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Ayres, “Lewis Rogers Lane” Pinot Noir

Oregon / Willamette Valley, United States 2018 (750mL)
$32.00
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Ayres, “Lewis Rogers Lane” Pinot Noir

Today, we’re getting down to the brass tacks: Willamette Valley Pinot Noir at its highest level is among the finest experiences you can have, so when $32 is all that’s required from a region-defining producer’s top single-vineyard bottling, it also becomes one of the best price-to-quality investments imaginable. Of course, when Ayres’ wines have been made available to us in the past, a throng of subscribers have gone all-in with complete confidence—and rightly so. This ‘mom and pop’ winery has vinous magic swirling about their sustainably farmed vineyards in the elite sub-appellation of Ribbon Ridge, and today we’re offering up Ayres’ 12-barrel production from their pride-and-joy estate vineyard.


What’s more, winemaker and Drouhin understudy Brad McLeroy will tell you this special, small-production cuvée best represents Ayres’ estate by expertly blending together prized Dijon and Pommard clones. The results are sensational: One smell of this 2018 emits the most sublime and soul-stirring aromatics, and one taste confirms that it’s a highly pedigreed, top-of-the-mountain Pinot Noir. We’ve always urged our readers to get closely acquainted with Ayres because the prices attached to these world-best values are downright illogical—this is the greatest example yet!


Unlike the other sub-appellations of the Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge is a distinguished geological formation of uniform soils—a unique seabed uplift from the northwest peak of the Chehalem Mountains. It’s not the coolest place in the Willamette, nor is it the warmest, but hangs it hat on being one of the driest, with a long consistent growing season less susceptible to temperature spikes and uneven ripening. And with Pinot Noir, the less climatic twists and turns, the better. 



After several years making wine under the brilliant wing of Veronique Drouhin (Domaine Drouhin) in the heart of the Dundee Hills, Brad McLeroy started out with just a few acres and has since built it to 20, mostly east-facing vines on ancient Willakenzie sediments. The McLeroys are the fortunate gatekeepers of their land. They farm their own vines, they make the wines on-site, and they live there—it doesn’t get more “artisanal” than that. No herbicides or pesticides have ever been used at the Ayres farm. All the vineyards are dry-farmed implementing organic practices, and the estate has been certified sustainable since 2007. 



Ayres’ “Lewis Rogers Lane” incorporates all of their Pinot Noir clones (667, 777, 115, 113, Pommard) from their very own estate vineyard deep in the Ribbon Ridge AVA. All of the hand-harvested fruit for this cuvée fermented with natural yeasts, with a small portion of whole-cluster fruit to enliven texture and add complexity in the finished wine. Before bottling, the wine spent just under one year in French oak, roughly 15% new. Only 12 barrels were produced.



Ayres is remarkable: few producers in America have so consistently mastered the exquisiteness of Pinot Noir, one that’s worlds away from being thick and extracted. Today’s 2018 is remarkably light-handed but loaded with ripe, lush layers and Burgundy-like perfume. After a brief 30-minute decant, choose your largest Burgundy stems, serve the wine around 60 degrees, and enjoy the marvelous Pinot that has unraveled: You can expect bushels of freshly picked fruits of all colors—black cherry, huckleberry, strawberry, black raspberry—followed by underbrush, clove, smoke, Kola nut, star anise, pomegranate seeds, and pu-erh tea. Medium-bodied and fully flavorful, the wine rushes onto your palate with brio, spreading out to touch every taste bud with savory earth, plush forest fruits, and subtle spices. Be it for studying, sheer pleasure, or both, this 2018 Willamette Valley Pinot is a pitch-perfect example. Enjoy now, in two years, or see what’s in store for this wine 5-10 years down the road—all while remembering that it only cost you $32. Man, we love Ayres!
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Country
United States
Region
Oregon / Willamette Valley
Sub-Region
United StatesRibbon Ridge AVA
Soil
Marine Sediment
Farming
Sustainable
Blend
Pinot Noir
Alcohol
13.5
OAK
15% New French Barrels
TEMP.
60
Glassware
Burgundy Stems
Drinking
Now-2028
Decanting
30 Minutes
Pairing
Crispy Duck Breast

United States

Washington

Columbia Valley

Like many Washington wines, the “Columbia Valley” indication only tells part of the story: Columbia Valley covers a huge swath of Central
Washington, within which are a wide array of smaller AVAs (appellations).

Oregon

Willamette Valley

Oregon’s Willamette Valley has become an elite winegrowing zone in record time. Pioneering vintner David Lett, of The Eyrie Vineyard, planted the first Pinot Noir in the region in 1965, soon to be followed by a cadre of forward-thinking growers who (correctly) saw their wines as America’s answer to French
Burgundies. Today, the Willamette
Valley is indeed compared favorably to Burgundy, Pinot Noir’s spiritual home. And while Pinot Noir accounts for 64% of Oregon’s vineyard plantings, there are cool-climate whites that must not be missed.

California

Santa Barbara

Among the unique features of Santa Barbara County appellations like Ballard Canyon (a sub-zone of the Santa Ynez Valley AVA), is that it has a cool, Pacific-influenced climate juxtaposed with the intense luminosity of a southerly
latitude (the 34th parallel). Ballard Canyon has a more north-south orientation compared to most Santa Barbara AVAs, with soils of sandy
clay/loam and limestone.

California

Paso Robles

Situated at an elevation of 1,600 feet, it is rooted in soils of sandy loam and falls within the Highlands District of the Paso Robles AVA.

New York

North Fork

Wine growers and producers on Long Island’s North Fork have traditionally compared their terroir to that of Bordeaux and have focused on French varieties such as Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

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