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Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

Willamette Valley Pinot Noir Wine Details
Price: $45.00 per bottle

Description: Ripe, healthy fruit was hand-picked into small totes, and then whole-cluster pressed. Half of the juice was fermented in French Oak barrels (10% new) to create a round, rich texture. The other half fermented and aged in a stainless steel tank to maintain the purest and most elegant expression of Chardonnay. After eight months, these two styles were blended to create a cuvée of a more delicate nature - a blend of pure Chablis and a gentle Mersault.

Varietal Definition
Pinot Noir:
The name is derived from the French words for ‘pine’ and ‘black’ alluding to the varietals' tightly clustered dark purple pine cone shaped bunches of fruit. Pinot Noir grapes are grown around the world, mostly in the cooler regions, but the grape is chiefly associated with the Burgundy region of France. It is widely considered to produce some of the finest wines in the world, but is a difficult variety to cultivate and transform into wine. By volume most Pinot Noir in America is grown in California with Oregon coming in second. Other regions are Washington State and New York.During 2004 and the beginning of 2005, Pinot Noir became considerably more popular amongst consumers in the United States, possibly because of the movie Sideways. Being lighter in style, it has benefited from a trend toward more restrained, less alcoholic wines. It is the delicate, subtle, complex and elegant nature of this wine that encourages growers and winemakers to cultivate this difficult grape. Robert Parker has described Pinot Noir: "When it's great, Pinot Noir produces the most complex, hedonistic, and remarkably thrilling red wine in the world."


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