Varietal: 100% Pinot Noir
96 Points International Wine Review
(Lisa Perrotti Brown, formerly of Robert Parker's Wine Advocate)
The 2021 L’Ensemble Pinot Noir from Nicolas-Jay is Aged for 16 months in 35% new French oak barrels and sports a medium translucent ruby-garnet core with a light neon pink rim in the glass. A stunning example of a well-crafted Pinot Noir from Oregon, it explodes with notes of crushed red raspberries, Bing cherries, toasted cinnamon stick, Blood orange zest, and dried violet flowers with just a smidgeon of earthy notes that keep things interesting. Tannins are a bit higher than most 2021s I’ve tasted from the valley, but this is a good thing, as it will allow this wine to age for 10-15 years with proper cellaring. Perfect levels of acidity, spice, and fruit complete this decadent and phenomenal wine. 1200 cases were crafted. Highly recommended.
95 Points Jeb Dunnuck
A jeweled ruby hue, the 2021 Pinot Noir L'Ensemble needs a little time to open in the glass before revealing aromas of fresh pine, ripe cherry liqueur, and toasted spice. Supple and medium to full-bodied, with ripe tannins, it delivers elegant freshness and wonderful purity through its long, mouthwatering, seamless finish.
94 Points Wine Spectator
Seduction meets elegant structure in this Pinot, which offers graceful raspberry and cherry flavors accented by rose petal and savory spice notes before finishing with polished tannins.
94 Points James Suckling
This blend of the top barrels from the winery’s grape sources in northern Willamette Valley is sleek, understated, lively and fresh. Packed with tangy raspberries, cranberries, orange zest and herbal tea notes, with great acidity and a medium body. Silky tannins add to the alluring tension.
94 Points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Pinot Noir L'Ensemble comes from grapes across several appellations, including McMinnville, Eola-Amity Hills, Dundee Hills, Yamhill-Carlton and, most recently, Tualatin Hills. It takes plenty of air for its initial flintiness to give way to cranberries, raspberries, rose petals, blood orange and tea leaves. The palate features layered, complex flavors. It's structured by velvety tannins, and its mouthwatering acidity calls you back to the glass for another nuanced sip.
Winemaker Notes
A bright, magenta color with pinkish red edges shows intensity, youthfulness and concentration. Aroma sequences immediately leap from the glass with freshness and vigor. There are red berries, freshly cut straw, rhubard and elegantly perfumed red flowers. A blood orange zest inermixes with herbes de provence, cranberries, and tigh-grained French barrique. The structure of the wine is medium-plus at first, but as the wine unfolds in the mid-palate it begins to tighten and constrict. Acid levels are earnest in this wine, but there is a broad density that seems to take a combative stance to its brightness as the finish expands into chalky minerality, tangerine spice and an underlayment of crushed river rock. An argument can be made that this is the most impressive bottling that Jean-Nicolas Méo has achieved yet.
