Willamette Valley Vineyards
Founded in 1983 by owner Jim Bernau, Willamette Valley Vineyards has been touted as one of America’s great Pinot Noir producers according to our Willamette Valley Vineyards reviews. When Jim purchased the estate it was filled with blackberry vines and a large plum orchard. He ripped everything out, planted his Pommard Pinot Noir clones and Dijon Chardonnay clones and watered them all by hand with his 1,000 foot house in his early stages. By 1989 Jim had taken the company public and he was able to create his world class Williamette Valley Winery. Jim’s approach is to grow and pick all of the fruit by hand and to barrel-ferment each vineyard lot separately. While they do produce a Riesling and a Pinot Gris, it is still the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay Willamette Valley Vineyard wines that are most revered by consumers and critics alike. Check out our Willamette Valley Vineyards buying guide below to see which wines are best suited for you.
Showing 1 thru -9 of 101
Willamette Valley Vineyards 2008 South Block Pinot Noir
- Editors' Choice
- Online Exclusive
- $45
Pretty and complex, this delivers a mélange of interesting flavors. Round, tart fruits—berries and sour plum— mingle with dried leaves, cut tobacco and mushroom. Somehow a citrus streak sneaks into the finish, giving the wine a lemony lift. Delicious already, it can be cellared for another 5–6 years.
— P.G.
(3/1/2011)
Willamette Valley Vineyards 2008 Estate Chardonnay
- Editors' Choice
- $30
A great success in 2008, this compelling Chardonnay offers concentrated, dense fruit flavors of lemon curd and sweet pineapple, along with streaks of vanilla cookie. Nuances reveal themselves through a lingering finish; fresh herb and hints of rock.
— P.G.
(3/1/2011)
Willamette Valley Vineyards 1999 Joe Dobbes Signature Cuvee Pinot Noir
- Cellar Selection
- $60
This bottling is the winery’s top cuvée, a blend of the best lots of the other single vineyard Pinots. Tight and steely, its tart, cranberry fruit plays hard against a background of mineral, herb and light coffee. Clearly ageworthy, it has the complexity and structure to merit the score. Cellar Selection. —P.G.
— P.G.
(4/1/2002)
Willamette Valley Vineyards 1998 Freedom Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir
- $44
Character and flavor abound in this lovely, even wine. The cherry fruit core wears interesting and complex chalk, sage and mineral accents. The mouthfeel is nicely textured—smooth, with a subtle graininess. The long, refined finish shows very even tannic structure and good grip. They come deeper, but not much more polished than this.
— M.M.
(11/1/2001)
Willamette Valley Vineyards 2006 Signature Cuvée Pinot Noir
- Cellar Selection
- $45
The Signature Cuvée opens on a floral note, a pretty and beguiling blend of roses and orchids. The midpalate is substantial and textured, offering spicy plum, strawberry and raspberry preserves and firm acids. The fruit flavors persist even as the tannins and barrel notes kick in, offering cocoa, ground coffee and walnut. All in all, an elegant and complex effort…
— P.G.
(7/1/2008)
Willamette Valley Vineyards 2008 Hannah Vineyard Pinot Noir
- Online Exclusive
- $45
Hannah Vineyard is a select block at the highest point of Tualatin Estate. Distinctive with a streak of pine resin running through darker flavors of black raspberry, black cherry and clean earth, it finishes with a lick of black licorice.
— P.G.
(3/1/2011)
Willamette Valley Vineyards 2009 Elton Pinot Noir (Eola-Amity Hills)
- Cellar Selection
- $45
The best of the 2009 lineup from Willamette Valley Vineyards, this Eola-Amity Hills single-vineyard offering has the most complexity, in both nose and mouthfeel. Balanced fruits fill the palate, with spicy hints of earth, leaf and a wash of barrel-induced mocha.
— P.G.
(3/1/2012)
Willamette Valley Vineyards 2002 Founders' Reserve Sauvignon Blanc
- $16
There’s not much Sauv Blanc being made in Oregon these days, which is unfortunate, if this intense, spicy, focused wine is representative of what can be achieved. It captures some of the herbaceousness of Sancerre, some of the lime-driven fruit of New Zealand, and all of the ripe, juicy, crispness of the best Oregon white wines.
— P.G.
(12/1/2003)
Showing 1 thru -9 of 101
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