Robert Parker - 93
The 2019 Gamay Noir features ringing tones of cranberry and red berry preserves with touches of licorice, cracked pepper and garrigue. The medium-bodied palate has generous, spicy fruit, pleasantly chalky tannins and mouthwatering acidity that calls you in to take another sip.
Published: Sep 29, 2023
tasting notes
crunchy cranberry & black cherry—mineral/spice/pepper/floral/herbal accents—palate is fresh, focused, tense with a lithe balance and framed by gentle tannin structure—a youthful and versatile wine offering much pleasure
vineyards Tualatin Estate (Tualatin Hills AVA) and Havlin (Van Duzer Corridor AVA)
elevation 300-400 feet
aspects mostly south-facing, gentle to moderate slopes
soils Laurelwood (Tualatin) and Steiwer Soil Series (Havlin)
vine age 11-17 years
clonal selection 284 from Beaujolais
farming Dry-Farmed
harvest Oct. 6 & 11, 2019
elevage 9 months sans souf, sur lie, old neutral cooperage
bottled without fining on August 18, 2020 with 30ppm Total SO2
cases produced 611
the Terroir
Tualatin Estate is situated in the far northwestern corner of the Willamette Valley, framed by the coast range to the immediate west and composed of Laurelwood soil that gives floral aromatics, red fruit and delicate texture. Havlin vineyard sits squarely in the mouth of the Van duzer Corridor, the air conditioning pathway through the Coast Range where marine air enters from the ocean to the west and cools the Willamette Valley. The consistency and intensity of these winds mean that Gamay from Havlin is more intense, deeply colored and structured. This bottling is a highly complementary marriage of the two sites.The Willamette Valley is truly a home-away-from-home for Gamay. It thrives here.
