The overall impression of the wine is freshness and balance in spite of the warm vintage. On the nose, savory red raspberry and blueberry combine with a truffled earthiness and floral spice. On the palate, crushed strawberry, violets, and sweet cherry pay homage to the riper year while briar, and porcini notes bring complexity. Texture is defined by soft but present tannins that rise through the midpalate to create a sueded texture. The tannins are enhanced by firm acidity on the finish.
The Willamette Valley cuvée combines Pinot from Eyrie’s estate vineyards with fruit from other organically-managed, older-vine sites. It is a blend of 65% estate grown Pinot, with 15% Cattrall Brothers, 12% Bishop Creek, and 8% Tukwilla Vineyards.
Picked by hand, our Pinot noir is destemmed and put into a variety of fermenters, from small one-ton bins to a 5 ton wooden cuve, to undergo native primary fermentation. Two fermenters were 100% whole cluster and contributed 4.1% of the final blend.
Our barrels are mostly neutral—for this vintage, 78% were over 5 years old and only 6% were new. Having undergone native malolactic fermentation, in barrel for 12 months, the 2014 Pinot noir was blended and bottled after 16 months and sealed under DIAM cork.
2016 started off with a warm, wet March, and continued with warmer than
average temperatures throughout the spring and summer. Fortunately, the
extra water early in the year prevented the vines from experiencing
drought stress in the summer. As we coasted through a warm summer, we
prepared for a harvest more than a month ahead of what we’d consider
normal. In September, just as harvest started, moderate temperatures
moved in. With cooler weather, fruit ripened at a leisurely pace. This
provided winemakers an unhurried opportunity to choose their fruit for
perfect ripeness.
