What the critics say.
Everyone’s a critic, or so they say, but nobody’s opinion matters more than yours about what you want to drink. Still, as a winemaker, I take great interest in what others observe about the wine that I make, especially those with an experienced palate and the gift of language. Say what you will about ‘points’ and accolades within the industry, I’m glad for the consideration.
Here’s a tidy index of my wine list, and what has been said. Explore!
~JAY McDONALD
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2022 Chardonnay E
92 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2025 - 2031
Eric Guido, Vinous, July 2025“The 2022 Chardonnay E entices with a spicy blend of nectarines, Werther's candies and lemon oil, offset by a savory tinge of crushed oyster shells. Juicy and built on purity, it offers soft textures and mineral-laced orchard fruits that ride a wave of cooling acidity. This 2022 lingers, lightly structured, with a resonant hint of ginger and sour citrus.”
2021 Chardonnay E
91 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2024 - 2028
Eric Guido, Vinous, May 2024
“The 2021 Chardonnay E opens in the glass with a rich (nearly confectionary but not quite) bouquet that blends almond paste with white flowers, baked apples and hints of spice. It’s silky-smooth yet juicy and spry, with crisp orchard fruits and a pretty inner sweetness balanced by cooling acidity. A mineral flourish adds depth as the 2021 keeps the mouth watering for more through the medium-length finale. Notes of Asian pear fade slowly. This is harmonious and characterful, and it represents a tremendous value.” -
Chardonnay Maverick Vineyard
92 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2025 - 2030
Eric Guido,Vinous, May 2024“The 2021 Chardonnay Maverick Vineyard is delicate and nuanced, with a pretty blend of raw almonds, pine shavings and white peach forming its understated bouquet. This impresses with silken textures and polished waves of ripe orchard fruits, seamless and pliant throughout. The 2021 tapers off on a mineral note, leaving a salty flourish and hints of sour lime that add a pleasant punctuation.”
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2022 Chardonnay X
93 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2025 - 2024
Eric Guido, Vinous, May 2024“The 2022 Chardonnay X is Jay McDonald’s experiment, raised in long 300-liter cigar-shaped barrels without any stirring or racking. The first impression is one of incredible freshness yet also poise, as it slowly evolves with a vivid array of yellow apples, sage, stone dust and dried flowers. This is a pure, mineral-driven effort that trades power for finesse, as white pit fruit and a tinge of ginger settle upon the senses. It leaves a salty flourish and a hint of lime, tapering off with medium length and spice.”
2021 Chardonnay X
94 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2025 - 2030
Eric Guido, Vinous, July 2025“Yellow-gold in color, the 2021 Chardonnay X is more savory than sweet, and it’s impossible to ignore. A hint of reduction blows off to reveal flinty stone, dried herbs and freshly sliced apricots. This is round and supple, deeply textural, with ripe orchard fruits that swirl across a dense glycerol wave, underscored by a core of saline minerality. It finishes spicy and full of youthful tension with lingering notes of ginger and nectarine.”
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2022 Chardonnay Yates Conwill Vineyard
Drinking Window: 2025 - 2024
Eric Guido, Vinous, July 2025
94 POINTS“Impossible to ignore, the 2022 Chardonnay Yates Conwill Vineyard soothes the senses with a blend of apricot and nectarine complemented by dusty dried flowers, gingery spice and wet stone. The palate is textural, nearly sensual in feel, enveloping with ripe orchard fruit as a tinge of sweet spice emanates above a tactile coating of saline minerals. It finishes perfumed and dramatically long, gently tannic and tactile yet fresh, like biting through a ripe peach and indulging in the chewy persistence of its skin.”
Paul Gregutt, Paul Gregutt's Northwest Wine Guide, August 2025
95 Points“Winemaker Jay McDonald uses the black Chardonnay (pre-oxidizing) technique to good effect here. Flashes of butter, citrus, apple pie and white peach combine and plow ahead in a trim, well-framed palate. Baking spice highlights adorn the finish. $75 (Yamhill Carlton) 95/100”
2021 Chardonnay Yates Conwill Vineyard
Drinking Window: 2025 - 2033
Eric Guido, Vinous, January 2024
94+ POINTS“The 2021 Pinot Noir Wind Hill Vineyard is rich and sweetly spiced with masses of plum and cherry sauce lifted by hints of camphor. Silky and sleek, this flows across the palate with juicy textural waves of seductively ripe wild berry fruit. A coating of fine-grained tannins are left to tug at the cheeks as hints of balsamic spice and sweet herbs slowly fade.”
