Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2018

• 75cl bottle

Deep and brilliant dark ruby colour. On the nose, aromas of red fruits pair elegantly with a touch of spice and wood. Flavours such as cherries and currants standout in the mouth and finish with soft tannins and a pleasant minerality.

Vineyards

The Willamette Valley Pinot Noir from Résonance is sourced from both estate vineyards (Résonance and Découverte Vineyards) and top vineyards in the Willamette Valley. The Résonance Vineyard is situated in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA, which is located within Oregon’s Willamette Valley, just west of Carlton at the foothills of the Coast Range. It is a 13-hectare property, with 8 hectares of the vineyard planted to Pinot Noir. The vineyard sits on a convex portion of a low, west-east oriented ridge emerging out of the Coast Range and lies at an altitude of 80 to 150 meters above sea level. Soils are primarily Willakenzie (old sedimentary deposits) and Yamhill (ancient submarine basaltic soil). With its non-grafted rootstocks planted in 1981, the dry-farmed vineyard is one of the oldest in the Willamette Valley.

Vintage

2018 has, in short, been probably the most successful vintage since 2015, with some growers harping back to 1990 and even 1947! However, unlike both these vintages, the yields were kind to the growers such were the perfect weather conditions from bud break through to harvest. The end of the vegetative growth cycle took place in hot and often very dry conditions across the region. Isolated localised thunderstorms in July brought with them a sprinkling of rain. In the Côte de Nuits, the south of Nuits Saint-Georges was struck twice by hailstorms. Luckily, however, there was little damage to the vineyards. The vines remained healthy and the sun shone consistently throughout summer. There was barely any need for triage, and it took us a fortnight to pick the entire domaine. For the whites there was an excellent levels of ripeness that lead us to expect great white wines that will be both rich and opulent but balanced by appropriate levels of freshness. In reds, the level of concentration is rare indeed. Colours are deep, yet tannins have an incredibly supple character, the result of perfect levels of ripeness at harvest.

Winemaking

The wine receives 13 months oak aging in French oak, of which 20% is new.

Enjoy with:

• Grilled and Roasted Red Meats
• Casseroles/Stews
• Mild Creamy Cheeses

Great with roast lamb or game dishes, or vegetable terrine.