Red
The Time Series
2021 Time Waits for No One – Estate Pinot Noir
This is an incredibly textural wine - pure velvet. The aromatics are subtle but distinct; currants, red curry powder, Jory clay, tangerine peel and spalted maple. Flavors run the gamut from dark red fruit, baked truffle, cinnamon to earth, fennel root and more. It is young and evolving - this will be a fun one to visit over time as it develops. Cellar up to 15+ years.
2020 Time to Burn – Estate Pinot Noir
Lot's of notes and explanations about this wine in the Wisps of Smoke section, above. It's an incredibly elegant, compact pinot with a hint of cinder ash on nose and palate. Technically, it is flawed; reality, it's really good and I will openly admit I like it in spite of its technical status. There is no better wine balancing pure pinot quality with a hint of smoke impact. This is your chance to truly understand. Cellar no more than 3 years - not for aging.
2019 Time Won’t Let Me – Estate Pinot Noir
This vintage takes me back a couple of decades. 2019 was cooler than most of our recent years, with Fall arriving on August 30, without question! Harvest rains plumped grapes and prolonged flavor development. The vintage shows the most energy and vibrancy since 2013, and reminds me a great deal of 2007. The pinots are lively, almost dancing on the tongue. Fruits are more red than black, with nice red spice notes. Time will enhance this vintage just like the two aforementioned. A great pick for cellaring for 3-15 years.
2018 A Time to Remember – Estate Pinot Noir
This pinot is explosive, electric, gliding and pure. Blackberry compote, rose petal, raspberry leaf and a touch of umami are currently showing - this will expand in time.
2017 Serving Time – Estate Pinot Noir
The 2017 vintage, as a whole, and this wine in particular, is a real “sleeper”. The fruit at harvest, the initial ferments, fresh wine going to barrel, barrel tasting a year in, blending, bottling and every step in between was “fine”. Nothing to worry about, nothing exceptional. Until it had been in the bottle for a full year - then “WOW”! It is luscious, loaded with deep cherry/raspberry, tobacco leaf, raspberry leaf and more.
2016 Time in a Bottle – Pinot Noir
The fruit is contained on attack, with superb acid drive, and fine tannins. Dark cherry, exotic wood shavings, dark spice – all characteristic of our vineyard.
2015 Pressed for Time – Pinot Noir
Bright acids, fine ample tannins, and rich, but not overt, fruit on the palate. An interesting aromatic of cherry wood ash, pau d'arco, vanillin, and spiced, baked cherry pie. Perfectly harmonious.
2014 Next Time (Library) – Pinot Noir
Our mainline estate Pinot Noir offers mouth-watering acidity, vibrant red fruit, a fat mid-palate followed by a long lasting finish and supple, ample tannins.
Flagships
The Heretic – North Slope Pinot Noir
This single block Pinot Noir carries distinct smoky, tobacco scents over deep cherry, which reside only in this block. It is denser than our other pinots, displaying the range of options we have on this marvelous estate.
Jaguar – Reserve Pinot Noir
This pinot is absolutely elegant on both nose and palate. Floral aromatics of lavender, sage laced with that famed Dundee Hills “funk” delight the nose, while layers of cherry pie, cola, strawberry, sandalwood, with maybe a hint of clove fill the mouth from start to finish.
The One – Reserve Pinot Noir
Made only in rare years, “The One” is the highest quality pinot we ever make. It is dark, deep, luxurious on both nose and palate, combines gliding acids with soft glycerols, with abundant, but not overwhelming, polished tannins. A two-minute long finish approaches sinful in the world of pinots.
Rule Breakers
L’autre - Rebel Estate Pinot Noir
“Renegade barrels can’t be used for effective blending!”
L’autre means “The Other” in French. Each year, for the last 4-5 years, we've had 4-8 barrels of pinot march to their own drumbeat. They have been exquisite wines but not good candidates for Jaguar or The Heretic; they have often been used in the Time Series, or batched into tiny productions never commercially available. For the first time, with the 2017 vintage, we took 5 of those barrels and blended them into their own wine. It is a huge pinot noir, destined to age well and mature slowly. It will also become a mainstay for future vintages.
PMS – Irreverent Red Blend
“There’s no way to make a three red blend from the northern Willamette Valley!”
Native Flora’s riff on the famous GSM’s of Australia, combines three red varietals never before married. Estate Pinot Noir, Malbec, and Syrah unite in PMS to form a fun, unique, flavorful but moody red blend. It has become a cult hit as consumers discover that these varietals really do play well together.
Last Blend Standing — Extended Elevage Pinot Noir
“Thou Shalt Not Age Pinot Noir in Barrel beyond 24 Months!”
Oh, why not? There are a bunch of microbial issues to circumvent, weary dogmas about “tired fruit”, but done well, extended barrel aging has a profound, beneficent effect on pinot noir. Aged for 42 (yep!) months in neutral French oak barrels, Last Blend Standing can be easily mistaken for a Barolo. The structural changes are dramatic, pulling fine tannins from the finish to the mid-palate, adding texture to the usual, mid-stream silky acids of a typical pinot noir.
The Venerable Youth – Pinot Noir
“Thou shalt not blend ancient vine fruit with new!”
This 50/50 blend links the wisdom of 30+ year-old vines with the exuberance of first production harvests. Nose and palate are reminiscent of black cherries, blackberries and plums with a dose of white pepper finish.