94pts Wine Spectator

Dynamic and deeply structured, this red retains a sense of grace. Multilayered flavors of cherry and cranberry are laced with fresh violet and forest floor accents that persist toward steely tannins. Drink now through 2032. 630 cases made.

Winemaker Notes

Purple-tinged ruby color. Floral notes of crushed rose petals and violets mingle with cocoa and wet forest floor. Tart red fruits dominate the palate, led by pomegranate and sour cherry. The sleek entry travels the length of the wine, and reveals a youthfully soft texture. The long palate impression and finish dances between primary fruits and earthiness with lingering mineral notes.

Bud break came early in 2022, after a warm and dry winter. March continued that pattern and then in early April we experienced a very cold air mass that resulted in frost in some vineyards. April remained cold, and wet, setting a pattern that continued into early June. The accumulation of these factors set vine growth back a few weeks and set the stage for a fall harvest.

In June we turned the corner in time for flowering, producing a very good fruit set. Heat came quickly, and with the soil full of moisture from the wetter spring, the vines grew a healthy canopy. A couple of heat events in July and August helped to keep disease pressure in check in most vineyards.

July, August, and September were all warm and dry, with a bit of precipitation around the 3rd week of September. The warm weather continued well into October creating perfect harvest conditions that allowed the fruit time to develop full maturity, exceptional balance, and complex flavors.

100% Pinot Noir, 40% Pommard and 667 picked on 10/4/22 and co-fermented, 60% 777 and 115 picked on 10/2/23 and co-fermented, taken from 4 different blocks in the EAH. 7 day cold soak, no inoculations, pressed to tank for settling on 10/23 and 10/27, to barrel on November 2, 2022. ML completed on 1/31/23 and 2/17/23. Mix of once and twice
filled French oak barrels.

Winemaker Isabelle Meunier

A native of Quebec, Isabelle studied winemaking and viticulture at the University of Dijon and in New Zealand at Lincoln University before cutting her winemaking teeth in Burgundy, under the watch of fellow French-Canadian Pascal Marchand at Domaine de la Vougeraie, and at New Zealand’s Felton Road, with Blair Walter.

Marchand recommended her to Dominique Lafon to oversee winemaking at his then-new Oregon consulting project, Evening Land, in 2007. Isabelle quickly became one of Oregon’s most acclaimed winemakers. Her wines were selected for the Wine Spectator Top 100 wines of the Year from 2009 through 2015, including producing the highest rated Oregon Pinot Noir and highest rated Oregon Chardonnay ever, culminating in WS recognizing her 2012 ‘La Source’ Pinot Noir as the #3 wine in the world in 2015.

Recognition for her wines has continued with the inaugural release of LAVINEA’s 2014 vintage. Josh Raynolds of VINOUS recently proclaimed “…I’m betting that LAVINEA will, in short order, be widely considered among Oregon’s elite producers.”