Joe Dobbes brings 20 years of Oregon wine making experience (including
being the winemaker at Willamette Valley Vineyards) to his own label.
Roughly two thirds of the wines produced here are Pinot Noir. Joe
places a great deal of emphasis on fruit selection by sourcing grapes
that he believes best express the varietal. For Pinot Noir, that's cool
climate Willamette Valley. This wine is sourced from nine low yielding
Willamette Valley vineyards - each separately fermented with native
yeast and barrel aged, then blended. "The 2005 Pinot Noir “Grand
Assemblage Cuvee” is my favorite of these wines. Lighter in color, it
offers an expressive amalgam of red and black fruit aromas. This is
followed by a well balanced, medium-bodied wine with racy acidity and a
firm structure but where the fruit is clearly in ascendance. Of the
three, this has the best chance for a graceful evolution. Even so, I
would still drink it near-term."
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