The wine showed a pale pink color. Cherry, strawberry, cream, raspberry and peach all arrived on the nose. Cherry, strawberry, watermelon, cranberry, slate and hints of peach followed on the palate where the stone fruit emerged as the wine opened up. The wine exhibited great acidity and balance, along with good structure and length. This wine would be an ideal aperitif on a warm afternoon and would pair well with a selection of quality charcuterie.
Wine of the Week I highly recommend this wine. It is a beautiful rosé made with great care, attention and passion. In the glass the first thing you notice is the soft beautiful pale pink hue. On the nose I had wonderful aromas of citrus, raspberries and lemongrass. On the palate there was a burst of cherry, rhubarb, and pineapple . The mouthfeel was crisp and fresh with zippy acidity. A perfect wine for a summer soirée, a day at the beach or sipping poolside. So grab your bottle today.
Springtime for Rosé From Oregon’s Willamette Valley, the full whole cluster pressed 2017 Gran Moraine Yamhill-Carlton Rosé of Pinot Noir is crafted from designated stock in two vineyards. Once it opened up in the glass, the floral hints in the bouquet heightened and the crisp, complex berry and melon flavors were revealed.
The Right Color for Summer; Bottles We're Loving This Summer Palest peach–colored, but vibrant with delicate florals, grapefruit, white peach, watermelon, and crushed stones.
52 Wines in 52 Weeks: 52 Rosés Edition! The Gran Moraine Vineyard gets those nice cool afternoon breezes that Pinot Noir grapes happen to love, and that’s the main source for the fruit in this whole-cluster-pressed dry pink, which has a lot of personality. Assertive acidity, aromas of pinapple, roses, mandarins, marasca cherry and honeysuckle, and some unexpected mid-palate supporting players like almonds, lemongrass, kiwi, watermelon and something earthy-tart that might be tamarind. The finish is long and lemony. Certainly food-friendly but this one’s got a complex enough personality that I think I might like it best on its own.
This vintage marked the second at Gran Moraine for worldly winemaker Shane Moore, an Idaho native who graduated from Washington State University’s winemaking program. His résumé-building experience in Australia and Israel, and his time in Sonoma working with Pinot Noir for Jackson Family Wines, made him an ideal pick to work with former Russian River Valley vintner Eugenia Keegan in Oregon. The selection of clones 114, 777 and 828 off the Gran Moraine and Estate vineyards shows immediately in the pale appearance reminiscent of Provence because none of those clone are known for color extraction. Delicate yet bright aromas of strawberry-rhubarb compote, Craisins and Montmorency cherry lead to a lovely mouth feel with flavors to match, capped by long flavors of white peach and red currant. Outstanding.
10 of the Best Rosés to buy in Magnums If you gotta be able to namecheck the varietal, put this Pinot Noir pleaser in your wine bag. (Wait, does anyone actually use those things?)
A bouquet of 16 rosés to pack for your summer picnic or enjoy during a summer storm Another one from Oregon, this wine serves up notes of watermelon, almond, earth, citrus and bright acidity, all leading to a crisp finish.
If there is one pinot noir to discover this year, it’s the Gran Moraine. Delightfully eloquent with a Provence-like appeal, it has a delicate coral color; exquisite cherry, watermelon and tangerine flavors; and balanced acidity. A very nice package.
Try These 20 Great Rosés From France and the West Coast Made from whole-cluster pressed pinot noir from a great growing region of Oregon, this balanced and fresh rosé has bright strawberry and watermelon flavors with nice citrus notes.
15 New Wines You Should Be Serving at Your Wedding Oregon’s Willamette Valley is known for many things (and creating many wines), but their Rosé of Pinot Noir is so smooth it could easily pass for a South of France top contender. Let’s just put it this way: Notes of Chinese gooseberry, Asian pear, and honeysuckle nectar are going to make your partygoers’ palates extremely happy.
Turkey and Salmon Sliders Paired with Rosé Pale salmon in color. Aromas of tangerine and rose. On the palate, bright acidity, light/medium body with notes of cherries, citrus zest, and wet stone.
Happy Pinot Noir Day! Toasting This Morning on KXAS/NBC DFW I am thrilled that Gran Moraine has also recently added a dry Rose to their portfolio of wines from their Yamhill-Carlton vineyard, layered with white peach, nectarine and berry.
The wine is a true expression of the vintage, the Yamhill-Carlton AVA, and the culture of Oregon’s northern Willamette Valley. 2016 was a generous vintage, with aromas of black cherries, plum and spice. Notes of black cherries and spice exude from the glass. Nice notes of black cherry and black pepper. Exceptionally balanced with nice soft tannins, bright acidity and long memorable finish.
