DePonte Winery Pinot noir is bold, ripe, dark, rich, beautifully balanced, a scent of cherry pie with hints of cedar and spices leads to rich, big black berry and stone fruit flavors, with fine-grained, well balanced tannins. Interestingly, Isabelle is known as one of France's leading experts on wine barrels, and her use of oak in this wine is perfection. -JY

Isabelle Dutartre comes to Oregon from France and Domaine Drouhin to make wine from the DePonte Vineyard's fruit. The vineyard is just up the road from famed Archery Summit and Domaine Drouhin, where Isabelle assisted friend Veronique Drouhin in making 5 vintages of DDO wines.

From the winery:

"A dry warm Oregon summer and judicious irrigation allowed the grapes to mature fully and develop maximum flavor balance and integration. This wine is an excellent representation of the distinctive Dundee Hills terroir with plum, ripe blackberry and current on the nose, and an evolving palate of cherry and truffle.

The grapes were hand sorted before being gently processed by gravity flow into small fermentation bins. Winemaker Isabelle Dutartre used manual punch downs to give the young wine maximum flavor extraction and a full, deep garnet-purple color.

The result is a wine of excellent concentration with round and elegant tannins culminating in a fine finish.

Located in the heart of the Dundee Hills, Oregon's most renowned wine growing region, DePonte boasts several of the most prestigious names in the industry as neighbors. Owned by the Baldwin family who live on the property, the 17-acre vineyard includes 3 acres of ancient Pinot Noir vines that contribute exceptional fruit characteristics to the blend. Estimated to be over 30 years old, and still phylloxera free on their own rootstock, these are possibly the only head-pruned old vines of their varietal in Oregon.

The Baldwin family credits the creation of their exceptional wines to the team of Winemaker Isabelle Dutartre, who has made critically acclaimed wines in both Burgundy and Oregon, and Vineyard Manager Buddy Beck. Beck is the foremost expert on the Dundee Hills and painstakingly matched rootstock and clones for the perfect marriage of terroir and grape.

The 2002 DePonte Pinot Noir received a gold medal in the Critics Challenge Wine Competition. It was reviewed by Michael Apstein, one of the country's top wine writers with a weekly column in the Boston Globe. His comments: "Big and toasty, a young but excellent Pinot Noir." DePonte Cellars and King Estate (2001 Pinot) were the only Oregon or Willamette Golds.