Yates Conwill Pinot Noir - Art Label

WINEMAKER’S NOTES: THE 2021 VINTAGE:

A most unusual year, mostly due to the incredible heat we experienced, breaking not only all heat records for Oregon, but also for Canada. What most people do not realize is that the Pinot noir plan actually shuts down when temperatures are above the mid-nineties, making the plant more or less dormant. This extends the length of the “ripening” since for the week-long heat wave, the plants were in suspended animation. After the heat “dome” (currently the word du jour for weather related heat incidents) passed, we experienced a beautiful summer and fall. This resulted in amazing raw materials which were quite easy to turn into phenomenal wines. But do not just take my word for it:

2021 vintage overview from Decanter, a British publication which now has someone actually here, boots on soil, unlike any other wine publication.

“The resulting wines are brilliant. They offer great concentration, wonderful lift and freshness and such fine tannins… the top producers have made wonderfully collectable wines that will age 15 to 20 years. A five-star vintage for the Willamette Valley’ The 2021 growing season was memorable, most notably for the heat dome the region experienced in late June when temperatures reached up to 47.5°C (117.5°F). That heat spike set new records by 3°C to 6°C (5°F to 10°F) across the Pacific Northwest.”

Aromas start with cherry blossoms and move to cast-iron roasted plums. Entry is smooth yet invigorating showing a bright, fresh crisp crunch of plums while moving into tangerines and Asian pears. Wait long enough and toasted graham crackers with red plum jam show up. Finish is exceptionally long with the acidity helping the palate experience even more flavors with kumquat, dark chocolate and those violet candies from France. After leaving the half-full bottle on the kitchen countertop for three days, the wine was still fresh, giving you the information you need to tell that this is a long-term, cellar-able bottle of wine. Load up. 

The Yates Conwill Vineyard Pinot Noir bottling this vintage is all from Block Seven, which surprisingly enough is all planted to the 777 clone. Picked earlier than usual to retain the bright acidity, this proved to be an easy and linear fermentation requiring no additions. The extraction was minimal with a long and cool fermentation using only one pump-over and one punchdown per day. Approximately twenty percent new French oak spiced up the fruitiness of the 777 to make a beautiful, big and balanced wine.

“The darkly alluring 2021 Pinot Noir Yates Conwill Vineyard 777 smolders up from the glass with medicinal cherries and blackberries lifted by hints of rosemary and cedar. This is sleek, with lifted textures and bits of citrus enlivening its tart red berry fruits. Grippy tannins and saline minerals cake the palate, leaving a structured sensation as the 2021 finishes long and potent.” – By Eric Guido on January 2024 From: Sitting Pretty: Oregon’s New Release Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Beyond (Jan 2024)

– Drink 2025 – 2033

“Aromas start with cherry blossoms and move to cast-iron roasted plums. Entry is smooth yet invigorating showing a bright, fresh crisp crunch of plums while moving into tangerines and Asian pears. Wait long enough and toasted graham crackers with red plum jam show up. Finish is exceptionally long with the acidity helping the palate experience even more flavors with kumquat, dark chocolate and those violet candies from France. After leaving the half-full bottle on the kitchen countertop for three days, the wine was still fresh, giving you the information you need to tell that this is a long-term, cellar-able bottle of wine. Load up.”

From Free Run / Purely Domestic Wine Report, the only one-person, one-opinion wine critic publication I am aware of at this point: “2021 PINOT NOIR, YATES CONWILL VINEYARD The nose is candied cherry and root bark with underlying crème de cassis. The palate entry is bright and refreshing with crisp red cranberry and pomegranate growing into a core of juicy, polished watermelon finishing with sublime silkiness and pristine acidity.”

– Drink 2023 – 2033
– 95 cases produced