This wine is an ‘iron fist in a velvet glove’ with an elegant body that is packed with lots of aromatics and flavors of dried cherries, pressed flowers and crumbled earth that is all at once silky smooth and riveting in its delivery. The lot size is 5 cases. Grand Moraine’s vineyard is located in the Coast Range foothills at the wild western edge of Willamette Valley. Some of their beliefs include LIVE certification, reducing yields as much as possible, picking fruit at the cusp of ripeness and using native ferments.
Obsession in the Willamette Valley, Part Four The final Gran Moraine we tasted was the 2016 Upland, which Shane called his most masculine wine from the label that can be “put up against serious protein” on the dinner table. It was certainly the heaviest and darkest of what we tried, but the baking spices and minty finish offered a nice balance against the dark and heavy fruit.
Favorite Oregon Pinot Noir Bottles from Jackson Family Wines A Pinot Noir by winemaker Shane Moore, our first sip of immediately lit up our palate. It tastes of earthy mushrooms with warm spices and a hint of citrus. Each glass is filled with aromas of juicy berries and herbs that instantaneously made us want braised meats or duck. Since you’re on an Oregon wine kick, make a mental note to check back in with Gran Moraine IN A FEW years. They will be releasing a Blanc de Blanc in the spring of 2020 that was already stellar when we tried it this fall.
This is Chardonnay from 100 feet above sea level and in a rain shadow, and all this comes through in the wine. The salinity, from the high elevation and lack of rain, will slake your thirst and leave you with a nice, medium finish. While in your nose and on your palate you’ll experience a very refreshing Chardonnay with notes green apple, toasted coconut and a hint of honeysuckle. The key to this wine is the acidity, as it is in a good place to keep all the characteristics individual. This wine wants, nay, needs, a meat and cheese plate stat. Rating - A.
Pinot to Ponder This Northern Willamette Valley producer from the Yamhill-Carlton region always presents alluring Oregon Pinot Noir. Typically there is less earthiness than you’d expect from Oregon, and more bright rich red fruit with an earthy backbone. Red raspberry, black cherry, cranberry, rhubarb, anise, blueberry and always with a centered acidity. Lighter in style but with a mouth-filling richness, it’s aged just 11 months in smaller barriques with less than 40% of that as new wood, allowing the fruit to shine through.
Obsession in the Willamette Valley, Part Four In 2016, Shane made a bottling called Cascade from two south-facing blocks in the Gran Moraine vineyard of 115 and 667 clones. The fruit was fermented in topless wooden barriques in order to moderate the tannins. Requiring hand punch downs, the lots took 30 hours for fermentation to take. All-in-all, it was the most labor intensive and stressful wine of the vintage. The result is an impressively complete wine that really envelops the mouth. It’s more savory than the Estate Reserve/Dropstone, and the fruit is quite layered as well.
Obsession in the Willamette Valley, Part Four For the 2015 vintage, the name was changed from Estate Reserve to Dropstone, and it is just gorgeous on all fronts. The florals were bright and perfumed, setting up an elegant tannin structure that pulls the wine forward in the mouth. Violets and roses really show through at this stage, while the fruit will take some time to develop. This one offers tremendous promise.
I loved the purity and focused, finesseful feel of this wine; the bright, upbeat red and blue fruited Pinot qualities humming along with great clarity through a silken middle and prolonged, lip smacking finish. Gran Moraine winemaker Shane Moore tells us, “The Dropstone was blended from our two different estate vineyards to combine elegance and power, which I think is what Yamhill-Carlton is all about.... The 777 on our winery block usually drips with intense red fruit and driving acidity, and the Pommard Clone 4 at our Gran Moraine Vineyard faces due south, bringing barely ripe yet ethereal blue fruit, more elegance and spice... I try to coax the spice and intense fruit out of these wines without pulling out too much extraction (long cold soaks, cool ferments, relatively little cap manipulation, only once-filled oak, picking on the earlier side, and no extended maceration or whole cluster).”
Five of the Best American Pinot Noirs Under $45, Tasted and Ranked A “‘shroomy and zesty” wine, as one taster described it, the Gran Moraine Pinot Noir has great depth to the nose, which is full of cherry, earth, and floral notes. Rich with black fruit and cranberry flavors, it tastes truly “Oregonian,” while its velvety tannins provide a “smooth finish.”
60+ high-end wines: Our 2018 guide to prices, flavors … The rich, creamy and delicious 2015 Gran Moraine Pinot Noir ($45, Ore) has black fruits and a long finish. …
Pinot Noir Masters 2018 Gold Medal