2017 Bow & Arrow, Pinot Noir/Gamay Noir “Rhinestones” Johan Vineyard, Willamette Valley, Oregon.
The fruity and spicing Pinot Noir and Gamey blend from Bow & Arrow is a lovely wine of unique quality and personality with layers of blackberry, cherry and plum fruits along with tangy elements, floral notes, exotic spices and delicate herbal notes. Scott Frank’s Bow & Arrow Rhinestones 2016 was one of my favorite wines of the last year, so I was hyper-excited for the new release of this natural, all biodynamic blend of 65% Pinot Noir and 35% Gamay Noir, for the 2017 vintage. This new version is more structured and refined in texture with just a hint of earthy charm, it took a while to seduce the palate hiding some of it’s depth while it gets through it’s youthful shyness, it’s different than 2016, last years whole cluster intensity just blew me away. This is one of Oregon’s best kept secrets and greatest values, and both vintages are outstanding, maybe over time the 2017 will eclipse the prior year! Frank an expert on all things Gamay actually looks for the Loire Valley for his inspiration instead of Burgundy or Beaujolais where the natural and organic wine movement has really taken off, starting with classics like Joly and more modern heros like Fred Niger at Domaine de L’Ecu and Domaine Philippe Tessier in Cheverny. Pinot Noir and Gamay blends are not new by any means, even in Burgundy they thrive today in wines labeled Bourgogne Passetoutgrains with some top domaines in region making them, while it is more common in the Loire in and around Touraine and especially in Cheverny. According to Scott, his Rhinestones is aged in a mixture of concrete and old barriques, and he notes this wine is the flagship of the Bow & Arrow operation and communicates what “we’re” about as much as anything they make, and you can see why with every sip, it has a different percentage of each varietal each year depending on what nature gives and expresses. While the 2016 was more obvious, with it’s exciting stems showing through with an expressive thrill, while this 2017 is a little backward, more pretty in nature, a shade lighter/smoother or subtle, in style at this point, though the longer it was open the more it came into line with the expectations (I had) and it should get even more interesting with a bit more bottle age, there’s a lot to admire and even more to come, drink from 2019 to 2025.
($23 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive
