From a site thought to possibly be a 60-million-year-old sand dune and the estate’s sandiest vineyard site (hence the name), the jeweled ruby-hued 2022 Pinot Noir Silice offers compact notes of black raspberries, baking spices, and tangerine and is highly perfumed with rocky earth. Medium-bodied, it has a more linear feel and is long on the palate, with ripe tannins, a more gravelly texture, and a great, savory finish. Elegant and compact at the same time, it can be enjoyed over the coming 15 or more years. 

Effusively fruited the Silice is so named for the sandy silica soils, the hallmark of the hilly Chehalem Mountain vineyard source. Aromatics of red strawberries and candied raspberry with just a touch of wintergreen freshness provide lift. The palate shows mouthfuls of red bramble fruits, red plums spicy cola and clove and hints of chicory spice bring on the finish. 

Juicy, well-crafted and crunchy, with forest berries, strawberries, cranberries and stone. Medium-bodied with silky tannins and bright acidity. Refined and crisp with a floral touch. Delicate yet intense, with a restrained character and a delicious finish with a white pepper lift. Drink or hold. 

The 2022 Pinot Noir Silice Vineyard is transparent and pure. It has detailed aromas of cranberry, pomegranate and tangerine peel, while accents of mossy bark and mushrooms evoke a shady forest. The medium-bodied palate is concentrated and dynamic with flavors that shift from fruit to earth and spice. It has a silky texture, vibrant acidity and a long, spicy finish. It will mature gracefully over the next 10+ years.- EB 

A precise and expressive version, whose well-knit flavors of raspberry and guava take on forest floor and black tea notes as this builds tension and richness toward medium-grained tannins. Drink now through 2034. 1,119 cases made. 

(93+ points) The 2022 Pinot Noir Silice is perfumed with a dusty array of spring flowers, chamomile, crushed stones, cola and dried black cherries. It’s soothingly round and supple with depths of ripe wild berry fruit complicated by tactile mineral tones that amass toward the close. The Silice takes a turn toward tension through the finish, structured with fine-grained tannins and a tart cranberry resonance that lingers on. The Silice vineyard is located in the Chehalem Mountains AVA, planted on sandy soils in a particularly windy location. Give this time to find its inner harmony. - By Eric Guido on May 2024