Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Supple and appealing for the mineral notes that harmonize with the cherry and spice flavors, lingering nicely.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2008 Pinot Noir Reserve is a blend of 5 vineyards. Dark ruby in color with a restrained nose of smoke, cinnamon, clove, and assorted black fruits, on the palate it remains tightly wound and in need of significant cellaring. However, it seems to have all the right stuff but is more of a gamble than most of the wines of this superb vintage.
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.