Winderlea Pinot Noir Winderlea Vineyard Legacy 09

Review:

In 2009, the famous winemaker who had contracted for most of Windelea Vineyards' oldest and arguably best vines (planted in 1974/75) decided not to take them.

Robert Brittan grabbed the beautiful fruit and made the "Legacy". In Robert's words "the old vines, in the right site and healthy, made a gorgeous wine with layers of elegant intensity. It's deceptive - you don't expect something as ethereal in the mouth to finish so big, intense and layered."

2009 Wine Advocate - 94 points - The 2009 Winderlea Legacy Pinot Noir, a cuvee of old vines that spent 10 months in 33% new French oak, deftly combines elegance with power along with the most complexity of the estate wines. Give it 2-3 years of cellaring and drink it through 2021 if not longer. These three wines nicely display the quality of the Winderlea terroir.

Transplanted Bostonians Bill Sweat and Donna Morris had the good sense to hire Robert Brittan (for more see Brittan Vineyards) to make their wines from one of the Willamette Valley's finest terroirs. I inexplicably missed the Winderlea 2008s so they are included along with the superb 2009s. - Jay Miller