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2022 Pinot Noir 333
94 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2025 - 2032
Eric Guido, Vinous, July 2025“Rich raspberry sauce mingles with autumnal spice, stone dust and dried roses as the wonderfully expressive 2022 Pinot Noir 333 comes to life in the glass. Creamy textures and vividly ripe red and blue fruits follow, with a lovely inner sweetness perfectly balanced by a cooling wave of acidity. The 2022 Pinot Noir 333 holds nothing back while remaining expertly balanced, tapering off long and staining with a subtle tug of fine tannin and a flourish of violet pastille. The 333 is a real showboat that will turn a lot of heads.”
2021 Pinot Noir 333
95 POINTS
Eric Guido, Vinous, January 2024“The 2021 Pinot Noir 333 slowly evolves in the glass: a whiff of spicy oak and peppery florals blow off to reveal crushed black raspberry and hints of camphor. It soothes with its silky textures and red and black fruit depths, taking on a spicy and savory character over time with an herbal thrust as hints of sour citrus add contrast. Incredibly long and staining, the 2021 leaves the palate reeling with a residual burst of brisk acidity, enlivening olive tones and violet inner florals. This complex and immaculately balanced Pinot is just a baby today. I can't wait to see what a few more years of cellaring will reveal.”
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2022 Pinot Noir 943
93 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2027 - 2035
Eric Guido, Vinous, July 2025“Dusty dried cherries, mint leaf, sage and a hint of cola introduce the 2022 Pinot Noir 943. The palate is juicy and spry, with vividly ripe wild berry fruits complicated by a tinge of rosemary and sour citrus. It leaves a pleasantly bitter and chewy sensation as nuances of blackberry and licorice fade through the gently tannic finale. This one-off from EIEIO is bottled directly from the barrel and is entirely 943 Clone.”
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2022 Pinot Noir Dirty to Barrel (DTB)
93 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2026 - 2033
Eric Guido, Vinous, July 2025The 2022 Pinot Noir Dirty to Barrel (DTB) is a dark, brooding effort that tempts the imagination with nuances of grilled sage, cherry sauce and black olives. Surprisingly juicy and fruit centric, it splashes across the palate, traversing both savory and sweet as an herbal thrust and salty minerals underscore its ripe red berry fruit. A tinge of spice lingers over edgy tannins, yet the mouth waters for more as a hint of black raspberry fades slowly. This was hand bottled following a process in which wine is poured into a barrel that is still in a phase of primary fermentation. It is incredibly unique and extremely fun to taste.”
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2022 Pinot Noir E
92 Points
Drinking Window: 2026 - 2032
Eric Guido, Vinous, July 2025“The 2022 Pinot Noir E, a blend of all the EIEIO vineyards, blossoms in the glass with a whiff of autumnal spice and cedar shavings, giving way to chocolate-covered cherries and dusty rose. Silken and deeply textural, it offers waves of red berry fruit that traverse both savory and sweet. A flourish of inner florals resonates as the 2022 tapers off with admirable length, gently tannic yet wonderfully fresh. Drink this with abandon while waiting for the bigger wines to come around.”
2021 Pinot Noir E
90 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2023 - 2028
Eric Guido, Vinous, January 2024“Deeply expressive, the 2021 Pinot Noir Cuvee E blossoms in the glass with a spicy blend of steeped plums, cherries and tangerine zests. This is round and juicy, with red and blue fruit depths elevated by zesty acidity as suggestions of violet pastille emerge toward the close. It tapers off with medium length and fresh, leaving a licorice tinge.”
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2022 Pinot Noir I
93 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2027 - 2034
Eric Guido, Vinous, July 2025“The 2022 Pinot Noir I is darker and more savory, with a bouquet that blends earth tones, tobacco and wild herbs before evolving to spiced black cherries. It washes across the palate with elegance, showcasing near-velvety textures without feeling weighty or coy as a saturation of tart wild berry fruits amasses toward the close. Structured and long, the 2022 leaves a resonance of hard red candies to contrast a pleasantly bitter sensation while finishing hauntingly long. Pinot Noir I blends all of EIEIO’s vineyards and was refined in 25% new French oak.”
