Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This includes grapes from the winery’s Jerusalem Hill vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA, in addition to the Dundee Hills sites, hence the more general Willamette Valley designation. It was aged in 65% new French oak for 16 months. It’s open and generous, offering bright berry, cherry and red currant fruit matched to defining acids, all set in a fine-tuned frame of new oak. Re-tasted 24 hours after being opened, it remained fresh, dense and satisfying.
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James Suckling
A full and rich pinot with clay, berry and strawberry character. Hints of soil and spices too. Lots of ripe fruit, but fresh and bright.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The bouquet is in stark contrast with strawberry pastille and raspberry coulis, hints of iodine developing in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fleshy ripe red berry fruit interlaced with sea salt and white pepper. There is an undercurrent of gaminess to this 2012 that lends intrigue toward the finish that gently grips the mouth. Not as opulent as other 2012 Pinot Noirs that I have tasted, but clearly very well crafted by winemaker Erik Kramer and with a prosperous future ahead.
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Wine Spectator
Focused, vital, ripe and distinctive, with a coppery note weaving through the strawberry and raspberry flavors. Hints at clove and root beer as the finish persists. Drink now through 2022.
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Tasting Panel
Soft cherry nose; lush texture and ripe cherry fruit; smooth and juicy, balanced and long.
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.