Winemaker Notes
Willamette Valley Vineyards' most versatile Pinot Noir for food pairings, this wine lends itself well to sweet and tangy barbecue, pizza with red sauce, teriyaki short ribs, gourmet burgers and cedar-planked salmon. Try serving slightly chilled on a warm summer evening.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is a juicy, red-fruited, whole-cluster pinot with lifted aromas of red cherries, dried herbs, spice, red apples and pencil shavings. The palate is bright and crunchy, with a rounded mouthfeel and finely tuned tannins. Such a lovely, fruit-driven wine with a savory undertone. Drink or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
Whole Cluster, I think I love you. Your blackberry and pain au chocolat aromas are like the continental breakfast of my dreams. The culinary theme continues on the palate as flavors of marionberries and caffe latte mix with a savory grilled mushroom note. Pair the Whole Cluster with a Sunday brunch.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Pouring a medium red color, the 2023 Pinot Noir Whole Cluster offers attractive aromas of spice and notes of cedar, clove, baked cherries, and forest earth. Medium-bodied, it has nice balance on the palate, with ripe tannins, balanced acidity, and an elegant finish.
A combination of determination and extraordinary people has brought Willamette Valley Vineyards from a bold idea to one of the region's leading wineries, earning the title "One of America's Great Pinot Noir Producers," from Wine Enthusiast Magazine.
The “budwood” of Willamette Valley Vineyards began long before its founding in 1983 by vintner Jim Bernau. His Dad was hired by a California winemaker to secure the first winery license in Oregon since Prohibition. Jim’s Dad allowed him small tastes of Richard Sommer’s wine, lighting a path that led Jim from home winemaking to studies at UC Davis and eventually Beaune, France.
In 1983, Jim cleared away an old pioneer plum orchard in the Salem Hills and hand-watered his first plantings using 17 lengths of 75’ garden hose.
Jim's vision of organizing the support of wine enthusiasts to build a winery that would produce world-class wines through shared ownership has resulted in more than 16,000 owners. The winery's Common (WVVI) and Preferred (WVVIP) are traded on the NASDAQ.
The winery sources all of its barrel-aged Pinot Noir from its estate vineyards and practices environmentally sustainable farming. All of the vineyards have been certified sustainable through LIVE (Low Impact Viticulture and Enology) and Salmon-Safe programs since 1997.
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.