Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
This exciting blend showcases three sites planted on their own roots: the Hyland Vineyard in McMinnville, the Nysa Vineyard in Dundee, and the estate's own Bishop Creek site in Yamhill-Carlton. The fruit is destemmed and fermented on native yeasts before aging over two winters in French casks. The result shows a sweet, forward cassis fruit that expands and takes on volume on the palate to echo enticingly on the finish. Drinking Window 2021 - 2031.
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James Suckling
This is a blend of three vineyards and has a very polished nose of ripe red cherry and spice with assertive oak in play, like modern Burgundy. The texture is exceptional and delivers soft, suave and fine tannins that carry bright red and darker-cherry flavors. Really impressive. Drink or hold.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Nicolas Jay Own-Rooted Pinot Noir is bright, alive, and outstanding. TASTING NOTES: This wine shines with aromas and flavors of wild olallieberries and dried earth. Pair it with garlic and rosemary-infused roast leg of lamb. (Tasted: September 11, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Pinot Noir Own-Rooted has pretty aromas of Earl Grey tea and wild blackberries, plus accents of iron, aniseed, potpourri and mushroom. The palate is silky and seamless and offers layer after layer of floral fruit, gliding effortlessly into a long, ethereal finish.
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Wine Spectator
Offers compelling raspberry and fresh violet aromas that open to tightly focused cherry, bay leaf and stony mineral accents, finishing with snappy tannins. Drink now.
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.