Ponzi Vineyards Pinot Noir

This is a wine that falls in the not-exactly-cheap-but-pretty-darn-good category.  It comes from Ponzi Vineyards in Willamette Valley, Oregon.

Ponzi is a family-owned producer that was founded back in 1970.  They have 120 acres of LIVE Certified Sustainable vineyards in Northern Willamette Valley, a cool-climate wine region—perfect for pinot noir.

The winemaker at Ponzi is Luisa Ponzi, who took over as winemaker twenty years ago.  But she didn’t just take over using the knowledge she learned from her father, Dick Ponzi.  Before becoming winemaker she studied enology in Beaune, France and apprenticed with producers in Burgundy, France and Piedmont, Italy.  Her approach to winemaking combines the knowledge she gained from her father with her further education and experience.

Wherever the knowledge came from, she’s creating some nice wines.

The nose on this pinot noir has nice depth and character, offering diverse aromatics such as grilled meat, cherry, raspberry, rhubarb and allspice.  The palate is also quite nice, with good acidity and flavors such as wild cherry, rhubarb, plum and cinnamon.  It finishes relatively long, with cherry and mineral flavors.

Wine: Ponzi Vineyards
Variety: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 13.6%
Rating: 89
Price: $35.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.