90 Plus Cellars Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir

Fine wine making in Oregon is centered in the Willamette Valley, which extends south and southwest of Portland east of the Coast Range Mountains. Vineyards are more exposed to the marine air of the Pacific, giving milder winters than Washington but a cooler and cloudier summer than California. Rainfall is similar to Bordeaux and Burgundy, but falls mostly between October and April, not during the growing season. The vineyards in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA where this Pinot Noir grows lie on east-facing hillsides consisting of deep, volcanic basalt soils. These vineyards are farmed organically, although the wine is not organically certified.

This Pinot Noir is made by combining destemmed fruit with up to a quarter whole clusters, fermented in small stainless steel tanks. The use of both gentle pump-overs and punch downs occur during fermentation to carefully extract color, flavor and texture from the grape skins. The wine matures in a combination of new and used French barrique for a year before bottling.

Perfumed black cherry and plum aromas with milder hints of wet stone and soft oak. This wine is elegantly textured with a commanding freshness accentuating the wine’s fruit flavors. The finish is long, combining elements of ripe fruit, sweet smelling oak and savory earth.

ABV: 12.9%