2010 Anam Cara Heather’s Vineyard Chehalem Mountains Pinot Noir

13.4% alc., 50 cases, $65. The most elegant expression of the vineyard, using the lightest oak treatment (no new oak, 100% once-filled barrels). 50% Dijon 114, 36% Dijon 777 and 14% Pommard. Usually the wine is from ten rows of Dijon clone 114 in a late ripening block cropped to 1.5 tons per acre. The 2010 bird invasion wiped out these rows which abutted the tree line. The blending process then opened to include other clones. The wine is named for the Nicholas’ daughter. · Light reddish-purple color in the glass. Very fragrant, like a well-perfumed woman with a dab of crushed cherries and sandalwood behind her ear. See-through elegance, featuring ripe dark candied griottes cherries, sweet and seductive in the middle and languorous and slinky at the end. Will pick up intensity with more time in the bottle. Very good (+). Reviewed September 12, 2012

Winery: Anam Cara Cellars
From article: 2010 Pinots Tasted in the Willamette