Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This offers a subtly earthy edge to the nose with a wealth of smoothly arranged red cherries and berries, leading to a super vibrant, fresh red-cherry palate. Smooth and approachable.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Pinot Noir Cali's Cuvee is pale to medium ruby-purple in color with a very pretty nose of dried leaves, dusty earth and wood smoke over fresh, ripe red and black cherries and berries aromas with notes of cranberry sauce and bright pomegranate—a nice interplay of fruit and earth here. The palate is light to medium-bodied with juicy red and black fruits plus nuances of earth and spice, framed by softly grainy tannins and juicy acidity, finishing long and on a smoky note.
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Wine Enthusiast
This popular cuvée is a startling shade of almost impenetrable black. Yet despite the intense color, it's an accessible, fruity wine with broad, open blackberry and black cherry flavors. Silky smooth, it finishes with a streak of mocha.
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.