Winemaker Notes
Serve with braised meats, stews, sausages, mushroom dishes, or cassoulet - essentially the umami foods. It can be enjoyed in its youth after decanting for two hours or more and will develop over a decade.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Pinot Noir Momtazi Vineyard comes from biodynamically certified vines located on the steep upper reaches of the exposed vineyard. There is an herbal element on the nose, hints of menthol developing in the glass, touches of dried leaves, orange rind and a touch of peppermint. The palate is medium-bodied with strong white pepper and red peppercorns on the entry. Dusky black fruit surfaces with hints of cumin and bell pepper structured on the finish that lingers nicely in the mouth. I suspect this will meliorate with another 12-18 months in bottle. Good value for the quality inside the bottle.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Stretching southwest from the city of McMinnville, the AVA with the same name covers about 40,000 acres across 20 miles until it meets the Van Duzer Corridor. This corridor is the only break in the Coast Range whose gap allows the cool Pacific Ocean air to flow eastward into the Willamette Valley.
The Pacific's moderating winds hit McMinnville’s south and southeast facing slopes where cool-climate varieties—namely Pinot noir and Pinot blanc thrive on ridges at between 200 to 1,000 feet in elevation.
Soils here are primarily uplifted marine sedimentary loam and silt, with alluvial formations; McMinnville receives less rainfall than its neighbors to the east because it is situated in the rain shadow of the Coast Range.