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2022 Pinot Noir Lonely Shallow Bin (LSB)
92 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2025 - 2032
Eric Guido, Vinous, July 2025“The 2022 Pinot Noir Lonely Shallow Bin (LSB) is seductive from the first tilt of the glass, as a burst of confectionary spices, violet pastille and dried strawberries fills the senses. Remarkably pretty, lifted and finessed, it offers pure red berry fruit and a hint of cinnamon and clove, all carried across a stream of cooling acidity. The 2022 steps lightly, leaving a subtle tinge of fine tannin and a pleasantly bitter bite of cranberry while finishing with medium length. I can see enjoying this with a chill. The Lonely Shallow Bin was given only four punch-downs in four weeks, along with minimal pumping over. As a result, it possesses a lively personality and drink-me-now character.”
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2021 Pinot Noir Maverick Vineyard
94+ POINTS
Drinking Window: 2025 - 2033
Eric Guido, Vinous, January 2024
“The 2021 Pinot Noir Maverick Vineyard entices with its smoldering blend of minty herbs, crushed stones, blackberries and cooling smoke. Plush yet energetic and packed full of dark red and black fruits, this excels with its wiry acidity and contrasting hints of sour citrus, keeping the palate fully engaged. It's structured, leaving a complex web of grippy tannins as violet and lavender inner florals slowly fade. The potential here is fantastic, yet patience will be required.” -
2022 Pinot Noir Not For Sale (NFS)
95 POINTS
DRINKING WINDOW: 2027 - 2036
Eric Guido, Vinous, July 2025“The 2022 Pinot Noir Not For Sale (NFS) unleashes a beguiling blend of exotic spices, incense, lavender pastille and crushed blackberries that soothes the soul. Juicy in character, it also possesses remarkable depth, blending tart blackberry and sour cherry over a core of vibrant acidity as crunchy mineral tones embellish the close. The finish is incredibly long and classically structured, with nuances of licorice and black currant lingering. This is a flashy Pinot Noir that possesses remarkable balance.”
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2022 Pinot Noir O
94+ POINTS
Drinking Window: 2028 - 2038
Eric Guido, Vinous, July 2025“The 2022 Pinot Noir O is a seductress, cascading up from the glass with an initial burst of spicy oak that quickly blows off to reveal a refined blend of lavender-laced strawberries, cinnamon sticks and mint. It is a model of purity, with silky textures that envelop the palate with ripe red and blue fruits as a tinge of violet candies mixes with fine-grained tannins toward the close. This 2022 tapers off with tremendous length yet remains poised and structured, leaving tart cranberry and sour cherry that pucker the cheeks. The O is 100% Pommard clone and was refined with 67% new French oak. It also finishes at a respectable 12.9% alcohol by volume (ABV). Give this beauty a few years in the cellar to integrate fully.”
2021 Pinot Noir O
92 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2026 - 2033
Eric Guido, Vinous, January 2024“The 2021 Pinot Noir Cuvée O opens with a dark, brooding blend of dusty sage and wilted violets accentuating crushed blackberries. This soothes with its cooling acidity and sleek red and black fruits, gaining youthful tension toward the close. It leaves a chewy concentration and mineral saturation, finishing gently tannic and with admirable length. Patience will be required to explore the full depths of the Cuvée O.”
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2021 One Puncheon Pinot Noir
92 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2025 - 2030
Eric Guido, Vinous, January 2024“The 2021 Pinot Noir One Puncheon blossoms in the glass as savory wild herbs depths and exotic spices give way to crushed blackberries and mentholated herbs. This is racy and sleek with cool-toned red and black fruits, as hints of cola and cocoa add contrast. A bitter twang lingers as the 2021 leaves the mouth watering despite the fine-grained tannins that add youthful poise.”
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2022 Pinot Noir Saffron Fields
93 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2026 - 2036
Eric Guido, Vinous, July 2025“The 2022 Pinot Noir Saffron Fields is a deeply sensual effort, as a wave of dark red fruits and exotic spices comes together with a hint of sage and stone dust. Fruit focused and silken in feel, it stands as one of the most elegant wines of the range, with juicy acidity propelling mineral-laced strawberry and cherry tones across the palate. A savory, nearly umami-like resonance lingers as notes of plum and licorice fade.”
