2021 Cristom Pinot Noir Eileen Vineyard
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Tasting notes
The 2021 Pinot Noir Eileen Vineyard, matured for 18 months in 34% new French oak, is scented of cranberry sauce, forest floor, potpourri, mushrooms and cardamom. The light-bodied palate is chalky and vibrant with understated fruit and a long, spicy finish. It will benefit from a few years in bottle. 786 cases were made.
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Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
Deeply seductive, the 2021 Pinot Noir Eileen Vineyard opens with a burst of mentholated herbs, licorice and sweet autumnal spices. Juicy and broad upon entry, this envelopes the palate with ripe red and hints of blue fruit, giving way to suggestions of cola and lavender. Its mineral core comes forward through the finish, gaining tension through a blend of fine tannins and residual acids as spice and floral notes resonate throughout. The Eileen Vineyard is refined using 46% whole clusters and 34% new French oak barrels for eighteen months.
Hand-harvested, 46% whole-cluster fermented. Ambient-yeast fermentation. One to three punchdowns daily with occasional pumpovers in 1.5- to 5-ton open-top fermenters. Pressed to tank, settled overnight and moved to barrel. Unfined and unfiltered. 18 months on lees in 34% new French oak barrels. Pale ruby in colour. Ripe, sticky fig and vanilla. Tactile, lightly sandy tannin and high acid. Less full, lighter on the palate than the rest of the portfolio with tension and linear acidity. Lavender, floral character to the finish. (SCJ)
A deep saturated ruby, the 2021 Pinot Noir Eileen Vineyard is more aromatically reserved initially but opens in the glass to emerging notes of rocky earth, ripe black and blue fruit, and wild herbs. It already displays a tension aromatically that carries over to the palate, where the wine is full-bodied, with a weightless feel, ripe, well-structured tannins, and a tension-packed, ripe core. It has a nervous energy at this stage that bodes well for significant aging potential over the next 15 to 20 years. It’s a remarkable wine that demands aging time. The wines for this report were tasted at the winery, where I toured the vineyards with winemaker Daniel Estrin in the Eola-Amity Hills. Daniel joined the team in 2019, following his work with Ted Lemon at Littorai, where he began as an intern and worked his way up to assistant winemaker. Although he has certainly taken a page from Ted’s farming and biodynamic practices, the estate is not certified, and they prefer not to work within the proscriptive confines for certification.