2010 Pinot noir | Willamette Valley
In the Vineyard
The 2010 vintage must have inherited some DNA from its ’08 elder cousin, resulting in a late bud break and bloom, but miraculously dry and cool late into the month of October. Grape clusters were small and beautiful, but natural fruit yields were low. A cool and somewhat wet summer necessitated thinning of crop yields to further advance ripening of the remaining clusters. All of these environmental factors, combined with an onslaught of hungry migratory birds, brought vintage crop yields down by a significant 30%. We began harvesting vineyards from four different sub-appellations for the 2010 Willamette Valley on October 8, with the latest harvest on record to date, coming in on October 31. The cuvee is comprised of over 50% Chehalem Mountains fruit, mostly from Le Cadeau and Arbre Vert vineyards, and even includes some Raptor Ridge Estate fruit. Yamhill-Carlton fruit makes up another 30% of the blend, which is rounded out by a small portion of McMinnville, and a touch of Eola-Amity fruit – from the famed Temperance Hill Vineyard. Prominent clones are 667, Cory, Pommard, 777, 114, and 115.
At the Winery
With a dozen vineyards supplying our Willamette Valley cuvee, this is the most diverse and complex assemblage yet produced at RRW. A review of our winery log shows a balanced but not powerful grape chemistry on average: 21.2 Brix, pH 3.34, TA 7.3. All vineyards and blocks were harvested, fermented, and barrel aged separately as much as possible, keeping them unique. We employed a 7-day cold-soak, then heated and inoculated our fermenters with a diverse selection of commercial yeasts to promote complexity (71B, BM45, BRL97, BRG, and RC212). Wines were fermented completely dry, pressed no more than 1.1 bar, tank settled for at least 24 hours, then racked into a range of 26% new French oak cooperage (DeFerrari, Mercury, Billon, Cadus, Ermitage, Remond, and Tonnellerie Ô). After secondary (M/L) fermentation was complete, we tasted through over 220 barrels in selecting the components of our Willamette Valley Cuvée, seeking the characteristic elements of aroma, texture, fruit, focus, finish, and color that our Willamette Valley Cuvée customers rely upon from vintage to vintage.
At the Table
Our goal for this blend is always to provide a balanced, immediately drinkable, crowd-pleasing wine that is perceived as a great value for the price. The 2010 is no exception. The light hue of this wine as it hits the glass contradicts the intensity and complexity of the tasting experience! The 2010 Willamette is an elegant and articulate wine. Bright red candied cherry and caramel apple and even a hint of fresh white peach on the nose prepare the senses for a silky entry on the palate followed by the immediate attack of very zippy cherry fruit, mouth-drenching acidity, and hints of cassis. The wine narrows as it finishes with polished, fine-grained tannins. Though narrow, the length is prolonged by a spectrum of flavors that keep going. As it ages in the bottle, brown spice notes of cardamon and cinnamon bark may become more prominent.