2021 Pinot Noir Saffron Fields
94 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2025 - 2033
Eric Guido, Vinous, January 2024“Wild and exotic, the 2021 Pinot Noir Saffron Fields Vineyard Art Map Label blossoms with a burst of exotic spices, zests of blood orange, tangerine and hints of sage before settling on medicinal cherries. This seductress is silky-smooth and supple with fleshy red and black fruit depths guided by tantalizing acidity. It finishes juicy, long and potent, with sweet tannins that frame the experience without slowing its momentum.The nose is black cherry, crushed raspberry, licorice and bay leaf. The palate entry is cool, sleek wet stone with a core of juicy bright plum and pomegranate finishing with well-defined acidity.”
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2021 Pinot Noir Saffron Fields Vineyard Numbered Clones
92 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2025 - 2031
Eric Guido, Vinous, January 2024"The 2021 Pinot Noir Saffron Fields Vineyard Numbered Clones is understated with a brooding mix of black fruits and dark, exotic florals. It easily washes across the palate, guided by juicy acidity as mineral-laced red berries swirl beneath an air of violet inner florals. A pleasant inner sweetness lingers as the 2021 finishes lightly structured and remarkably fresh, with a spicy twang punctuating the experience."
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2022 Pinot Noir Saffron Fields Whole Cluster
94 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2027 - 2038
Eric Guido, Vinous, July 2025“Darker and more exotic than the estate’s Saffron Fields Field Blend, the 2022 Pinot Noir Saffron Fields Whole Cluster wafts up with a brooding blend of dried violets and roses, earthy underbrush, chalk dust and dried strawberries. Elegance defines the feel, with silken textures and more black fruits than red, while a tactile tinge of saline minerals adds form toward the close. It tapers off spicy and wickedly fresh, leaving citrus-laced blackberries and a slight herbal tinge that keeps me looking back to the glass for more. In a word, yum! The 2022 went through 100% whole cluster fermentation and was refined in 67% new French oak.”
2021 Pinot Noir Saffron Fields Whole Cluster
93 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2025 - 2031
Eric Guido, Vinous, January 2024"The 2021 Pinot Noir Saffron Fields Vineyard Whole Cluster takes its time opening in the glass, rose-tinged with an undercurrent of blood orange and blackberries. This is surprisingly juicy and supple with savory red and black fruit depths accentuated by an herbal thrust. The 2021 finishes grippy and long with a pleasant bitter note and lingering hints of currant."
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2022 Pinot Noir Tiny Tank
91 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2025 - 2029
Eric Guido, Vinous, July 2025“The 2022 Pinot Noir Tiny Tank is incredibly light in color, with a translucent ruby hue. A vibrant bouquet of wild strawberries, rhubarb and spice is elevated by the slightest tinge of volatility. The palate is soft-textured and built on purity, with ripe red berry fruit and mineral tones swirling throughout. Rosy inner florals resonate over a twang of cranberry that keeps the mouth watering for more. About as fun and drinkable as it gets.”
2021 Pinot Noir Tiny Tank
93 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2024 - 2029
Eric Guido, Vinous, January 2024“The 2021 Pinot Noir Tiny Tank is spicy with a burst of savory herbs and blood orange, giving way to dried black cherries and hints of tobacco. This is silky-smooth with medium-bodied weight and juicy red and blue fruits flowing over a vibrant acidity core. A sweet herbal thrust adds dimension through the finish as the 2021 tapers off with fine tannins, leaving hints of salted licorice and olive tapenade. There is simply so much going on here. The Tiny Tank is a Pinot that is full of surprises.”
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2022 Pinot Noir White Cloud Vineyard
93 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2026 - 2034
Eric Guido, Vinous, July 2025“The 2022 Pinot Noir White Cloud Vineyard opens with a dusty blend of dried roses and chalk dust, giving way to strawberries offset by peppery herbs. The palate is soft-textured and round, with minerality showing up front and nicely offsetting the ripe wild berry fruits within. A spicy sensation and mineral tinge linger as the 2022 tapers off with medium length and a classically dry style.”
