Loring Wine Company Pinot Noir Willamette Valley Shea Vineyard 2006

Winemaker's Notes:

The VineayrdOregon's Shea Vineyard is the state's gold standard for sustainable farming practices. Which is great, but only if the resulting wines are stellar. And I think you'll agree - they are! Try one of these and let me know if you don't find it well crafted, a beautiful expression of Oregonian pinot.The WinemakerOwner Brian Loring was a raving pinot lover for decades before the wine bug finally bit so hard he sidelined a perfectly good day job to learn his craft and start his winery. Now he uses fruit from 14 of the best pinot noir vineyards on the West Coast, producing micro-quantities from each. And yes, each is bottled separately in a vineyard-designated bottling.Brian's total production is just 7,500 cases, so rough math tells us he makes just a shade more than 500 cases per vineyard. I can't imagine the punishment one must go through, schedule-wise, when crafting this many wines. Then to only have such small quantities to sell for your efforts... I doff my cap to the Lorings!Now I must tell you, I found Loring's prior pinot bottlings to be cross-dressing as Syrah or maybe Zinfandel from Amador county. Hot. Big. Not what I had in mind for pinot. Apparently, neither did Brian, for the Loring wines are now soft, elegant and approachable, with restrained alcohol (14%) and fruit so that some of the vineyard's characteristics show through. Much mo' bettah!A Note On Screw CapsAfter having just about enough of TCA problems from his natural corks, Brian has decided to close all of his bottles with screwcaps. Now, I have no problem with screwcaps. But they can be a surprise when someone orders a bottle of $50 wine. So I asked Brian about this, and he said "I want people to enjoy my wine as I intended it to be when I made it. Cork taint was ruining as much as 8% of my production, and my buyers often thought that was how I WANTED my wine to taste! I simply couldn't afford to continue using them. And since I intend for my wines to be enjoyed within a 3-5 years of release, this is the perfect closure."Brian crafted only 400 cases of this boutique beauty. We'll all mourn the day the last one is sold.Enjoy!Dave the Wine MerchantCheers,Dave the Wine Merchant