2008 Crowley Wines Pinot Noir La Colina Vineyard

The 2008 Pinot Noir La Colina Vineyard provides greater aromatic complexity but is more tightly wound and a bit restrained on the palate. Even so, all the right stuff is present, but it will take a minimum of 4-5 years of cellaring to bring it all out. Those able to delay gratification will be amply rewarded. During my winery visits in Willamette Valley I always ask whether there are new and interesting people that I ought to meet. This year the name Tyson Crowley came up so frequently that I felt compelled to see him and was able to work out a visit on short notice. He began working in Willamette Valley in 1995 and served apprenticeships with several of the more iconoclastic figures including John Paul of Cameron, Doug Tunnel of Brick House, and Jim Prosser of J.K. Carriere. He started operations in a custom crush facility just off 99W in 2007. Crowley ferments all his wines with native yeasts, never adds acid, and bottles without fining or filtration. www.crowleywines.com