WillaKenzie Estate Aliette Pinot Noir 2006
-
Wine
Spectator -
Wine &
Spirits -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
Focused and broad, with generous cherry, tobacco and peppery toast flavors mingling well on the long, deftly balanced finish. Drink now through 2016. 793 cases made.
-
Wine & Spirits
Like the Terres Basses, WillaKenzie's Aliette differed markedly from its typical profile in 2006. While generally one of the estate's more delicate wines, in 2006 it has a richness more reminiscent of the Russian River than the Willamette Valley. It leads with scents of wild raspberries, hints of cumin and ginger. The generous black cherry fruit is gripped by chewy, succulent tannins. For roast chicken.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Dark ruby-colored, it exhibits a bouquet of toast, spice box, and dark fruits. On the palate it is ripe, friendly and flavorful with enough structure for balance. It is likely to evolve for 1-2 years, and will provide pleasure through 2018.
Other Vintages
2013-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine
Spectator
-
Wilfred
Wong -
Wine
Enthusiast
-
Wine &
Spirits -
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker
-
Wine &
Spirits -
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker
-
Wine
Spectator
-
Wine
Spectator
-
Wine
Spectator
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine &
Spirits
WillaKenzie Estate is located in Oregon's Willamette Valley on rolling hillsides in the Chehalem Mountains. The winery was named after the Willakenzie soil on which the vineyards are planted to convey the influence that the soil imparts on the wine's flavors and aromas. The vineyards are planted with grapes of the Pinot family, mostly new Dijon clones of Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris from Alsace. Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris are cool climate grapes, which are particularly well adapted to Oregon. As winemaker for WillaKenzie Estate, the acclaimed producer of single-vineyard Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris, Erik Kramer leads all winemaking and cellar
operations. He has been working in Oregon’s Willamette Valley since 2004, where he has built a reputation for world-class wines of finesse and balance. A scientist by training, Erik worked as a hydrogeologist in the petrochemical industry before combining his passion for science and appreciation for fine wine into a career. He spent a few seasons in Washington as a harvest cellar worker before
pursuing a postgraduate diploma in viticulture & oenology at Lincoln University in New Zealand, where he graduated with honors. Kramer went on to craft wine in New Zealand before to moving to the Willamette Valley. Prior to joining WillaKenzie Estate, Erik crafted highly-regarded wines for Domaine Serene and Adelsheim Vineyard. He also holds a degree in geology from Florida State University, which he draws on today when considering the relationship between terroir and wine quality. When not at the winery, Erik enjoys spending time with his family at his wine country home in McMinnville
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.