Purple Hands Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021
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Shea Vineyard drapes over 140 acres of rolling hills in the Willamette Valley’s Yamhill-Carlton AVA. Dick Shea first planted the Back Block in 1989 and then replanted it in the mid-90s to eliminate the problem of phylloxera, a microscopic insect that feeds on grapevine roots. This fruit is some of the most coveted in the state. Cody sources from the highest elevation Shea block.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard is powerful yet elegant and will reward cellaring. Medium ruby in color, it takes time to unfurl from pomegranate, blood orange and blackberries to finer nuances of lavender, aniseed, tar and mossy bark. Medium-bodied, the palate explodes with generous layers of fruit. It has finely grained tannins, mouthwatering acidity and a very long, fragrant finish with a flourish of spicy accents.
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James Suckling
This is a vibrant, flavorful and uplifting pinot with citrus peel, dried flowers, nutmeg, raspberries and redcurrants on the nose. Medium-bodied, with very fine, focused tannins and crisp acidity. Tasty red fruit and spice throughout
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Wine Enthusiast
Blood orange juice and spearmint aromas form an alluring perfume to match with ripe blackcap raspberry scents. Finegrained tannins and lemony acidity join with flavors of a cherry pie right out of the oven, lemon zest and toasted walnuts. Might make a fine match with pork chops and thyme.
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Purple Hands Vineyards celebrates site-specific pinot noir and chardonnay that unearth the Willamette Valley’s long evolutionary history. Using traditional winemaking techniques, they strive to produce wines that convey an honest expression of each of their vineyards—its grapevines and cultivation, soil and stone, sunshine and rain. All of their wines undergo native fermentation and remain unfined and unfiltered at bottling to preserve their natural, wild character. Achieving elegance in this pursuit is the passion and art of their craft.
Over the past 40 years, Cody’s family has created a legacy of quality in the Oregon wine industry. Their winemaking styles and techniques helped Oregon’s Willamette Valley become the premium Pinot noir producing region in the world. At Purple Hands, Cody continues to build on the standard of excellence initiated by the previous generation.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Yamhill-Carlton, characterized by pastoral, rolling hills composed of shallow, quick-draining, ancient marine soil, is ideal for Pinot noir and other cool-climate-loving varieties. It is in the rain shadow of the Coast Range to its west, whose highest point climbs to an altitude of 3,500 feet. Yamhill-Carlton is actually surrounded by mountains on three sides: Chehalem Mountains to the north, the Dundee Hills to the east and the western Coast Range to its west, which, when it lets Pacific air through, serves to cool the region.
Vineyards grow on the ridges surrounding the two small communities of Yamhill and Carlton and cover about 1,200 acres of this 60,000 acre region, which roughly makes a horse-shoe shape on a map.