2021 Pinot Noir White Cloud Vineyard
91 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2024 - 2030
Eric Guido, Vinous, January 2024
“The 2021 Pinot Noir White Cloud Vineyard blossoms with a pretty blend of wild berries, cooling smoke and cedar shavings. It's softly textured with racy dark red fruits and slowly saturating saline mineral tones. It finishes long and staining yet only lightly structured, leaving a pleasantly bitter tinge as the mouth waters for more.” -
2022 Pinot Noir Wind Hill Vineyard
94 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2027 - 2036
Eric Guido, Vinous, July 2025“The 2022 Pinot Noir Wind Hill Vineyard is hauntingly dark, slowly blowing off a tinge of sweet wood spice to reveal depths of dried black cherries, licorice and worn leather. Polished in feel, it is round and pliant yet lifted and spry, with a pure mix of red and blue fruits elevated by cool-toned acidity as a minty herbal freshness evolves toward the close. A vivid note of inner gravel dust resonates—surprising yet beguiling—as this finishes gently tannic while also juicy in character. Wind Hill is a wine of contrast. It is a beauty today, yet a few years of integration will help absorb its oak, which was 100% new.”
2021 Pinot Noir Wind Hill Vineyard
93 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2025 - 2033
Eric Guido, Vinous, January 2024“The 2021 Pinot Noir Wind Hill Vineyard is rich and sweetly spiced with masses of plum and cherry sauce lifted by hints of camphor. Silky and sleek, this flows across the palate with juicy textural waves of seductively ripe wild berry fruit. A coating of fine-grained tannins are left to tug at the cheeks as hints of balsamic spice and sweet herbs slowly fade.”
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2021 Pinot Noir Yates Conwill Vineyard 777
"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."
Eric Guido, Vinous, January 2024, Sitting Pretty: Oregon's New Release Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Beyond
93+ POINTS
Drinking Window: 2025 - 2033 -
2022 Pinot Noir Yates Conwill Vineyard Field Blend
94 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2027 - 2038
Eric Guido, Vinous, July 2025“The 2022 Pinot Noir Yates Conwill Vineyard Field Blend opens slowly in the glass, mysterious and slightly exotic, as spiced blood orange and dusty violet flowers give way to dried black cherries and clove. It washes across the palate with ease, soft-textured and round, with rose-tinged red berry fruits propelled by brisk acidity. Tension carries the finish, which is grippy and long, leaving nuances of cranberry and a savory herbal tinge. Patience will be required to enjoy the full impact of the 2022 Yates Conwill. Worth the wait.”
2021 Pinot Noir Yates Conwill Vineyard Field Blend
“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.”
Free Run / Purely Domestic Wine Report
Drink 2023 – 2033 -
2022 Pinot Noir Yates Conwill Vineyard Pommard
93+ POINTS
Drinking Window: 2027 - 2036
Eric Guido, Vinous, July 2025“The 2022 Pinot Noir Yates Conwill Vineyard Pommard is earthy and almost animalistic. Nuances of sage, stone dust and underbrush complicate dried strawberries on the nose. Round textures and a giving character soothe as a wave of ripe red berry fruits swirls across the palate, guided by saline-infused acids. The 2022 leaves behind a tart sensation, finishing long and puckering the cheeks as nuances of cranberry and sour citrus curl the tongue.”
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2022 Pinot Noir Yates Conwill Vineyard Wadenswil
92 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2028 - 2034
Eric Guido, Vinous, July 2025“The 2022 Pinot Noir Yates Conwill Vineyard Wadenswil is distinctly dark in character, teasing the senses with nuances of savory spice and dried flowers before giving way to black cherries and clove. It possesses a wiry feel and saline character as tart red berry fruits saturate the palate. Tobacco and liquid stone linger as the 2022 finishes long and full of tension, leaving edgy tannins to resonate.”
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2022 White Pinot Noir
93 POINTS
Drinking Window: 2025 - 2029
Eric Guido, Vinous, July 2025“The 2022 White Pinot Noir is a nuanced and finessed effort, wafting up with a pretty mix of white flowers, raw almonds, lemon oil and nectarine. It is texturally stimulating and silken in feel, with a zing of lemony citrus and vibrant acidity ushering in tart orchard fruit. A delicate inner sweetness and tactile tension remain, slightly puckering the cheeks as minty herbal freshness lingers. This 2022 steps lightly yet leaves a lasting impression.”