this is a forward and fruit-driven wine. The flavors are smooth and lightly high-toned, with currant and sweet tomato. There’s a splash of lemon oil, and the finish has a nice kick to it. Drink now and over the next three or four years
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Wine Spectator
Vibrant and detailed, with expressive raspberry and blueberry flavors, featuring hints of sandalwood and tea that build richness and structure toward polished tannins. Drink now through 2027.
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.