2022 Harvest Cru Pinot Noir

Tasting Notes

A savory, complex expression of Pinot Noir. The whole-cluster element pops with floral, and spice elements balanced by savory black fruit and lovely textural richness. 200 cases made.

About Harvest Cru

The Harvest Cru is a bit like a senior project where the entire harvest team is given a block of grapes from a designated vineyard and allowed to make all the decisions under the guidance of our winemakers.

In 2022, our talented harvest crew split into two teams, each taking control of one lot of grapes from the same block of Pinot Noir. One team chose to take the grapes through a native yeast fermentation, that, while slow to start, kicked into gear nicely and finished strong. The second team did a partial whole-cluster fermentation, including only the brownest stems, while only receiving daily pumpovers and no punch-downs. After fermentation, each wine was barreled down into French oak barrels to age for 10 months in 25% new oak. Each wine had its strengths and weaknesses but when blended they paired beautifully. What one was missing the other provided! 

2022 Vintage

A year that kept us guessing, 2022 was an unusual vintage in the northern Willamette Valley. April brought one of our latest snows on record, with growers worried about frost damage. Thankfully, most vineyard sites set a generous crop which after a slow spring required thinning to encourage ripening. Temperatures finally warmed in August and September, but cool nights ensured adequate hangtime and flavor development. A string of sunny October days gave us the final ripening we desperately needed. Nearly every block of fruit was ready over a compressed two-week period, so the fruit arrived at peak ripeness during a very intense harvest season in the cellar. We expect our hard work to be rewarded with complex, fruit-forward wines.