2005 Evesham Wood Le Puits Sec Pinot Noir

Russ and Mary Raney named their vineyard and winery after their honeymoon destination: England’s Vale of Evesham, an idyllic fruit-growing region by the Cotswold Hills. Their house and subterranean winery overlook Evesham Woods’ 12-acre vineyard, which is situated on an eastern slope of the Eola Hills, four miles northwest of Salem and within view of the Willamette River. Of his winemaking philosophy, Russ Raney says: “We don’t manipulate our winemaking methods to produce a ‘sameness’ in quality from year to year, or attempt to compete with the large producers by making our wines appeal to a larger audience. Like any quality-conscious winery, we will try by natural means to maximise quality and flavour intensity of our wines in the ‘lesser’ vintages, but only if it doesn’t mean having to alter our basic wine style, and always giving preference to decisions made in the vineyard rather than the cellar.” The results have been some of Oregon’s very best Pinot noirs, say wine critics. It is difficult to not feel the same excitement Russ feels about his Eola Hills vineyard when sipping his product. He is convinced the site is destined to be among the world’s best for Pinot noir cultivation.

Of the vineyard, Matt Kramer of Wine Spectator comments: 'Evesham Wood, in Salem, has an ardent following among pinot noir lovers in Oregon. The reason is twofold. First is quality. Few Oregon winemakers are better at issuing consistently superb pinot noirs than Evesham Wood owner-winemaker Russ Raney. He almost never misses. Raney's preferred style emphasizes a detailed austerity rather than a swoopy, oaky lushness. Consequently, Evesham Wood pinots age better than many others, improving in the bottling for upward of a decade.'

No tasting notes available.

Notes sourced from www.avalonwine.com