Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
An attractive and slightly toasty nose with vibrant, ripe red-cherry and plum aromas. The palate has a very plush, raspberry and red-cherry core with succulently tangy acidity. Drink now. Screw cap.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale to medium ruby-purple, the 2016 Pinot Noir gives up warm black cherries and blackcurrants on the nose with tilled earth and potpourri notions. Light to medium-bodied, it offers good concentration of black fruits in the mouth, with fine-grained tannins and mouthwatering acidity, finishing long with some spicy accents. Delicious and a great value. 10,000 cases produced.
We named this wine project Pike Road after the winding road that runs adjacent to our vineyards at the foothills of Oregon's Coast Range Mountains.
Pike Road is made from estate grown grapes and a smaller amount of fruit we purchase. We are committed to preserving small family farms here in the Willamette Valley through our relationships with partner growers, some of whom we have worked with for decades. This is the best place in the New World to grow Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, and we are so pleased to be here at Pike Road.
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.