2023 Domaine Roy et Fils "Estate" Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

The 2023 Pinot Noir “Willamette Valley” bottling from Domaine Roy et Fils is made from the estate’s two vineyards, one in the Dundee Hills AVA and one in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA. The wine was raised in forty percent new oak during its élevage and tips the scales at an even fourteen percent octane in this vintage. The wine offers up a bright, youthful and red fruity nose of cherries, strawberries, a nice touch of whole clusters, a good base of soil, raw cocoa woodsmoke and cedar. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, focused and shows lovely depth of fruit at the core, with tangy acids, ripe tannins and fine balance on the long and nascently complex finish. This needs some time in the cellar to blossom, but it is going to be a very good bottle once it is ready to drink.

The 2023 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley displays dusty violet and lavender tones before giving way to dried black cherries and a nuance of clove. The palate is round and supple, with depths of dark red fruit energized by a core of tantalizing acidity. It finishes with lovely length and perfume, leaving a pleasantly tart twang that calls the taster back to the glass. (EG)