2007 RETOUR PINOT NOIR - THE ESSENTIALS
An initial perfume of lavender, fragrant lilacs and just-plucked cherries mingle with complexities of fresh roasted hazelnuts, black pepper and forest floor. Aeration reveals glorious aromas of exotic spices, anise, blackberry blossoms and a hint of confection.
The explosive palate leads with bright raspberries, lush black fruits and tangerine peel. The succulent mouthfeel has impressive weight and texture that drapes easily over its eloquent structure. Fine tannins coalesce with underlying minerality that leads to a long and seductive finish. Over time the wine is persistent in its evolution towards greater complexity.
Please cellar the wine at 55 degrees F. We suggest decanting for at least 1-2 hours prior to consuming. With aeration, this evocative wine will become more expressive, unveiling its charming personality.
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about the vintage
Driven by a passion for quality and leveraging a close partnership with our growers, we were deeply committed to nurturing each vine, in each vineyard, throughout the growing season in order to achieve the flavor intensity and purity we required. Our efforts included advanced sustainable farming practices, precise vine and soil nutrition, intense canopy and yield management, and the tradition of “talking to our vines”. The loyalty from our growers, their meticulous crews and our incredible team at the winery, proved critical to the success of the vintage.
“When the rains came ...” Many vintners across the valley began to panic and chose to harvest their Pinot Noir early. For Retour, this was not an option. Our vines are old and slower to ripen, they enjoy taking in a long, cool growing season to fully develop their complex flavors. As a native Oregonian, I also know the sun always sneaks back out in October. In addition, Hamacher is known for his outstanding knowledge and talent with winemaking in cooler vintages. His expertise quickly shaped the success of our vintage. Together, we were willing to roll the dice and let the fruit hang.
Our approach was pretty simple: literally from sun up, until sun down, we spent four long weeks in each of our vineyards nurturing their souls. Through the muddy rows, we aggressively pulled the leaves to open up the airflow as much as possible to minimize any threat of disease. The second phase was to continually study the conditions of each and every cluster. Our yields were already low to enhance the concentration, yet we continued to drop any unwanted clusters and plucked any damaged berries from their havens with “tweasers”! Some may call this costly and obsessive-compulsive behavior in the vineyard - however, we were eager and willing to do what was necessary, to ensure the fruit was in beautiful, flavorful condition, prior to harvesting.
Our diligence and back-breaking endeavors paid off. Our Pinot Noir was harvested and sorted by hand in the vineyard just as dawn broke on brisk mornings. It was pure gratification on the days that we picked... the clusters were in healthy condition and had developed great physiological ripeness.
Most of our fruit was destemmed and fermented as whole berries in individual lots, while a smaller portion consisted of 100% whole clusters for added spice, complexity and texture. Use of native yeasts during fermentation contributed to complexity and more completely aligned the wine’s profile with its vineyard of origin. After fermentation, the wines were moved by gravity to French oak barrels and left to rest quietly before the final blend was orchestrated.
This was a vintage that clearly required meticulous vine tending, tremendous attention to detail and a high level of optimism. We are firm believers that with patience and extreme precision, there are always great rewards. The 2007 vintage certainly provided a glorious personality to Retour... it is a wine that exemplifies the essence of a classic, cool Willamette Valley -- the style of vintage that we prefer. Through its nuances, this wine will speak to you... and you will airily devour every last drop in your glass.
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approach to winemaking
The combination of Eric Hamacher's humility, world-class talent and years of experience shape a hand that is light. Track marks from Hamacher are nowhere to be found. His influence is fleeting – his job is to get out of the way, let the wine tell its story. Native yeasts, small open-top fermenters, a delicate approach that coaxes and nudges but does not intrude. Simple tools like meticulous fruit sorting, artistic temperature control, precise punchdowns and pumpovers, gentle gravity-fed movements, and a comfortable bedding of hand-selected French oak barrels. Raising the wine takes a watchful and experienced eye, knowing when to provide loving discipline and when to let go. We are honored to be working with Hamacher, whose approach is perfectly aligned with our vision of crafting a Pinot Noir that vibrates with spirit of place.
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Winemaking Notes
Acquire 2007 Pinot Noir
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