Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Dark cherries, cola and dried flowers. Full bodied with chewy tannins that will soften in the next two years. Medium finish and lots of fruit.
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Wine Spectator
Sleek and well-knit, with black cherry and dusty mint aromas and balanced smoky plum flavors that finish with refined tannins.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale to medium ruby-purple, the 2014 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir has notes of crushed black cherries and mulberries with nuances of Chinese five spice, dusty earth and fallen leaves. Medium-bodied, it gives expressive black cherry and spice box flavors with a chewy frame and good length.
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.