Representing a more than 10,000-case lot drawing on their several owned vineyards, WVV’s 2010 Pinot Noir Estate smells of red raspberry, cherry and rose hip, which in turn brightly and piquantly inform a (for the vintage) surprisingly full palate, suggestions of seeds and pits serving for a sense of invigoration that is especially welcome given that the finishing fruit presents itself as slightly diffuse and harbors a faintly caramelized overlay. This should drink well for several years, and perhaps will in the process gain greater harmony.
Along with several partners, Jim Bernau founded Willamette Valley Vineyards, south of Salem, in 1983; and after boning up on winemaking at U.C. Davis and in France, he built his winery in 1989, with cellars tunneled into a volcanic hillside. A significant portion of the original WVV estate was grafted over to Dijon clones beginning in 1993, among the earliest deployment of those clones into the U.S.; the balance consists of Pommard and Wadenswil. Today, there are thousands of shareholders and Willamette Valley Vineyards (hereafter referred to as WVV) produces nearly 90,000 cases, sourcing from vineyards throughout the valley, three of which – Tualatin and Hannah, outside Forest Grove in the Willamette’s extreme northwest; and Elton in the Eola-Amity Hills – have since been absorbed into WVV. Pinot is characteristically destemmed but with high whole berry retention; there is only a short cold soak; fermentations start up spontaneously but house-specific yeast cultures are often employed; fermentative extraction is via manual punch-down; and the young wine typically completes its last bit of primary fermentation in barrel after an only overnight tank-settling. Eighteen-year estate veteran Forrest Klaffke, who became head winemaker in 2001, succumbed to cancer after putting the 2011s to barrel, and has been succeeded by his long-standing assistant Don Crank III. The array of wines here is correspondingly huge, and I tasted only Bernau’s candidates from among current or recent Pinot Noirs. He characterized vintage 2010 as “scary,” and the vintage’s vicissitudes are reflected in the heterogeneity of quality I experienced. Incidentally, Bernau speculates that relatively large berry size was responsible for the rather light color of so many 2010s, but his best are also vintage-typical in their levity, animation, and bright juiciness.
Tel. (800) 344-9463
粵公網(wǎng)安備 44030502006249號