2014 Love & Squalor, Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley.
This beautiful and lushly textured Oregon Pinot has pretty detail and satiny mouth feel highlighting the vintage and terroir very well, and all this in a wine that costs under $25, I am thrilled with this Love & Squalor Pinot made by Portland Wine Company and certainly will be following this winery in the future. Winemaker Matt Berson’s tiny micro winery in Portland is making artful and fruit forward wines with great charm and personality, they are lively and vibrant too with balanced grace, the Willamette Valley Pinot especially. Berson has made wines around the world in places like New Zealand, Napa Valley, Germany and Argentina and he shows his travelled view well in his wines, he is gentile in cellar and this 2014 Willamette Valley Love & Squalor Pinot was aged 18 months in seasoned French barrique(s) allowing for lovely softness without losing it’s inner energy and without a shock of sweet toast, but with subtle oak shadings making this a pleasing medium bodied wine a joyous experience. Starting with floral notes and mineral tones the 2014 has a beautiful ruby/garnet color and a deep fruit core showing black cherry, plum and framboise as well as fig paste, nutmeg, dried violets, red spices, flinty gravel, faint saline, herbal tea and a touch of cola/sassafras. This Pinot is full of fruit and texture offering exciting layers, while still being easy to understand and enjoy, best to drink this fun and stylish wine over the next 2 to 5 years.
($24 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive

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