2018 Alloro Vineyard Pinot Noir

Vintage 2018 

The summer was hot and dry, eclipsing previous years out of the record books with 31 days over 90° most in the upper 90’s without reaching the century mark, including a stretch of 10 days over 90° in July. Summer fires in the Southern Washington and Southern Oregon/ Northern California filled the Northern Willamette Valley with smoke, for weeks at a time. We were lucky to avoid smoke-taint in the grapes. The grape yields were on the high side, forcing growers to send the crews in the vineyards to drop fruit to a reasonable level. 

Winemaker's notes. Tasted in 2020

Located in the Laurel Ridge section of the Chehalm Mountains AVA, this vineyard site was planted in 1999 on a southwest-facing slope in Laurelwood and Jory soils. Winemaker, Jacques Tardy has aged the wine for 18 months in 23% new French oak and bottled un-fined and un-filtered. This has created a rich, yet elegant wine with a prominent flavor of “Nutella” framing a core of sweet red and dark cherries. The finish is remarkable with sweet tannin and lengthy flavors of complex fruit and chocolate notes.