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Winery:
Beaux Freres

$49.95 Regular

$44.95
in any 12 bottle order or Build a Case

Review:

As usual this is the most forward of our wines - medium dark ruby with an attractive, evolving perfume of cherries, raspberries, and a subtle wood spice. is is an elegant, stylish pinot, medium bodied, fresh, vibrant, and very pure. e cool, late harvest has imprinted its character on this wine of transcendental fruit purity. - the winery

2010 Vintage Tasting Notes

2010 Tanzer - 91 points - Bright ruby. Bright raspberry and mulberry scents are complemented by exotic cinnamon, mace and candied rose. Juicy, focused and appealingly sweet, with potent, floral-accented red berry flavors and a suave, silky texture. The tangy, tightly focused finish shows impressive clarity and length. - J.R.

The 2010 Willamette Valley Pinot is ripe, dense and intense. The nose is positively lush - roses, violets, and red raspberry. There's a distinct, unique hint of spice, part of that special Beaux Freres style.

It's Beaux Freres' classic Oregon Pinot style, taken forward and in your face. Raspberry dominates, with briar, blackberry, and more Beaux Freres spiciness in the finish. Mike calls it "precocious". We call it ready to drink and delicious. - Jean

A medium to full-bodied wine, supple and pure with sweet tannins. Dark ruby in color,with aromas of blue fruit and spice.On the palate the fruit shows plum, dark currants, sweet cherries and a dash of raspberry. Of the three cuvees this is the most forward and easiest to drink right now (in fact it is difficult to stop drinking). This cuvee should age well for 5-7 years. - Mike Etzel

2010 Wine Spectator - 91 points - Light and refreshing, with zip to the cherry and guava flavors, sailing into the soft, inviting finish. This has depth and length on a delicate frame. Drink now through 2017. - H.S.

2009 Vintage Tasting Notes

All of the forward, sweet tannins and fresh fruit flavors that characterize the 2009 vintage. There's a note of forest floor and fresh turned earth - and hints of Chinese Five Spice and bramble - under the dominant red cherry, berry, and currant fruits. Even Mike's "introductory" wine is made for collecting. The 2009 Willamette Valley will improve with age and can be cellared for five to eight years.

Mike Etzel hits a high note again with a Willamette Valley Pinot that shows what the 2009 vintage is all about. This year, Mike chose to make the Willamette Valley cuvee with some of his best fruit in the mix. The wine is a blend of vineyard sources, and the Beaux Freres Upper Terrace block is a significant part of the wine. The 2009 also contains grapes from from the Beaux Freres Estate Vineyard, and the Zena Crown, Gran Moraine, and Amalie Robert Vineyards.

The Zena Crown Vineyard is an interesting choice for this year's blend. It is just west of Bethel Heights and Cristom Wineries in the Eola Amity AVA. The Nekia soil and Dijon Clone Pinot noir contrast with the Beaux Freres Estate Vineyard's soils and clones, adding some interesting flavors to the blend.

2009 Wine Spectator - 93 points - Sleek and silky, with pretty cherry and mineral flavors that glide seamlessly through the long, vivid finish. This has depth, deft balance and welcome restraint. Drink now through 2017. - H.S.

2008 Vintage Tasting Notes

Big, ripe, smooth, a juicy red fruit scent with raspberry prominent. A very round, full bodied Pinot, immediately mouthwatering, full of red plum and cherry, with a hint of bramble, and an intense core of fruit, spice, and smoke. The balance is typical Beaux Freres - you can practically feel the perfect posture of this wine, the flavors winding around a center of silky tannins.

The 2008 Willamette Valley is everything you expect from Beaux Freres, increased exponentially. It has the balance and body to taste great after 24 hours exposure to air. It's complex, focused, and sophisticated. I thought I was drinking the Estate ($80). - Jean

A succession of eighteen vintages, starting in 1991, culminates with the 2008 Beaux Freres Pinot noirs.

Med-dark ruby. Raspberry and sassafras notes mingle with subtle sherry smoke and underbrush on the nose. This is a medium to full bodied wine with a very silky, savory, expansive mouth feel and a round gentle finish. The tannins are silky and the wine is bright, refreshing yet intense. Thanks to its excellent balance this wine should drink well for 7-8 years yet be up-front and accessible immediately on release. - the winery

This cuvee- formerly known as Belles Soeurs features fruit grown on select vineyard sites in Yamhill County. The 2008 blend is from Zena Crown Vineyard 49%, Shea Vineyard 33%, and Amalie Robert Vineyard 18%.

2008 Wine Spectator - 93 points - Polished, silky and seamless, weaving pretty notes of rose petal and sassafras through the plum and blueberry fruit. Lingers harmoniously on the extended finish. Drink now through 2018. 1,500 cases made." - H.S.

2007 Vintage Tasting Notes

October, 2011 - I've been up to Beaux Freres twice in the last couple months, each time tasting through a half-dozen bottles from 2007, 2008, and 2009. Each time I've left the winery with same conclusion: I want to drink a bottle of Beaux Freres Willamette Valley TONIGHT! When winemaker Mike Etzel was at Avalon last week pouring six wines, Andy and I went gaga over the 2007 Willamette Valley.

It's so pretty and expressive - I swear I could hear "pick me! pick me!" coming from the glass. Silky crushed raspberry dances with a transportive fir forest note, perfectly enmeshed with a kiss of Beaux Freres oak.

A note on 2007: Everyone makes mistakes, even wine critics. Such was the case with Oregon's 2007 vintage, when critics dismissed it before there was a Pinot noir in the bottle. To be sure, 2007 was nothing like 2006, a super-hot year that produced huge Pinots. But that's no reason to dismiss it, especially if you like elegant Pinot noir that doesn't club you over the head.

New York Times "Top Oregon Pinot noirs" 9-2-09 "Floral aromas, supple but intense fruit flavors." - Eric Asimov

The most approachable and ready to drink of the three Beaux Freres wines, the 2007 Willamette Valley is succulent and juicy. Sweet red raspberry and blackberry scents mingle with hints of dried flowers and fruit. Flavors reiterate the scent - there's a youthful lilt to the red cherry and berry flavors. Raspberry and sweet red cherry flavors are accentuated by pie spice, and a soft creaminess underlies all. We found the wine uplifting, lithe, and refreshing. -Avalon

The 2007 Willamette Valley consists of wine made from the following vineyards: Beaux Frères, Shea, Upper Terrace, Zena Crown, Amalie Robert and Carabella. This wine is already delicious to drink now and showing complexity which makes us think that it will be a wine to drink within the first 5-7 years of its life. The balance which is always so critical is there. The tannins are unobtrusive and extremely silky.

"Our 2007 Willamette Valley wine shows a delicate medium ruby color and very expressive aromas consisting of sweet cherries, a walk through the woods and a splash of white flowers. It consists of wine made from the following vineyards: Beaux Frères, Shea, Upper Terrace, Zena Crown, Amalie Robert and Carabella. The wine represents one of the silkiest and most feminine styles we have made to date.

There is no lack of concentration but the equilibrium of all the elements seems to be the hallmark of this very successful vintage. This wine is already delicious to drink now and showing complexity which makes us think that it will be a wine to drink within the first 5-7 years of its life. The balance which is always so critical is there. The tannins are unobtrusive and extremely silky. This is a real crowd pleaser, a very lush and beautifully supple Pinot Noir for the fan of instant gratification." - the winery