2002 Anne Amie Rainbow Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir

[dananne]

This Willamette winery used to be called Chateau Benoit, but the new owners changed the name, naming it after their two daughters. To my knowledge, they've often underperformed in the past, but Anne and I enjoyed our visit there last summer -- beautiful digs and wonderful views. We tasted through their complete flight offered that day, and we ended up purchasing two single-vineyard wines from the '02 vintage. We felt both needed a bit of time to smooth out some tannins. We decided to pop one of them this weekend to see how they are evolving and to see if we should pay another visit this summer.

Decanted 30 minutes before 1st pour and throughout evening. Very dark color, close to purple, with a nose of cherry and plum. Quite tart cherry flavors on the entry with the same tannins we remember lurking on the finish, which picks up some red spices. Not a bad wine, but we'll probably give the other bottle another year or two in the cellar. Alc. 14%. Normally runs about $35, but they gave us an industry discount for some reason, so we ended up paying closer to $25.