Carlton Cellars 2016 Pinot Noir Reserve, Roads End, Yamhill-Carlton

Here's a very exciting find! Dave Grooters has a prime estate vineyard located right between Tony Soter's and Ken Wright's vineyards in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA of Willamette Valley. With well-drained Wellsdale sedimentary soils, it was first planted in 2003, so the vines are mature and the roots go deep. It features 777 Dijon clone along with Wädenswil and 828 Pommard clones that bring bright, intense fruit notes all the way from blueberry and black cherry to plum and cassis.

Roads End is his Reserve Pinot Noir, a selection of a mere 12 barrels (288 cases) of his best wine from the estate vineyard. The grapes are carefully picked and then triaged in the winery. After a temperature controlled fermentation the wine aged in 50% new French oak barrels for 16 months.

Dave does not use any fining agents. Just prior to bottling, he filters the wine using a crossflow filtration machine that gently filters the wine down to 4 microns. This is a very different filtration process that is much gentler as compared to the more conventional plate and frame filtration. There are no coloring agents, no enzymes or any other additives. Simply pure Oregon Pinot Noir.

2016 was an outstanding vintage for Oregon Pinot Noir. Wine Enthusiast Magazine scored this 92 points saying "Sourced from the estate's Russell-Grooters Vineyard, this top-tier wine from one of Oregon's true value players is firm and well balanced. Ripe cherry fruit is matched to ripples of wood and herb, and the tannins carry a lightly toasted character, with a suggestion of walnuts. Aged 18 months in half new and half neutral French oak, this is drinking well and should hold for another six to eight years."

This delicious Reserve Pinot is extremely limited but we grabbed all we could and are offering it at a steep discount for short time. Don't miss it!!