Winemaker Notes
Bright pink in color with aromas of juicy strawberry, cherry, tropical lychee and vanilla cream, watermelon, strawberries and cream, red cherry and honeysuckle. Dry with a medium-body, round mouthfeel and vibrant flavors of nectarine, peach, honeysuckle and minerality. The refreshing acidity creates a lively and clean finish.
This rosé is a versatile wine to pair with food as it can stand up to complex cuisines yet is comfortable with simple salads and seasonal vegetables. Enjoy with salmon sliders, ahi tuna, vegetable curries, bruschetta, balsamic chicken kabobs, wood-fired flatbreads, niçoise salads, cheese and charcuterie boards. Serve chilled.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2020 Willamette Valley Vineyards Whole Cluster Rosé of Pinot Noir is delicate and precise. TASTING NOTES: This wine brings fragrant strawberries to life with its aromas and flavors, as well as a hint of savory spices. Enjoy it with fresh salmon handrolls. (Tasted: April 18, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Enthusiast
Fermented with clusters intact, this is a peppery, herbal and quite lively style of rose. Flavors circle around strawberry leaves and white strawberry. With ample breathing time, it fleshes out through the middle.
Whether it’s playful and fun or savory and serious, most rosé today is not your grandmother’s White Zinfandel, though that category remains strong. Pink wine has recently become quite trendy, and this time around it’s commonly quite dry. Since the pigment in red wines comes from keeping fermenting juice in contact with the grape skins for an extended period, it follows that a pink wine can be made using just a brief period of skin contact—usually just a couple of days. The resulting color depends on grape variety and winemaking style, ranging from pale salmon to deep magenta.
One of Pinot Noir's most successful New World outposts, the Willamette Valley is the largest and most important AVA in Oregon. With a continental climate moderated by the influence of the Pacific Ocean, it is perfect for cool-climate viticulture and the production of elegant wines.
Mountain ranges bordering three sides of the valley, particularly the Chehalem Mountains, provide the option for higher-elevation vineyard sites.
The valley's three prominent soil types (volcanic, sedimentary and silty, loess) make it unique and create significant differences in wine styles among its vineyards and sub-AVAs. The iron-rich, basalt-based, Jory volcanic soils found commonly in the Dundee Hills are rich in clay and hold water well; the chalky, sedimentary soils of Ribbon Ridge, Yamhill-Carlton and McMinnville encourage complex root systems as vines struggle to search for water and minerals. In the most southern stretch of the Willamette, the Eola-Amity Hills sub-AVA soils are mixed, shallow and well-drained. The Hills' close proximity to the Van Duzer Corridor (which became its own appellation as of 2019) also creates grapes with great concentration and firm acidity, leading to wines that perfectly express both power and grace.
Though Pinot noir enjoys the limelight here, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay also thrive in the Willamette. Increasing curiosity has risen recently in the potential of others like Grüner Veltliner, Chenin Blanc and Gamay.