3 | Wine | Willamette | Page 6

"My favorite of this collection is the 2009 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley. Aromas of cedar, cinnamon, clove, rose petal, and cherry compose the bouquet of this velvety-textured, easy-going, impeccably balanced Pinot. There is enough material here to ensure another 5-6 years of enjoyable drinking. It makes a good case for the art of blending."

"Beautiful, dark and brilliant burgundy red from the center of the rim. Aromatics of wet stones, black cherries, ripe raspberries, cassis, tobacco and forest floor notes jump from the glass. Note of iris, cinnamon, spice and huckleberries. In the mouth, the attack opens with red fruit flavors and minerals which transform into darker fruit flavors as the wine moves along the palate. Firm ripe tannins and a rich texture characterize the long finish with lingering flavors of red fruits and wet stones."

"This displays an unusually dark – cassis and elderberry – fruit wreathed in bay laurel and smoky black tea. Broad, rich, and velvety, it nonetheless retains a welcome sense of levity, vivacity, and primary juiciness, finishing with next sip-inviting length. It offers considerable polish for the price and might well even gain in stature over the next several years."

"An unpretentious, utterly dry and serious rosé. It’s fashioned in the manner of a turn-of-the-century rosé Champagne, with no bubbles, a slight spritz and a luscious ripe sip-of-summer taste."