Yamhill Valley Vineyards Pinot Noir Estate

The Fourth Annual World’s Largest Blind Tasting of American Pinot Noir : Retail $30. A tad dark, but great black cherry fruit, some dark earth, and a lovely chutzpah. Great fruit and balance, another fantastic wine. Whoa. 93. www.thedrunkencyclist.com

With 2021 Thanksgiving dinner

With honey-garlic pork chops, green beans and jasmine rice.

Nothing objectionable here; just a fleeting, simple, quaffable wine. Balanced but I wouldn’t buy again except for picnics.

The Third Annual Blind Tasting of American Pinot Noir (My House, Houston, TX) : Retail $26. Yowza, lovely nose. Fruit, earth, minerality all show up and say “how d’ya do?” Another perfectly delicious wine: fruit, that minerality/flintiness, and a great balance all the way through. Nice. Excellent. 92 Points. thedrunkencyclist.com

This reminds me a lot of Burgundy, more so than other Willamette Pinots. After it’s opened up, there’s intense forest floor, mushrooms, and cola/baking spices on the nose. The fruits are pretty indicative of a McMinnville/marine sedimentary soil to me—more prominent raspberry and blueberry as opposed to strawberry or cherry. Superb value at ~$25. I’ve had multiple wines from Yamhill Valley Vineyards and every single one stood out for punching way above its weight. I should really join their club..