Pearson's Notes

Winery Notes: It was 10 years ago that we released our first Estate Reserve Pinot Noir. This bottling has always represented the "best of the best" from our Belle Pente estate vineyard, and over the years has also evolved into our purest expression of the best attributes of our Yamhill-Carlton District appellation. The wines from our neighborhood are characterized by dark fruit flavors and aromas, herbal/floral overtones, underlying minerality, an intriguing texture, and an impeccable balance of acid and tannin that makes the wines silky and sappy but also fresh and focused. Our Estate Reserve Pinot Noir provides a textbook example!

2006 has been described as a very "user friendly" vintage for Pinot Noir in Oregon. This Estate Reserve was selected for the International Pinot Noir Celebration this summer - so it can certainly be enjoyed now. But it is destined to provide the most pleasure when pulled from the cellar a half dozen (or more) years down the road. This 2006 version once again is sourced primarily from 2 sections of the vineyard: the original 1994 planting, always the most complex wine in the cellar, and the Wadensvil block planted in 1998 on a steep south-west hillside, the warmest part of the vineyard which always achieves the most even ripening. We then selected the 18 individual barrels that best showcased our appellation attributes and provide the "right stuff" for aging. The result is a tightly wound, rich, concentrated, structured young wine - perhaps our strongest Estate Reserve bottling to date. Make sure to find some room in your cellar! 450 cases produced