Illahe Vineyards Estate Pinot Noir 2021 | Ewineasia.com

The 2021 vintage was nearly a perfect vintage, and whatever complaints we had about bloom have been completely forgotten with this year’s frost. We had a delightful fall with slightly lower-than-normal yield, a great crew, and smooth native fermentations. As usual we brought in fruit from Ash Creek, but we also added new fruit from Pauline Vineyard near Monmouth, some of which went into the higher blends. The Willamette Valley is 10% new oak this vintage. We keep fermentation temperatures down to create a light, classic pinot with a strong acid backbon.

As you would expect, this one has cherry, strawberry, and plum, cola, graham cracker, and black tea. We find other interesting notes in the corners, including nectarine, white pepper, rosemary, and pea pod. It’s 25% whole cluster.