From the winemaker:
Our 2017 Pinot Noir is sourced from our vineyards in the cool Willamette Valley in northern Oregon. Nestled between two mountain ranges and influenced by the Pacific Ocean, our vineyard soil is rich, deep and well-draining. Blended from several different vineyard lots and clonal selections, our Pinot Noir is 99% estate grown and picked at optimum ripeness, with an average sugar at 24.8 Brix at harvest. The fermentation lasted about 7 days, then we pressed directly to tank to complete malolactic fermentation. The wine is sur lees aged 10 months in a combination of 30% new French and 30% new American medium toasted oak. The results are complexity with bright-creamy fruit and concentrated mouthfeel.
Tasting Notes:
This Pinot Noir is elegant, well-built and bursting with brilliant, ripe, rich fruit flavors and aromas. It is fruit focused with subtle tones of earthiness, vanilla, spice and toasted oak in the background. There is a long, smooth inviting finish; tannins are present and well blended.
Wilfred Wong says:
Highly acclaimed winemaker Bob Cabral has put together a beautiful and well-balanced wine. TASTING NOTES: This wine is bright, and lavish on the palate. Its aromas and flavors of ripe red fruits, oak accents, and a suggestion of minerality should pair it well with seared lamb chops.
I actually find this more French in style than these descriptions suggest, more like a minor red Burgundy. With a certain terroir quality and tertiary notes you don’t often get with American Pinot Noirs.
