Producer: Anne Amie Vineyards
Wine: Yamhill Springs Vineyard Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2001
Country: USA
Appellation: Willamette Valley
Wine Type: Red
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Grade: B++
Designation: Must Drink
Price: $40

Pinot Noir is considered the soul of Oregon’s wine region. The wine region’s climate, particularly in the Willamette Valley, is often cited as being cool, moisture-laden, erratic and spontaneous — practically a copycat of France’s Burgundy region which is also known for it’s . . . well, what do you know, Pinot Noir. And while the Willamette Valley doesn’t quite look like the Côte-d’Or – there aren’t many Peugeots on the road, there’s a dearth of Châteaus and people work 40+ hours a week – there are some visible affectations that remind one a bit of le âme française. A couple of years ago I was touring the Willamette Valley and sought out a French sounding winery called Château Benoit. The winery looked like a modern French château situated on the top of a hill overlooking its hillside vineyards in a lovely secluded spot near Carlton, just north of McMinneville. It turned out that Château Benoit was no longer its name. The winery had been recently acquired by Dr. Robert B. Pamplin, Jr., a prominent Oregon businessman and philanthropist (check out www.pamplin.org), and it was in the process in being renamed Anne Amie Vineyards.

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I didn’t really have a problem with changing the name, that’s a new owner’s prerogative. And if Château Benoit sounds French, so does Anne Amie. Fine, but did they have to give the wine such a fu-fu label? On it there are two ladies dressed in 17th Century French aristocratic refinery and they are trés élégant, trés féminin, et trés française. (I’m guessing that one woman’s name is Anne and the other is Amie.) Normally, I would have avoided a wine with this Laura Ashley type label – it is just too pretty. Perhaps my logic runs something like; if it’s pretty it must be hiding something. But I overcame my reluctance for pretty, elegant and demure and picked up a couple of bottles anyway.

This 2001 Pinot is the inaugural vintage for the winery. It is a single vineyard wine that represents the Anne Amie style and its particular spot in Oregon. It is ripe black cherry and strawberry fruit with accents of earthy dried shiitake mushrooms and brambles. The ruby garnet wine is well balanced with oozing silky texture, toasted oak (French, naturellement), and amiable tannins. It is a coy, complex, and supple wine from its beginning greeting through its flirtatious finish. There’s an old and trite saying, “Never judge a book by its cover.” So much for clichés, the fu-fu Anne Amie label actually matches the character of the wine perfectly. Refined and delicious. Bon.

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