2021 Alexana Terroir Selection Pinot Noir

2021 Alexana Terroir Selection Pinot Noir

2021 Alexana Terroir Selection Pinot Noir, has spicy aromas with layers of cranberry, cherry cola and violet. On the palate it is smooth and rounded with notes of red licorice, black cherry and roasted nuts. This wine displays great acidity and a lengthy finish.

Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”

The Terroir Series is crafted from some of the Willamette Valley’s most respected and diverse vineyard sites. Made in small-batch fermentations at Alexana’s gravity-flow winery winemaker, Bryan Weil, selects barrels from each vineyard to compose a world-class expression of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. Each vineyard block is fermented separately in small batches with native yeasts before resting in French oak barrels for 10 months. Each spring, Winemaker Bryan Weil selects individual barrels from each vineyard block to create a beautifully expressive and balanced version of ‘Willamette Valley’ Pinot Noir.

The property (called the Revana Vineyard) is located in a gorgeous part of this AVA and encompasses 80 acres including the winery and tasting room perched on the edge of hills overlooking parts of their vineyards. Some 55 acres are planted to vines separated into 31 mini blocks in 18 different types of soils. The varietals include 49 acres of Pinot Noir and the remainder planted to Chardonnay and Riesling. The oldest vines on the property date from 2003, planted by the previous owner.