Winemaker Notes
This 100% Dijon clone, single vineyard is focused and expressive, teeming with black cherry, plum and white pepper aromas. Dark plum, black tea, espresso and spice flavors mingle with velvety, well integrated tannins.
Latitude 45° Pinot Noir stands up to bold flavors, such as braised meats and root vegetables.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a reserve-level barrel selection from the oldest estate vineyard. In this excellent vintage, it's a superstar—firm, dense and supple, loaded with black fruits and highlights of cola. There's a light hint of peat moss and a dusting of spice. The wine knits together beautifully and should drink very well over the next half decade or longer.
Editors' Choice -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Aged 15 months in 75% new French oak, the pale to medium ruby colored 2016 Latitude 45 Pinot Noir is a touch shy on the nose, opening to potpourri, peppercorn, pipe tobacco and smoky notes with a core of red and black fruits. The palate is light to medium-bodied and silky with bright red fruits and spicy accents, soft tannins and a very juicy finish.
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.