Winemaker Notes
Slope is a dark, brooding Pinot Noir of great density, perfect for sipping next to the fireplace in the middle of winter. An ideal candidate for extended aging.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Pouring a ruby/magenta hue, the 2021 Pinot Noir Slope is almost all from the 667 clone of Pinot Noir and was entirely destemmed and raised for 17 months in nearly 70% new French oak. It reveals beautiful aromas of kirsch, floral and fruit notes of mixed berries, crushed flowers, sweet mossy earth, and a hint of anise. Medium-bodied, it expands through the palate, with a weightless feel, ripe tannins, the texture of river stones, and a clean finish. It’s a fantastic wine with a cuddly feel, but it’s never heavy and it has a great finish. Drink 2025-2040.
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Decanter
Adjacent to the Sum block, this wine is fully destemmed and all from the 667 clone Pinot Noir. Next to the big Douglas fir in the vineyard, this wine gives off sweet truffle and sous bois notes with sweet and rich black fruits. Taut blackberries meld with a spicy clove. Exotic spices frame the palate with Oregon blackberry, raspberry leaf and a rich, loamy earth character.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Pinot Noir Slope comes from grapes planted in volcanic soils, and on the nose, tar and scorched earth aromas give way over time to pomegranate, rhubarb, dried herbs and amaro. The medium-bodied palate is expressive and inviting, flooding the mouth with dynamic flavor layers. It has suede-textured tannins, vibrant acidity and a very long finish streaked with flint and spice. It will reward five or more years in the cellar and should be long lived.
Rating: 95+ -
Vinous
The 2021 Pinot Noir Slope is impossible to ignore. A cascade of crushed blackberries and cherries reaches up, followed by notes of cola, lavender pastille and lifting hints of pine. This shows abundant energy, splashing across the palate with a juicy wave of ripe wild berry fruits and sour citrus, all neatly framed by tactile mineral tones toward the close. Blood orange and inner sage notes flourish through the finish, all over a bed of fine tannins. The 2021 tapers off dramatically long and beautifully balanced.
Rating: 94+ -
Wine Spectator
Impressive for its structure and detail, this Pinot serves up raspberry and boysenberry flavors laced with forest floor and crushed stone tones that build richness toward medium-grained tannins. Drink now through 2032.
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.”
Running north to south, adjacent to the Willamette River, the Eola-Amity Hills AVA has shallow and well-drained soils created from ancient lava flows (called Jory), marine sediments, rocks and alluvial deposits. These soils force vine roots to dig deep, producing small grapes with great concentration.
Like in the McMinnville sub-AVA, cold Pacific air streams in via the Van Duzer Corridor and assists the maintenance of higher acidity in its grapes. This great concentration, combined with marked acidity, give the Eola-Amity Hills wines—namely Pinot noir—their distinct character. While the region covers 40,000 acres, no more than 1,400 acres are covered in vine.