2018 Pinot Noir Tavola

In April 2021 Bollinger, the highly esteemed Champagne house, acquired this historic Willamette Valley winery, which produces almost 40,000 cases of wine per year along with 35 of their 135 acres of vines. Longtime winemaker Luisa Ponzi is staying on board. Luisa’s father, Dick Ponzi, established the winery in 1970, and built it into one Oregon’s consistently top producers for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.vGiven the dedication to quality that Bollinger has maintained for almost 200 years, there’s every reason to believe that the Ponzis’ standards will remain as high as ever. The wines here are never rushed into the market, especially the single-vineyard and reserve bottlings, so the 2018s and 2017s are what I tasted for this year’s article. In keeping with those vintages’ styles, these are generous wines that have the depth to age but the forward fruit to make them quite enjoyable already. Considering the Ponzi wines’ extensive track record for ageworthiness, I’d advise holding off on pulling too many corks anytime soon.