I understand and appreciate the concept behind Child’s Play, which is billed as the easy-drinking ‘second label’ of Tony Rynders’ Tendril Wine Cellars, but make no mistake: This wine is no joke. Just the opposite, in fact. Rare is the instance when a sub-$30 bottle of Pinot Noir performs at this level, even in the value-packed Willamette Valley, but if anyone’s capable of doing it, the smart money’s on Rynders. 

He is one of the most highly acclaimed winemakers in the Pacific Northwest, perhaps best-known for the deluge of critical acclaim he received during his 10 years as Head Winemaker at Domaine Serene, and what you get in his Tendril Wine Cellars wines is an assurance of impeccable vineyard sourcing and invaluable perspective. Thanks to relationships cultivated over a long career in Oregon, Tony has access to some of the Willamette Valley’s greatest vineyards, one of which is his own: The “Maverick” vineyard, planted in 2013 in the Yamhill-Carlton district. And, given that Tony collected a record number of top scores during his time at Domaine Serene, you shouldn’t be surprised to learn that the 2017 Child’s Play bottling got plenty of critical love, too. I must say: Every time I think Oregon Pinot can’t top itself in the value department, it goes ahead and does just that!

Tony founded Tendril Wine Cellars in 2008, focusing on small-lot wines from acclaimed Willamette Valley vineyard sites, including Carabella (a volcanic parcel in the Chehalem Mountains), Saffron Fields (Yamhill-Carlton), and two sites farmed by Elk Cove Vineyards: “Clay Court” (Chehalem Mountains) and “Mount Richmond'' (Yamhill-Carlton). In addition to this project, meanwhile, he keeps quite busy with a consulting business, a custom-crush facility called Tour de Force, and a partnership in the Octave Vineyard in Walla Walla, Washington.

For today’s wine (which, like all the Child’s Play wines, features label artwork by his two daughters), Rynders sourced the fruit mainly from the marine-sediment soils of Yamhill-Carlton and aged the wine for 11 months in used French oak barrels, creating a tangy and refreshing style that isn’t just delicious now but feels like it could age for 3-5 years if you so choose. In the glass, it’s a bright ruby-garnet color moving to pink at the rim, with a nice interplay of red and black fruits on the nose and palate: raspberry and blackberry, Bing cherry, and cranberry, along with rose petals, warm spices, and some black tea/black pepper notes. Pull the cork and let this one rip right out of the bottle at 60-65 degrees in Burgundy stems, knowing that you can pair it with just about anything; my preference in this case would be some grilled Pacific salmon or, when springtime mushroom-foraging begins in earnest, something incorporating fresh, woodsy morels. If you’ve got the room, grab a case, because this one doesn’t just go down easy—it leaves a lasting impression! Cheers!