Argyle Nuthouse Pinot Noir 2002

The Nuthouse designation is used for our biggest, boldest and most aggressive style of Pinot Noir.This Nuthouse blend is predominantly based on Pinot Noir fruit from low elevation blocks at our estateLone Star Vineyard in the Eola Hills. TASTING NOTES How deep is the ocean? How long does the ‘E' note of a string double bass vibrate through one'ssoul? These are just some of the thoughts one will contemplate while experiencing this 2002Nuthouse Pinot Noir! Aromas of dark, wild berries and spices of licorice and cedar are locked deepinto the earthy mineral core of this wine. Only time read more...and patience will unleash the concentation of thiswine. The mouth feel of this wine is massive and ‘super-juicy' centered. Layer upon layer of silkycomforter-like texture cushion the firm gripping tannins. This wine is so viscous that the finish seemsto sail on and on in one's taste bud memory. VINTAGE NOTES The 2002 vintage was one of those nerve crunching, hang in at the plate until you work up to a fullcount, then smack a sweet fast ball right out of the park! Translation: An unsettling growing seasonwith a smashing finish. A warm but unsettled Spring wrought large clusters but with the diversity ofberry size we like to see--what we call peas and pumpkins. In late September and early October wehad a couple of rain scares dropping up to a ½ inch of rain each event. On October 5th the predictionwas two inches rain in a week's time! On October 6 the rain was dropped from the forecast and thelongest Indian Summer on record ensued. We were able to pick fruit at its peak of ripeness undersunny skies and with limited chaos on the crush pad. As always, our grapes were harvested into small baskets. After gently transporting them to the winery,they were first chilled to 35F before de-stemming and gently crushing into small open-topfermentation vats. Prior to alcoholic fermentation they underwent a 4 - 5 day cold maceration. Afterfermentation they received a second short maceration before being pressed. The wine was then agedfor 14 months in small French oak barrels before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.    (hide)

The color is a very deep ruby red. Look for sun thickened black cherry and cassis stock reduction type aromas, accompanied by licorice and toasted fresh sawn oak and cedar. All these aromas are packed into a box of sweet, floral scents reminiscent of garden violets at evening time. The flavor is very thick of sweet, ripe black fruit flavors including Oregon's famous Marion blackberry, dance all the way through to the end of the palate. This wine is tannin rich, but tastes like the rough corners of the tannin molecules have been sanded smooth. The hauntingly long finish has sweet, fresh black read more...fruit and just a hint of fresh spaded earth. This wine is enjoyable now but the real reward is some years to come. 800 case bottled    (hide)

Outstanding wine! Aromatic berry with spice mixed into earthy minerals & slight cedar taste. Very bold and all-encompassing experience. Has to be tried to be truly understood.

August 2007

The Willamette Valley is best known for their rich Pinot Noir and this is one of the biggest and richest ever from Argyle! Take the color and scent of a Guinee rose, add fruit aromas of black cherry and marion berry with spice aromas of turned earth and dark cocoa and you just begin to approach the complexity of this wine. Ripe and generous, with distinctive violet and rose petal overtones to the cherry and spice flavors, lingering with fine texture. Needs time to settle in. Twenty percent of the wine will be bottled under screw cap. The wine bottled under screw cap scored 92 points. Best from 2007 through 2012. -Wine Spectator

Number on 98 Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines of 2004! This Willamette Valley Pinot Noir is one of the biggest and richest in some time. Much of our prized 'Prestige' vineyard blocks went into the blend for this wine. Black Cherry, Marion berry, and spice aromas are concentrated around a tight mineral/earth/tar center. The flavors are sweet, big fruited, and built up with ripe, gripping tannin structure. The finish is what we all look for in Pinot Noir, long sweet with fruit and floral hints. This wine despite its value-price category will age well in to the first decade of the 2000's. read more...Smooth and round, seductively plush but not overwhelming in flavor, keeping its musky cherry, plum and tobacco flavors in harmony as they sail into the long finish. Drink now through 2008. -Wine Spectator Smart Buy    (hide)

Color-red garnet; Nose-vanilla & wild strawberry; mouth-clove, vanilla, toast, mineral; finish-medium;
buy it age it.

July 2009