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92pts Vinous
Wild and woodsy, the 2022 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley bursts from the glass with an enticing mix of wild berries, pine shavings, rubbed sage and a dusting of spice. This is rounded in feel, with a balanced inner sweetness and crisp red fruits that flow across a tension-building brisk acidity. Pleasantly chewy and exceptionally long, the 2022 leaves a sweet-and-sour sensation that keeps this taster looking back at the glass for more. Drinking Window: 2025-2032

– ByEric GuidoonMay 2024

The 2022s from Will Hamilton at Violin show just how special this vintage can be from the right sources and in the right hands. In this case, fruit sourced from vineyards that avoided any damage from the spring frost. Together with lower yields and picking earlier for freshness, 2022 resulted in a savory set of well-structured and complex wines. Hamilton didnt have to contend with secondary buds due to frost, or the issue of overabundance that plagued some wineries; he had all of his fruit in before the threat of rain during harvest. This was a truly satisfying portfolio to taste through. The use of new oak is minimal. Balance and purity are front and center, while alcohol levels hover in the 12.5-13% range for Chardonnay and the low 13% range for Pinot Noir. Wine should be delicious, first and foremost. I want to find purity, and Im not a fan of new oak, Hamilton explains. He points out that Two thousand twenty-two wasnt a frost year for us. It was just a really late vintage. Late budding, late flowering and late harvest. Personally, I cant recommend Violin highly enough. The single-vineyard wines are fantastic, but dont pass up the chance to taste the Polk County Cuve, a Pinot Noir that blends fruit from Temperance Hill, Witness Tree, Justice and Sojeau Vineyards with vines that average 25 years old.

Our tasting note:
Medium ruby, lighter edges. Pronounced nose, cherry, raspberry, pomegranate, good spice integration, subtle earth tones. The palate is medium bodied, med/med+ acidity, medium grain youthful tannins show nice structure, very persistent, long, perfumed and pretty finish. Best ever of this wine!

Stem inclusion is usually on the lighter side here at around 10% and I’d venture to guess that was the same here, probably south of 10%. The wines tend to see 12-14 months of french oak, with only about 10-15% new. *A wine that could legally/technically carry the Eola-Amity Hills appellation, with only around 4.5% fromFirst Man Vineyardin the North Valley outside Eola. Fresh and bright, the poised and focused frame leads toward a satin and spiced finish. The finesse is striking. The biggest component comes from the high elevationKoosah Farm(10 barrels), but also includesSojeau Vineyard(four barrels),Sylvias Vineyard(six barrels),Witness Tree Vineyard(five barrels), and the Easternmost block ofTemperance Hill Vineyardcalled 12 Rows (4 barrels). Aged on lees in 228L barrels until the second week of December 22, allowing for nearly six weeks of time to come together in tank before bottling on January 23rd, 2023