Winemaker Notes
As their house cuvee, Lemelson's Thea's Selection is a blend from their five organic, estate vineyards that span three different Willamette Valley AVAs. As such, it is a wonderful representation of the vintage across all their sites. The nose is inviting and earthy with black cherry, black currant and plum fruit that is nuanced by subtle notes of black tea, chocolate, mushroom, and lavender. This wine is rich and supple with silky tannins and a juicy core which transitions into a long finish that leaves the taste of brambly fruit on the palate.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Dried herbs, spices, orange peel, wild strawberries and hints of pomegranates. Medium-bodied, vivid and silky on the palate, with delicious and refreshing fruit character. Lots of cherries and dried orange peel flavors.
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Vinous
A smoky blend of wild herbs, ground ginger and crushed raspberries smolders up from the 2021 Pinot Noir Thea's Selection. It's softly textured with cooling minerality and pure red berry fruits underscored by saline minerals. Zesty acidity adds a liveliness through the finish as the 2021 tapers off long and spicy yet only lightly tannic.
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Wine Spectator
Brisk and generous, with snappy cherry and pomegranate flavors highlighted by oolong tea and savory spices. Concludes with fine-grained tannins.
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Wine Enthusiast
A pronounced saline note similar to the lining of a freshly shucked oyster mixes with notes of blackberries and marshmallows toasted over a smoky campfire. Bracing acidity and velvety tannins frame flavors like raspberry, smoked almonds and candied rose petals.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The 2021 Lemelson Vineyards Willamette Valley Pinot Noir is authentic and bright. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits aromas and flavors of dried earth, savory spices, and lively red fruits. Enjoy it with duck confit casserole.
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.