Arterberry Maresh Weber Vineyard Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2010

Bottle $59.99     10% off Mix 6 $53.99     15% off mix 12 $50.99

Tanzer 93 PointsLight, bright red. High-pitched, mineral- and floral-accented red fruits on the nose, with a licorice nuance adding depth. Spicy, focused and pure, offering intense raspberry and bitter cherry flavors and a refreshing kick of blood orange. Distinctly energetic and incisive on the focused, tenacious finish. - Josh Raynolds

Arterberry Maresh Weber Vineyard Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011

Bottle $59.99     10% off Mix 6 $53.99     15% off mix 12 $50.99

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 92 PointsTart skin to ripe plum and singed edges to bloody red meat - along with impressions of moss, lichen and peat - mark the intriguingly complex Arterberry Maresh 2011 Pinot Noir Weber Vineyard. Polished but firm, it displays impressive penetration and grip. There is a stony impression here that adds to the metaphoric noir of this pinot, yet allied to the levity realized by low alcohol and to energetic, incisive juiciness courtesy inter alia of low pH. This paradoxical alliance of dark and bright elements, brooding and energy, is something I associate with many of the finest Burgundies; and I suspect that the bottling in question will only gain in intrigue through 2025, if not beyond, while retaining its stamina and even its ability to refresh.

Arterberry Maresh Winderlea Vineyard Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011

Bottle $54.99     10% off Mix 6 $49.49     15% off mix 12 $46.74

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 93 PointsMaresh's 2011 Pinot Noir Winderlea Vineyard mingles fresh, juicy red currant and cherry with roasted red meats, displaying a juiciness, brightness, buoyancy and grip that are infectious and invigorating, yet allied to alluring tenderness of texture. A high-toned hint of almond extract typical for the Worden Hill sector, lavender, and fennel pollen carry the nose to captivating complexity, while a saline streak serves for irrepressible salivation in a long, intricately interactive yet arrow-straight finish. This ought to delight through at least 2025 but quite possibly (not to mention hopefully) well beyond."

(Oregon) Ayoub Brittan Vineyard Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011

Bottle $49.99     10% off Mix 6 $44.99     15% off mix 12 $42.49

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 93 Points Former winemaker/GM at Napa's Stags' Leap Winery Robert Brittan makes Mo Ayoub's wines and also supplies a little fruit for Ayoub from his own rocky, windswept, vineyard in McMinville. While the flavors are dark and rich here, the high acidity and small-berry intensity make this more lifted and bright than the Estate Pinot. "Ayoub's 120 cases of 2011 Pinot Noir Brittan Vineyard adds to the delicious accumulation of evidence that this dramatically domed and stonily basaltic site south of McMinnville developed by his oenological coach Robert Brittan is among the most exciting in the Willamette Valley, indeed in the entire U.S. (See especially my account of the Brittan estate wines in this report and that of Issue 202.) "There's just more of everything here," notes Ayoub of the present instantiation, and the most dramatic thing I notice is an emphasis on black fruits rare for this vintage, but whose sense of ripeness is allied to vintage-typically tartly bright fruit acids that seem to be buffered by sheer density. The feel here is firm but not hard or austere. Savory elements of animal blood, smoked meat and game lend striking contrast to the intense fruit. An onrush of what I can only refer to as rocks and gravel sets the seal of intriguing complexity on this Pinot's audacious performance. No doubt it will settle down somewhat with a few years in bottle, but I suspect - even though only short-term track record for the bottle evolution of Pinot from this site has accumulated - that one will want to hold at least a portion of this concentrate through 2025."

(Oregon) Ayoub Memoirs Vineyard Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011

Bottle $39.99     10% off Mix 6 $35.99     15% off mix 12 $33.99

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 91 Points A "Memoir" in honor of Mo Ayoub's fond recollections of family, this Pinot is dark in the glass, with a vivid perfume of sweet cherry and raspberry, dried roses, and a hint of spicy incense. Velvet-textured and ripe, the wine is flush with black cherry and blackberry flavors, seasoned with a hint of Bourbon vanilla. Soft tannins balance a streak of fresh red cherry acidity that adds structure. Swirling the glass, the finish evolves to include a reiteration of rose petal and incense notes.