The 2018 Pinot Noir Leland Vineyard comes from own-rooted vines planted in 1983, mainly with Pommard and Wadenswil clones, and it was aged 15 months in 25% new French oak. Medium ruby-purple, it has lovely scents of blackberries and boysenberries with notions of licorice, underbrush and potpourri. The medium-bodied palate is concentrated with earth-laced fruits, and it has an approachable, juicy frame and long finish. 1,983 cases produced.

From vines planted in 1983, the 2017 Pinot Noir Leland Vineyard has a pale to medium ruby-purple color and scents of sliced blueberries, gravel dust, violet, dried citrus peel, cranberries, red currants and tobacco leaf. The palate is medium-bodied and spicy with a grainy frame, juicy freshness and long, earthy finish. 400 cases produced.

From a vineyard planted in 1982, the 2015 Pinot Noir Leland Vineyard is pale to medium ruby-purple and opens with notes of brown sugar over warm black cherries and blueberries plus tilled soil and wet leaves suggestions. Medium to full-bodied, it packs in the warm blackcurrants and cherries in the mouth, with layers of potpourri, tree bark and cardamom. It’s got a great firm frame of grainy tannins and very juicy acidity, finishing very long and very spicy. 700 cases produced.

From vines planted in 1982, the 2012 Leland Pinot Noir was aged for 12 months in 40% new French oak. It has a more floral bouquet with small dark cherries, fig and cassis scents. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, strawberry pastilles mixed with orange zest and a touch of seasalt. Good depth here, slightly attenuated on the finish, but this remains nicely focused and should drink well over the next 6-8 years.

The Erath 2011 Pinot Noir Leland displays saliva-stimulating salinity and savor akin to toasted shrimp shells that immediately caught my attention and repeatedly clinched the desire to take the next sip. Juicy cherry is tinged with sarsaparilla, macaroon and vanilla (around 45% of the barrels for this were new), but cherry pit and iodine help offset the wine’s confectionary aspects, and this finishes with mouthwatering persistence. I suspect this will be worth following through at least 2018. Veteran vintner Gary Horner showed me a significant share of 2011 vintage releases from Erath, though I did not have time to taste by any means all (and we focused exclusively on Pinots). He opined that higher-elevation sites – even though cooler – seemed to him favored in 2011, presumably on account of the important role played by wind in concentrating flavors everywhere in the Willamette in October of that year. And wind was certainly critical in helping counteract what Horner claims were two of the toughest challenges of this vintage: rot, especially that hidden – along with pink berries – inside clusters; and clusters themselves so heavy that as he quipped “even at one to a shoot, your vines were sometime over-cropped!” Virtually all of the 2011 Pinots here are around 12.5% in finished alcohol, and that’s even after selective chaptalization. An elevage of 11-12 months in 35-45% new barrels is pretty much the routine for Erath Pinot. (For more about this historic winery; its vineyards; and Horner’s approach, consult my issue 202 introduction.) Tel. (503) 538-3318