2021 00 Wines Pinot Noir Richard Hermann Cuvee

Very expressive red with sliced strawberry and raspberry with orange peel and lemon rind. Some violets and other flowers, too. Medium-bodied with very fine tannins and a succulent and subtle fruity finish. Just a hint of chocolate and cedar.

The 2021 Pinot Noir Richard Herman Cuvée is distinctly savory, with hints of sour citrus and wild herbs complicating crushed blackberries. Silky and refined with brilliant acidity, this smooths over the palate with ripe red fruits and sweet spices, taking on a chalky mineral sensation toward the close. It leaves a bitter twang, giving way to a sweet and sour sensation, along with silty tannins, as the mouth is left watering for more. The Richard Herman Cuvée is one of the most balanced and thoroughly enjoyable reds from the 2021 Double 00 lineup. (EG)

Spicy and more brooding, with a rocky mountainous feel, the 2021 Pinot Noir Richard Hermann Cuvee is from an undisclosed site and is loaded with black raspberry eau de vie, crushed pine needles, anise, and fresh lavender. This is the best Pinot Noir I have tasted from the vintage so far and possibly the best wine from the region I have tasted. It delivers salty, mouthwatering persistence and a phenomenal, balanced mouthfeel, with a silky texture and even acidity, and it somehow gains purity all the way through the back palate. Lights out, greatness. Drink it over the coming decades. 221 cases were produced. 00 Wines, founded by husband-and-wife duo Katherine and Christopher Hermann, exclusively produce Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. They derived the name “00” from numerology and say it represents true and absolute potential. Their first vintage was in 2015, and in 2017 they moved to a shared winemaking facility that they operate out of today. Katherine takes charge of the creative direction with packaging and communications. Her background in marketing brought her to New York City and Boulder, Colorado, working for technology startups, before arriving in the Willamette Valley. Prior to establishing 00 Wines, Christopher was a legal advisor for nearly 40 years for many of the top names in the wine and spirits industry, practicing environmental law. They are inspired by the great wines of Burgundy and implement many Burgundian techniques, advised by their consultant Pierre Millemann and their winemaker Wynne Peterson-Nerdry. Last year I was not able to taste their reds, but it proved to be well worth the wait. They display another level of purity and depth from truly exceptional sites. Also on the horizon for the 00 Wines team are two relatively new projects in both Burgundy and Champagne, which I will be able to share with our readers when I taste them in September of this year.