Winemaker Notes
A bright, magenta color with pinkish red edges shows intensity, youthfulness and concentration. Aroma sequences immediately leap from the glass with freshness and vigor. There are red berries, freshly cut straw, rhubard and elegantly perfumed red flowers. A blood orange zest inermixes with herbes de provence, cranberries, and tigh-grained French barrique. The structure of the wine is medium-plus at first, but as the wine unfolds in the mid-palate it begins to tighten and constrict. Acid levels are earnest in this wine, but there is a broad density that seems to take a combative stance to its brightness as the finish expands into chalky minerality, tangerine spice and an underlayment of crushed river rock. An argument can be made that this is the most impressive bottling that Jean-Nicolas Méo has achieved yet.
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
A jeweled ruby hue, the 2021 Pinot Noir L'Ensemble needs a little time to open in the glass before revealing aromas of fresh pine, ripe cherry liqueur, and toasted spice. Supple and medium to full-bodied, with ripe tannins, it delivers elegant freshness and wonderful purity through its long, mouthwatering, seamless finish.
-
James Suckling
This blend of the top barrels from the winery’s grape sources in northern Willamette Valley is sleek, understated, lively and fresh. Packed with tangy raspberries, cranberries, orange zest and herbal tea notes, with great acidity and a medium body. Silky tannins add to the alluring tension.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Pinot Noir L'Ensemble comes from grapes across several appellations, including McMinnville, Eola-Amity Hills, Dundee Hills, Yamhill-Carlton and, most recently, Tualatin Hills. It takes plenty of air for its initial flintiness to give way to cranberries, raspberries, rose petals, blood orange and tea leaves. The palate features layered, complex flavors. It's structured by velvety tannins, and its mouthwatering acidity calls you back to the glass for another nuanced sip. Rating: 94+
-
Wine Spectator
Seduction meets elegant structure in this Pinot, which offers graceful raspberry and cherry flavors accented by rose petal and savory spice notes before finishing with polished tannins.
-
Decanter
Aromatically forward, the L'ensemble is a blend of sites Nicolas Jay works with across the Willamette Valley. This wine captures so well what makes people excited about Oregon's Pinot Noir. Fresh fruit, savoury minerality and umami character. Aromas of strawberry fruit roll-up, savoury clove notes, dusty gravel road and a touch of forest floor. The palate is bright and high-toned fruit.
-
Wine Enthusiast
This multi-AVA blend's aromas of blackcap raspberries and sweet/spicy peony flowers are a wondrous perfume accented by notes of rich Indonesian coffee and wet clover. Its bittersweet dark chocolate, lemon and smoked black tea flavors encircle a ball of black-and-blueberries. Silky tannins, bright acidity and a brisk mouthfeel.
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.