Willakenzie Estate Pinot Noir Aliette 2009, Oregon, USA

From high elevation, relatively deep soils and their oldest vines – all of the locally traditional “Pommard clone” – and treated to 15 months in half new barrels, WillaKenzie’s 2009 Pinot Noir Aliette mingles black tea, blackberry, purple plum, and beef bouillon in a rich yet buoyant and fresh-fruited; expansive; finely tannic display, hints of humus and black pepper serving to enhance a long, savory finish. There is none of the cooked or confitured character found in many 2009s, and the wine’s 14.2% alcohol doesn’t get in the way. I would anticipate at least 8-10 years of yeoman service.

Former high-tech exec Bernard Lacroute acquired his dramatically sprawling 420 acres east of Yamhill in 1991; named it for the unique local marine sedimentary soil type; and began planting vines that would eventually reach 105 acres (two-thirds of them Pinot Noir), supplemented in 2000 by 25 prime acres five miles distant in the Dundee Hills that feature the Willamette’s other major soil type suited to viticulture, the basalt-based Jory, for which Lacroute duly named his second vineyard. Trained in organic chemistry, Auvergne-born winemaker and now co-owner Thibaud Mandet arrived at WillaKenzie in 2000 by way of stints in Champagne, Corsica, and Texas. Michael Rogers took over five years ago but was assistant vineyard manager for some years previous. This is one of those sure-footed, long-standing Willamette Valley wine growing teams whose consistency is admirable but doesn’t preclude an open and experimental attitude. Pinot is (thus far) always destemmed here, and there is a chamber in which, as Mandet puts it “we can get the cold, dry north wind of Burgundy” – famous for saving many a vintage – “at the flip of a switch.” Lacroute and Mandet feel strongly that acidification is not only undesirable but should never be necessary if the soil has been properly cared-for; enough canopy left to protect against possible over-exposure (“we learned from ‘03 and ‘06,” says Lacroute); and provided one picks at the right moment. Chaptalization, too, is eschewed, but musts are sometimes concentrated with an on-site vacuum evaporator. Having learned that, I was surprised when Mandet said he was totally adverse to adding water, “but then,” he added, “perhaps it’s because I’m French.

In extreme circumstances, I would rather de-alc.” Fermentation is by inoculation, but the team here has high hopes for a culture of yeasts derived from their oldest vineyard, which was isolated and propagated for them in 2010, and which has already been subjected to an analysis that demonstrated both its efficacy and the hitherto unknown identity of two of its four strains. Fermentation in tanks and wooden uprights segregates parcels and clonal blocks because, as Lacroute puts it (without sarcasm), “In fifty years, we’re going to find out which vines work best where.” Punch-downs are mechanical but sparingly-applied, supplemented by occasional pump-overs and with limited post-fermentative maceration. Pinots are released only after a year or more after bottling, which normally takes place at 14-17 months and without filtration. (All WillaKenzie wines, by the way, are labeled with only the Willamette Valley appellation.)

WA 92