Brandborg Winery Pinot noir Benchlands 08

The nose is typically cherry, strawberry with a hint of orange rind and anise. The oak is subtle throughout the aromas and taste with a nice vanillin quality. The fruit flavors carry through with moderate weight and finish. The wine will serve well with grilled salmon with a lemon butter sauce or veal cutlets in an herbed cream sauce.

From the winery: "The Benchlands is priced to be our entry level pinot noir. Despite the modest price the wine is made with as much care and attention as the other wines and it was aged in 30% new French oak barrels as were all of our releases. The primary fruit source for the wine is the Melrose Vineyard on a bench along the South Umpqua River. This site has deep alluvial soils and the grapes exhibit great up front fruit and aromas. To add some structure and length we blended in a bit of wine from the north part of the AVA. The wine is a clear garnet color with very pretty floral rose aromas with raspberry, cherry and warm honeyed oak. Strawberry and Queen Ann cherries dominate the flavors with a nice round mouth feel. It has moderate weight with a long lingering caramel finish."