Wine & Spirits - April 2021 - 85

Year's Best US Pinot Noirs
93 | J. Christopher

$60

2017 Chehalem Mountains Estate Pinot
Noir ^ A tiny production from a south-facing
vineyard overlooking the J. Christopher winery, this pinot noir leads with lovely scents of
cinnamon, mace and strawberry. The wine
is succulent and supple, its spiciness lingering with its dusty tannins, leaving a lasting
impression of gentleness. -P.J.C. (W&S
10/20; 56 cases) §

thing I'd have guessed based on my notes.
Instead, I found this pure and lifted, with
a wild-cherry scent and a juicy exuberance.
It shares the lightness of tone and forward
feel of a good cru-Beaujolais. Concentrated,
straightforward and delightful this is a wine
to pour with pozole. -P.J.C. (140 cases) §
522868

91 | Adelsheim

521474

93 | J. Christopher

$30

2017 Chehalem Mountains Basalte Pinot
Noir (Best Buy) ^ From a selection of basaltrich vineyards, including estate sources, this
wine recalls pine-top mountain ridges in its
haunting scent of pine tips and cedar. The
black cherry flavors are forward and lush,
then gathered by fruit-skin tannins as the
wine finishes in an elegant mode. -P.J.C.
(W&S 10/20; 2,400 cases) §
522875

92 | Alloro

$45

2018 Chehalem Mountains Estate Pinot
Noir (Best Buy) ^ This starts out spicy and
dark, with scents of clove, turf and black
cherries. Just from the scent it feels like it's
going to be rich-overly so; but, instead,
the flavors are deep and focused, with pronounced linear movement that comes off as
vibrant and lively. -P.J.C. (1,700 cases) §
522903

92 | Bergström Wines

$85

2019 Chehalem Mountains Winery Block
Pinot Noir ^ Bergström's 2019s, when tasted
in January, were all opened too young-
this one has a graham cracker oak scent to
go along with clove, mace and black plum.
Some air brings the wine together, allowing the whole-cluster spice to find its niche,
revealing a wine of impeccable structure, just
needing time to fill in. For the cellar. -P.J.C.
(230 cases) §
522944

92 | Carabella

$60

2018 Chehalem Mountains Inchinnan
Pinot Noir ^ Mike Hallock blends this estate
wine from lots he selects for their darkness
and depth of flavor-which is not some-

$75

2018 Chehalem Mountains Calkins Lane
Pinot Noir ^ Scents of cinnamon and clove
lend a pleasing spiciness to this firm, mildly
smoky red. There's a coolness and reserve
to the dark-plum flavors that's beguiling,
guided by spicy oak, lean and flavorful for
duck. -P.J.C. (380 cases) §
522869
$100

2018 Chehalem Mountains Bryan Creek
Pinot Noir ^ This pinot is full of compelling
savor, dusty and seemingly windswept, with
a dark-berry cast and hints of clove and cinnamon. The refined oak frame that for now
has the clearest voice; there's much within,
needing bottle age to emerge. -P.J.C. (120
cases) §
520554

91 | Bergström

$80

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 scent in an attractive
combination. It's assertive and smooth, with
a feral note in the tannins that calls for game.
-P.J.C. (W&S 10/20; 1,250 cases) §
523250

91 | Flâneur

$55

2017 Chehalem Mountains La Belle Promenade Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Quiet and elegant from the moment it's poured, this wine
gives a sense of a bowl of plums in a paneled
room, the oak polished, the fruit behind it
reticent and refined. It's got the structure
to lay down, or to decant for a stroganoff.
-P.J.C. (1,020 cases) §
523223

91 | Fullerton

$50

2018 Chehalem Mountains Arborbrook
Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Firm and composed
right out of the bottle, this has a dark-plum
and black-cherry scent framed by caramelly
oak. It's deeply flavored and concentrated,
the extract in the middle met by firm fruitskin tannins. -P.J.C. (235 cases) §
523062

91 | Lachini Vineyards

$85

2018 Chehalem Mountains Cuvee Giselle
Pinot Noir ^ Generous in its deep cherry scent
and whole-cluster spice, this wine's exuberant cherry flavors taste as if they're flecked

with herbs. Capitalize on its pine-frond savor
with leg of lamb. -P.J.C. (147 cases) §
522876

90 | Alloro

$60

90 | Alloro

$95

90 | Bergström

$80

90 | Chehalem Winery

$30

90 | Elevée

$52

90 | Fullerton

$75

2018 Chehalem Mountains Riservata
Estate Pinot Noir ^ Alloro's Riservata draws
from the most sumptuous lots in the cellar.
It's lush, even a bit heady, with vibrant red
fruits and a plump texture that feels unresolved. Cellar it. -P.J.C. (300 cases) §
522877
2018 Chehalem Mountains Justina Estate
Pinot Noir ^ A barrel selection from estate
fruit, this wine smells of fresh juice and tastes
of velvety red-cherry pie. It's a bit louche and
heady, and is likely to come into focus once
it loses some of its baby fat. Cellar. -P.J.C.
(200 cases) §
522902
2019 Chehalem Mountains Silice Pinot
Noir ^ Youthful and unformed, there's a
plummy dark fruit note beneath reductive suede and leather accents. The dark
cherry flavors are plump while oak hovers
above them, unresolved. It needs at least six
months in the cellar to sort itself out. -P.J.C.
(610 cases) §
522952
2019 Chehalem Mountains Pinot Noir
(Best Buy) ^ Pleasingly reserved, even a bit
slight, there's a fine composure to the suite of
red-cherry and red-plum flavors, all limned
with a fine red earth expression. After a day,
the fruit becomes more assertive and the
wine will likely have much more to say after
some cellar time. § -P.J.C.
522996
2018 Chehalem Mountains Madrona Hill
Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Woodsy, with a hint
of pine and cedar, this wine develops spiciness with air as its strawberry flavors open.
It finishes with a burst of acidity, a touch tart
and tannic. Cellar to let it integrate. -P.J.C.
(300 cases) §
523224
2018 Chehalem Mountains Claudius
Pinot Noir ^ This grows at a single parcel of
the Arborbrook Vineyard, planted to clone
943, which Alex Fullerton isolates most years
to be blended; this year, he decided to bottle
it separately. It's fermented as whole clusters
and is showing its savory side at the moment,
with scents of clove, mace and cocoa overlaying black-plum flavors, and a dark richness
to the texture. -P.J.C. (95 cases) §
523061
WINE & SPIRITS

APRIL 2021

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Wine & Spirits - April 2021

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