2021 Louise Pinot Noir

The 2021 Pinot Noir Louise Vineyard is savory with a pleasantly herbal tinge as suggestions of incense and lavender give way to cinnamon-dusted blackberries. It’s a model of purity, wiry, with saline minerals and depths of tart wild berries peppering the palate. This is long and perfumed with a coating of concentration that lingers long, leaving a cranberry crunch through the finale.

Hand-harvested, 46% whole-cluster fermented. Ambient-yeast fermentation. One to three punchdowns daily with occasional pumpovers in 1.5- to 7-ton open-top fermenters. Pressed to tank, settled overnight and moved to barrel. Unfined and unfiltered. 18 months on lees in 38% new French oak barrels. Pale ruby in colour. Darker fruit on the nose than Jessie – black cherry and potting soil. Warming with brown-spice notes. Structurally very firm and tight with black-walnut bitterness to the edge. Tannin is elevated and grippy. Very long. Brooding. (SCJ)

Also pouring a deep ruby hue, the 2021 Pinot Noir Louise Vineyard is floral and fruity initially on opening and has a delicate warming feel, with notes of cardamom, Asian spice, mixed red and black berries, wet stone, and cedar. Medium to full-bodied, it’s generous and inviting right out of the gate, although it will do well over the coming 8-10 years and should develop more umami richness and savory nature. Right now, it’s rather primary, although it’s well-balanced and has a great finish, with velvety tannins and even-keeled acidity. The wines for this report were tasted at the winery, where I toured the vineyards with winemaker Daniel Estrin in the Eola-Amity Hills. Daniel joined the team in 2019, following his work with Ted Lemon at Littorai, where he began as an intern and worked his way up to assistant winemaker. Although he has certainly taken a page from Ted’s farming and biodynamic practices, the estate is not certified, and they prefer not to work within the proscriptive confines for certification.