2002 Soter Vineyards Pinot Noir Beacon Hill

This one is everything you could hope for in a mature Oregon Pinot Noir. With its aromas and flavors of black raspberry, dried cherry, pipe tobacco and spicy underbrush; its suave texture and inviting sweetness; its brisk note of orange zest; and its resolved, fine-grained tannins, I thought I was drinking a mature wine from Gevrey-Chambertin or Morey-Saint-Denis. Two thousand two was an outstanding vintage for Oregon Pinot Noir, and Tony Soter’s Beacon Hill bottling showcases the balance, richness and deep fruit character of the year’s best examples.