The 2021 Cloudline Pinot Noir is a wine a lot of folks will be talking about, and I promise you they'll have great things to say. This joint venture between winemaker Veronique Drouhin and importer Dreyfus Ashby is clicking on all cylinders in the fabulous 2021 vintage. At less than $30 per bottle (no volume purchase required), this is classy, complete, and complex Oregon Pinot at an incredible price.
2021 Cloudline Pinot Noir Willamette Valley
Delicious Willamette Valley Pinot Noir at a ridiculously low price!
ORDER NOW in our online store.
Who doesn't love a great value, especially when it involves Oregon Pinot Noir, where values are few and far between. Now in their 20th year of production, Cloudline Pinot Noir has really come into its own, and I suspect many will proclaim this as their best vintage yet. With Veronique Drouhin-Boss overseeing all aspects of production, this should come as no surprise.
Veronique and her father Robert established Domaine Drouhin in 1988, and the estate quickly rose the ranks to become one of Oregon's elite producers. Prior to this, Veronique studied at the University of Dijon, and she worked with famed enologist Laurence Jobard, who handled winemaking at her family's winery (Joseph Drouhin) from 1976 to 2005. Let's just say this gal knows what she's doing, and the proof is in the bottle.
After the devastating, fire-plagued 2020 vintage, the growers and producers of the Willamette Valley deserved a break, and they certainly got one. Vintage 2021 was pretty much perfect -- hot, dry, and sunny conditions led to a healthy crop of perfectly ripened Pinot Noir grapes. If you like your Pinots with a little more "meat on the bone," you're doing to love the 2021 Willamette Valley Pinot Noirs.
The 2021 Cloudline Pinot Noir is a great introduction to the virtues of the vintage, and it really grabbed me when I tasted it recently. Sourced from some of the top vineyards in Oregon, with 25% of the grapes coming from Drouhin's own Roserock Vineyard, this is fermented and brought up in a combination of tank and French oak. The finished wine offers up a symphony of aromas and flavors -- warm cherry, red plum, earth, and baking spices all show up in the bouquet and on the silky, elegant, and finely textured palate. Even better, I love that it's just 13.9% alcohol -- that is low these days folks.
Let me wrap this up. Great vintage, top vineyards in the Willamette, incredible winemaker, less than $30. I'll just leave it at that. You know what to do next!
ORDER NOW in our online store.
Josh Spurling
Owner, Operator, Wine Monger
Table Wine Asheville