-Highest Rated Oregon Pinot noir 6 bottles

Reserve Wines & Rising Stars

Order by Monday for December 24 Delivery

Arterberry Maresh, Dusky Goose, Ayoub, Illahe, Belle Pente, Bergstrom -

From Oregon's highest rated wineries, we've selected six of the best 2008 and 2009 Pinot noirs. Small production Pinots hard to find outside of Oregon, including 94 and 93 point Pinots.

Arterberry Maresh Pinot noir
Maresh Vineyard 2009 $55

Wine Advocate 94 points

The 2009 Maresh Vineyard Pinot Noir 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

Dusky Goose Pinot noir Dundee Hills 2008 $65

Love and marriage, horse and carriage, you know the song - two things that go together perfectly. Add Dusky Goose and Oregon's 2008 vintage, a heavenly match. The nose is like perfume for wine lovers, exotic and comforting at the same time, with wafts of black cherry, orange, clove, cedar, licorice and sweet earth. The flavor flows with voluptuous black cherry, then adds a pulsating ribbon of raspberry coulis. The momentum builds, giving just the right oomph and creaminess. The finish hangs like a trapeze artist - delicate, balanced, awe-inspiring.

When first opened, The Goose is a little shy, so give it some space to open up (I wrote my notes on day 2). The 2008 has serious long term aging potential. Buy it, stash it, love it.

If I had a case of Dusky Goose 08 for every time I've was asked when the 08 Pinot would be released, I'd have the whole Dusky production! So much anticipation and expectation...and the Dusky 08 delivers. For me, it always does. - Marcus

Ayoub Brittan Vineyard Pinot noir 2009 $45

Wine Advocate 93 points

My favorite of the Ayoub wines is the 2009 Pinot Noir Brittan Vineyard. Veteran vigneron, Robert Brittan, has carved out a vineyard that seems to optimize the best qualities of the McMinnville AVA. In a relatively high yielding vintage, the fruit for this cuvee came in at a low 1.75 tons per acre with a pH of only 3.4. It was aged for 11 months in 35% new French oak.

Stony mineral notes, allspice, incense, violets, black cherry, and blueberry aromas inform the nose of a vibrant wine whose firm acid structure nicely frames the wine's fruit. In the glass note of licorice, and bitter-sweet chocolate make an appearance. This nicely proportioned, silky, already complex Pinot Noir is one of the stars of the vintage. - Jay Miller

Brittan Vineyard of McMinnville is known for its rich basalt rock that produces intensely dark pinots with exceptional flavor. This is another Ayoub wine that will age well and will be enjoyed for many years. Only 200 cases were produced.

Illahe Reserve Pinot noir 2008

A standout at the Deep Roots Coalition tasting, this is gorgeous Pinot. It's one of those OMG (oh my god!) wines.

Instantly likeable when you first open the bottle, the balance and flavors are delicious and just get better as the wine opens.

A nose of blackberry, cedar, forest floor, and sweet spice only hints at the intense, round, tremendously impressive dark fruit and spice box flavors. Even though it's clearly young, there's so much to enjoy - the juicy blackberry and dark cherry fruit floats above a deep, dark sweet spice base with five spice, cedar, and forest floor in the mix. Unusually appealing in a young wine from the 2008 vintage, the silky tannins balance well with the fruit and acid.

The interplay of silky tannins, fresh fruit acids and a rich sweet cherry and berry core say "if you can resist drinking me now, cellar me - I'm special!" Well, maybe. Probably not. Oops, there goes the corkscrew. - Jean

Belle Pente Estate Reserve Pinot noir 2008

Tanzer's IWC 93 points

Bright ruby-red. Heady, spice accented scents of red and dark fruits and flowers, along with notes of allspice, licorice, mocha and incense. Fresh, precise and deeply concentrated, with sweet raspberry and mulberry flavors picking up spicecake and candied rose qualities with air. Shows impressive tenacity and clarity on the extremely persistent finish, which is given shape by fine-grained tannins. - Josh Raynolds

Unquestionably Belle Pente's finest 08 Pinot, it gives meaning to the word "Reserve." The New York Times chose Belle Pente's entry-level Willamette Valley Pinot as their top 2008 Oregon wine, and this is exponentially better.
More depth and layers, more age-worthy structure. Packed with dark berries, shaded with field herbs and earth, this is ethereal Pinot noir that should rest in your cellar - it's a standout of the 2008 vintage. - Marcus

Bergstrom Pinot noir Dundee Hills
Bergstrom Vineyard 2009

Wine Advocate 94 points

The flagship 2009 Pinot Noir Bergstrom Vineyard comes from a site planted in 1999. Dark ruby red in color, it proffers aromas of Asian spices, balsam wood, violets, black cherry, and black raspberry. Combining power with elegance unusual for this vintage, it is a nicely proportioned, succulent, already complex, pleasure-bent Pinot that will provide enjoyment through 2019.

Josh Bergstrom now has 5 estate vineyards encompassing 85 acres in 5 AVAs. He has decided to stop working with Riesling (despite the high quality) and focus entirely on Chardonnay in his white wine program. - Jay Miller