Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Ripe red cherries are the Shea's opening aromatic shot, followed by notes of orange pekoe tea and roasted pork shoulder. Sweet black mulberries and the anise qualities of fennel fronds meld with flavors of root beer and citrus. The wine's tannins are sturdy and its acidity positively vibrates.
Cellar Selection -
Wine Spectator
Brooding at the core, this Pinot unfurls slowly, with multilayered plum and pomegranate flavors highlighted by forest floor and savory spice notes. Builds tension toward medium-grained tannins.
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James Suckling
Spicy and walnuty with red fruit and hints of undergrowth on the nose. Medium-bodied, juicy and savory with a supple finish.
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.”
Yamhill-Carlton, characterized by pastoral, rolling hills composed of shallow, quick-draining, ancient marine soil, is ideal for Pinot noir and other cool-climate-loving varieties. It is in the rain shadow of the Coast Range to its west, whose highest point climbs to an altitude of 3,500 feet. Yamhill-Carlton is actually surrounded by mountains on three sides: Chehalem Mountains to the north, the Dundee Hills to the east and the western Coast Range to its west, which, when it lets Pacific air through, serves to cool the region.
Vineyards grow on the ridges surrounding the two small communities of Yamhill and Carlton and cover about 1,200 acres of this 60,000 acre region, which roughly makes a horse-shoe shape on a map.