2014 La Quercia Block Pinot Noir - Formaglini Vineyards

Bright bing cherry, wet leaves, pomegranate juice. Plump strawberry, pine tree, discarded orange peel. Fresh jasmine and lavender field, peat moss and loose leaf green tea. Expansive and high-toned Pinot funk burst into boysenberry and rhubarb pie amidst conifers, cedar, and clove. Clean vanilla bean calms red earth with the help of nutmeg and a slight oak sheen. Juicy and quite pretty, presenting fruit first in front of developing secondary notes. This 2014 La Quercia Block Pinot Noir by Formaglini Vineyards is beautifully classic Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.

2014 was considered the vintage of a lifetime for producers growing Pinot Noir in Oregon's Willamette Valley. A warm, dry, and problem-free growing season produced wines of considerable ripeness and concentration, which occurred despite record high crop yields. This bottling, crafted by Formaglini Vineyards from 100% Pinot Noir picked from their La Quercia Block in the Chehalem Mountains, is a brilliant example of the vintage. It is ethereal, juicy, and balanced, with gorgeously precise fruit shining brightly through lite earth and forest tones. While certainly more new-world in style when compared to their 2013 vintage bottling this wine exhibits flawless typicity and a distinct sense of place. It is firmly medium in body with medium tannin and pronounced acidity, and illustrates exactly what warm-vintage Oregon Pinot is supposed to taste like. This will continue to develop beautifully but is hard to resist now.