2014 Pinot Noir

The most recent releases from David Adelsheim and winemaker Dave Paige focus on the winery’s premier, single-vineyard bottlings from 2013, and they are classic examples of this iconic producer’s long-standing house style, which emphasizes focus, structure and ageworthiness. While distinctly Old World in character, the wines do not lack for fruit intensity and rarely display forbidding tannins, although I would highly recommend decanting the ‘13 Pinots for a bit if one plans on opening them any time in the next few years. Based on the snapshot that I was able to glean from tasting the winery’s first two releases from 2014, that year is shaping up to be an outstanding vintage of fruit-driven, more-accessible-than-usual wines here. The “basic” Willamette Valley bottling, which delivers superb value for the money, was a flat-out delicious eye-opener during my tastings this fall.