Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2005 Pinot Noir Pierre Leon is medium garnet in color and scented of dried red fruits—rhubarb, strawberry and red cherries—with notes of raspberry jam, pipe tobacco, wood smoke and pretty floral perfume—the savory/tertiary aromas are just beginning to show through. Medium-bodied, it offers sweet red fruits in the mouth framed by wonderfully grainy tannins and juicy acidity carrying the finish. This is drinking beautifully right now!
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.