Raptor Ridge Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2007 Front Label
Raptor Ridge Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2007 Front Label

Winemaker Notes

Our 2007 Pinot noir/Willamette Valley is a complex blend of 13 different vineyards and clones, each harvested, fermented and barrel-aged separately. Fruit in this cuvee was predominately sourced from the Laurelwood soils of the Chehalem Mountains AVA: Hawks View Vineyard (30%) as well as Shaw Mountain and Dion Vineyards (9%), Arbre Verte Vineyard (4%) and Eds Vineyard (4%). All of these sites have fairly mature vines, with Arbre Verte leading the pack at 28 years. The typical plumy notes and soft tannin profiles of the Chehalem Mountains AVA fruit were given form, structure and spice by blending fruit from sites in the McMinnville AVA: Stony Mountain Vineyard (22%) and a modicum from Meredith Mitchell Vineyard (7%).

This approachable Pinot has pleasing notes of plum and cherry cola on the nose. It opens with a light, high-toned cherry, but as it takes on air, finishes more fully and roundly with a focused dark cherry core and ripe plum meat nuances. Still young upon release, this wine will flesh out after its sixth month in the bottle. The boisterous balance of fruit and acid makes for a great wine-by-the-glass choice.

Professional Ratings

  • 91
    Floral scents mingled with this wine's black raspberry aroma and a fine cedary sheen from the oak. The fruit is more reticent on the palate, the wine still snug in its wood. Cellar time will allow the elements to knit.
Raptor Ridge Winery

Raptor Ridge Winery

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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.

NWWRR07PN_2007 Item# 99544