2023 Pinot Noir Estate Willamette Valley

Pouring a bright ruby red color, the 2023 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley has a fruity and savory profile, with notes of ripe wild berries, light gamey richness, purple flowers, and forest earth. Medium-bodied, it has a plushness but a lovely lightweight feel on the palate. Drink over the coming 12-15 years. For this cuvée, they conducted small trials with a small part of the whole cluster, involving about 5% in this vintage. After speaking with Mikey Etzel and Damien Lapuyade, who brings his experience from Evening Land to the production, I anticipate seeing subtle shifts in this direction moving forward. Michael Etzel founded Beaux Freres in 1991 in Ribbon Ridge alongside his brother-in-law, Robert Parker. In 2017, Parker and another investor sold their shares, and Michael became a partner with the Champagne and Burgundy house of Maison & Domaines Henriot. Today, Michael’s son Mikey has taken over the wine production and has been joined by Damien Lapuyade as winemaker since 2023. Beaux Frères has also transitioned to producing wines entirely from their estate fruit, which is farmed biodynamically. Readers will find happy homes for the holdings that were not part of the estate they worked with in the past, represented in this report, which don’t fall far from the Etzell family’s sphere of influence.

The 2023 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley is aromatically stunning, with a cascade of sweet rose and lavender giving way to dusty dried strawberries and spice. Energetic yet also silken and supple, it reveals depths of bright red fruit and subtle mineral tones. A tinge of tart cranberry lingers, framed by gently grippy tannins as a nuance of licorice tapers off. As of 2023, the Willamette Valley Pinot Noir now makes use of the new Bridge Vineyard, making it about 61% estate fruit.

A concentrated but generous and approachable red. This offers charming red fruit on the nose and some deeper, denser black fruit on the palate, with black cherries, moderate tannins and a medium to full body. Drink now or hold.