Wine & Spirits - October 2020 - 100

US NEW RELEASES
ing with its dusty tannins, leaving a lasting
impression of gentleness. -P.J.C. (56 cases) §
521476

93 | J. Christopher

$40

2017 Eola-Amity Hills Lumière Pinot
Noir ^ This is structured and subdued, with
scents of licorice root and dark mulled strawberry giving way to muddled black-cherry
flavors. It's juicy yet lean, the texture thickened by fruit-skin tannins and balanced by a
lively acid structure. This will pair well with
plank-roasted salmon. -P.J.C. (123 cases) §
521415

93 | Walter Scott

$65

2018 Eola-Amity Hills Seven Springs
Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Walter Scott gets a
few tons of chardonnay and pinot noir from
the Evening Land home vineyard, and makes
the most of it. While this wine starts out a bit
reduced and animale, with air, the leathery
notes fade to reveal a mouthwatering rush of
pomegranate and red-cherry flavor, driven
by an effusive acidity. It feels like it's some
time from peak expression. Cellar. -P.J.C.
(275 cases) §
521488

93 | Walter Scott

$65

2018 Eola-Amity Hills Temperance Hill
Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Walter Scott receives
some of the highest-elevation fruit on the
Temperance Hill property, a north-facing
slope with shallow soils that's a challenge to
farm. This 2018 is forthright, with a reductive scent of warm wool and cluster spice, a
note of wild strawberries peeking through
as it opens. It's reserved and pretty, the fruit
teased into view like pale sun on a spring day.
Built to age. -P.J.C. (150 cases) §
520549

92 | Bergström

$70

2018 Eola-Amity Hills Louise Vineyard
Pinot Noir ^ From blocks mostly planted on
Jory soils in 1993, this has a subtly smoky
whole-cluster scent, along with a fair bit of
oak, but the fruit has a rhubarb lift, tart,
pretty and suave, with fine mineral tannins.
For cumin-spiced pork. -P.J.C. (792 cases) §
521468

92 | Cristom

$70

2018 Eola-Amity Hills Eileen Vineyard
Pinot Noir ^ From the top end of the Cristom property, where the vines are the most
100

WINE & SPIRITS

92 | Evening Land

$35

92 | Evening Land

$75

2017 Eola-Amity Hills Seven Springs
Estate Pinot Noir (Best Buy) ^ This is the
most approachable of Evening Land Vineyard's three pinots, and bears all the hallmarks of the winery's style: smoky, savory
whole-cluster spice and supple and juicy textures, although this has a bit more flesh than
its counterparts, and softer tannins that lend
a harmony to the finish. -P.J.C. (3,490 cases) §
521469
2017 Eola-Amity Hills La Source Seven
Springs Estate Pinot Noir ^ An intense
whole-cluster experience, this wine's initial
scents are of Scotch and tobacco, turf and
smoke. It tastes of Santa Rosa plums and
cherry compote, rich at first before turning
tart and bracing, the finish bursting with redberry savor. Give it time in the cellar for the
savory side and the fruit to knit. -P.J.C. (298
cases) §

OCTOBER 2020

521376

92 | Lingua Franca

$30

2018 Eola-Amity Hills Avni Pinot Noir
(Best Buy) ^ Drawn from mostly Eola-Amity
Hills vineyards, including Larry Stone's
estate, this is youthful and brisk, with a light
red-cherry scent lined by oak. The plum flavors have an earthiness that brings the wine
to a darker hue, emphasized by weighty and
mineral tannins and a barrel element that
will need time to tuck into the wine. -P.J.C.
(2,500 cases) §
521482

92 | Rose & Arrow

horsehide or suede, all of which suggests
there's plenty of stuffing for it to evolve well.
Cellar for a year at least before returning to it
with a duck breast. -P.J.C. (135 cases) §
521387

92 | Rose & Arrow

$90

92 | Walter Scott

$40

91 | Bergström

$80

91 | Bethel Heights

$75

91 | Big Table Farm

$45

91 | Cristom

$75

2018 Yamhill-Carlton Yamhill Close
Pinot Noir ^ From a curious "mille-feuille"
soil structure of layered clay and silt isolated
by the Rose & Arrow team, the 2018 Yamhill Close is firmly structured, so much so
that it's hard to read much beyond its initial saturated intensity. The scents are dark
and loamy, the earthy, savory notes hinting
at the vineyard's dark sedimentary base. The
texture feels saturated, almost crowded in its
density, needing time in the cellar to unfurl.
-P.J.C. (313 cases) §
521414
2018 Eola-Amity Hills Cuvée Ruth Pinot
Noir ^ A blend of several of Walter Scott's vineyards, Cuvée Ruth isn't always exclusively
Eola Hills, but it is in 2018, and the wine
benefits from the firmer structure wrought
by the region's shallow soils. It has a broadbeam translucence to its flavors, the garnet
cherry-and-pomegranate notes held by an
inner tension. This should pair well with a
mushroom pasta. -P.J.C. (350 cases) §
520554
2018 Chehalem Mountains Silice Pinot
Noir ^ From a silica-rich parcel planted in
2001, now owned by the Bergströms, this
wine pulls together saturated red-cherry flavors and a rich humus-soil scent in an attractive combination. It's assertive, smooth and
saturated, with a feral feel to the tannins that
calls for game. -P.J.C. (1,250 cases) §
521417

$110

2018 Dundee Hills Bergström Vineyard
Pinot Noir ^ Exuberantly red-fruited, with a
bright red-cherry scent and a dusty red-dirt
background, this wine's soil-like minerality
provides concentration and focus. It's youthful and structured; cellar it to see where it
takes you. -P.J.C. (840 cases) §
521467

92 | Cristom

exposed to the Van Duzer winds, this wine is
spicy and tightly wound when first poured.
The dark plum fruit is steeped in licoriceroot notes, with a lovely concentration that
lingers. It has the tannic backbone and the
whole-cluster grip to match duck sausages.
-P.J.C. (840 cases) §
521361

$225

2018 Eola-Amity Hills Amity Hills Stonecreek First Expression Pinot Noir ^ This
wine feels buried in earth when first poured:
It's burly and smoky before it wakes like a
creature shaking turf off its back. It's saturated with red cherry and plum flavors, the
texture concentrated and tightly packed, like

2018 Eola-Amity Hills Casteel Pinot Noir ^
This leads with a pretty alpine-meadow scent,
light and a bit smoky, before surprising you
with its intensity: Its heady blue fruit carries a
firm, spicy Luxardo-cherry opulence. Decant
this to serve with duck. -P.J.C. (240 cases) §
521427
2018 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir ^ Lush
and juicy as a bowl of sun-warmed cherries,
this has just enough licorice depth of flavor
and earthy tannins to back up its generous
fruit. It could use a year in the cellar to knit;
then serve with lamb. -P.J.C. (2,503 cases) §
521465
2018 Eola-Amity Hills Marjorie Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Marjorie is one of Cristom's oldest vineyards. Named for Paul Ger-

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Wine & Spirits - October 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - October 2020