Arterberry Maresh Pinot noir Maresh Vineyard 09

Review:

The winery's flagship wine, the Maresh Vineyard Pinot noir, shows off Jim and his family's hard work in planting and managing one of the oldest and best vineyards in the Willamette Valley. Old Vine Pommard and Wadenswil clone Pinot grapes from the original 1970 plantings provide the frame for this gorgeous wine.

2009 Vintage

In the riper 2009 vintage, Jim picked and blended for balance and elegance and there's no stopping the sexy pie cherry and strawberry scents and flavors. The impeccable Pinot sweetness hangs on from the middle of your palate through a minute past the finish, resonating with dark berry, brown spices, orange essence and mineral thread. Seamless as always.

About the lower price, Jim says, "Now that there's more wine, I can lower the price and give people a better deal." As if we needed another reason to name Arterberry Maresh our "Winery of the Year." - Marcus

2009 Wine Advocate - 94 points - The 2009 Pinot Noir Maresh Vineyard was sourced from a vineyard planted originally in 1970 with two later additions. Yields in 2009 were less than 2 tons per acre and Maresh was able to keep the wine's alcohol at 13.0%, unusually low for the vintage and the AVA. The wine spent 14 months in barrel, only 10-15% new, and was bottled without fining or filtration. The youthful Jim Maresh calls (2009), "a winemaker's vintage" and said his goals were "to achieve succulence and seamlessness". With the advantage of old vines and low yields, Maresh was able to succeed. The wine offers up a captivating nose of exotic spices, incense, rose petal, black cherry, and black raspberry. Dense and sweetly-fruited, it displays a velvety texture, unusual depth and concentration for the vintage as well as a sense of elegance. This beautifully proportioned effort will evolve for 1-2 years and drink well through 2021+. It is one of the stars of the vintage. - Jay Miller

2009 Tanzer - 93 points - Hazy medium red. Raspberry, cherry-cola and spices on the nose, with a sexy floral quality adding complexity. Red and dark berry flavors show impressive intensity and become spicier with aeration, picking up notes of cherry pit and rose pastille.Really stains the palate but there's no excess weight here. The finish is spicy, pure and very long, with a heavy emphasis on sweet red fruit. This is lovely right now.- Josh Raynolds

2008 Vintage Tasting Notes

Arterberry Maresh Pinots are seamless and silky - the 2008 is bursting with succulent, mouthwatering, layered cherries, wild strawberries, with orange oil, cedar spice, brown sugar, black tea and huckleberry appearing on the finish. Tremendous Pinot sweetness gushes towards the end, ideally balanced by the 2008 dream-vintage acidity. A veil of super-fine tannins helps the finish resound.

9 barrels were made (224 cases), mostly twice-filled barrels, aged for 16 months. Harvested October 26-30, the incredibly low yields - less than 1 ton/acre - ripened to perfection during cold, sunny days. The oldest blocks of Maresh Vineyard - the fifth oldest in the Willamette Valley - are in this wine. Vine age ranges from 1970 to 1991. - Marcus

2008 Wine Advocate - 94 points - Even better is the 2008 Pinot Noir Maresh Vineyard, sourced from 40-year-old vines. Dense ruby red in color, it offers up a sensual perfume suggesting that much more is to come. Asian spices, incense, rose petal, black cherry, and black raspberry aromas lead to a loaded, focused, and impeccably balanced, seamless Pinot with 6-8 years of aging potential. It's all there, but for best results, patience is required.

2007 Vintage Tasting Notes

Voluptuous. There's a sexy sweetness that can only be found in the best Pinot noir. It's an indescribable nuance that inspires, that turns wine lovers into Pinot-crazed fanatics. The aromas are gorgeous and mouthwatering, with red fruit perfume filling your senses. Stunningly pure cherry, deep strawberry, and raspberry creme brulee builds, adding succulent darker berry accents and soft baking spice, showing great depth and concentration. The finish is persistent but delicate.

From the oldest vines in the Maresh Vineyard, the 07 "youngest" contributor is 30 years old. Jim left the wine in barrel for 16 months, using no new wood, which gives the wine it's seemless, silky texture. As Jim says, "I don't want to put make-up on a wine. Anybody can buy a brand new French oak barrel, but not everyone can get 30 year-old Dundee Hills fruit. I'm not going to be covering up my old vine Dundee Hills fruit with oak anyone can buy."

The Maresh Vineyard 07 Pinot has a very long life ahead of it. It will easily age for longer than a decade. Incredible with decanting - even better on day two. Only 115 cases made.

Jim rolled the dice by letting some of his best grapes hang through the rains. Then, on October 23rd, the sun came out. He picked the last grape clusters hanging on the old vines on October 29th.

2006 Vintage Tasting Notes

2006 vintage - Tanzer 93 points - Medium red. Sexy aromas of raspberry, cherry compote, Asian spices and potpourri, plus a subtle hint of underbrush. Lithe, sharply etched red fruit flavors are braced by a tangy mineral quality and complicated by allspice and mace. Offers noteworthy sweetness and spicy precision on the very long, nervy finish. This wine's balance and unfolding complexity are impressive.

Arterberry Maresh Pinot noir 06 is one of Oregon's finest wines. Mouthwatering aromas of fresh red fruit mingling with darker berry elements, heady cinnamon, and mineral accents. The pure flavors have so many layers, showing purple berries, fresh and dried cherries, black currants even a touch of wild strawberry. Ripe fruit is exceptionally balanced by the acidity, which Jim maintained by picking the grapes at just the right time.

The 06 Maresh has an amazing, silky texture with ultra-fine tannins on the long finish, echoing pure fruit, white pepper, dried herbs and a hint of truffle. While it's drinking well now, the 06 Maresh will hit its stride in 3-4 years and drink well for over a decade.

Jim barrel ages his wines for up to two years, allowing the wines to have a seamless texture. No new oak was used in making the 2006 Maresh Vineyard Pinot noir because, as Jim says, when you have such amazing fruit, you don't need to put make up on it.

2005 Vintage Tasting Notes

Dang. Beautifully textured and rich, with a density of black fruit, boysenberry, ripe cherry and raspberry flavors accented with dried herbs and earth. Totally seamless.

Maresh Vineyard has provided fruit for some prized Oregon wines. Now, young winemaker Jim Arterberry Maresh is making wine from his family's vineyard. This very small production wine (50 cases) is made from the 37 year old vines, the oldest block of Maresh vineyard.

Jim lists John Thomas (Thomas Winery) and John Paul (Cameron Winery) as his Oregon Pinot role models.

Prince of Pinot says: "Intense deep, dark reddish-purple color. Alluring and complex aromatics brimming with ripe grapes, plums, fresh bread and herbs. Darker Pinot fruits carry the theme on the palate with overtones of savory herbs, forest floor and oak. A commendable effort that has a subtle richness and refined mouthfeel. This wine has impressive breeding and it shows it."