Description
With over 40 vintages in his resume, Robert Brittan is just about the most veteran winemaker in Oregon. His career began in Napa where he was head winemaker at Stags Leap. Today, he owns this vineyard in the McMinnville AVA, and is consulting winemaker for over a dozen labels. Robert’s wines always showcase minerality and a paradoxical elegant power – the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove.
The Basalt Block soil is thin and volcanic, and the site is windswept by the Van Duzer Corridor. The result is stunted berries with extremely thick and leathery skins, and dazzling phenolic development. As mentioned before, you’ll be able to tap into intense gravel-like and metallic minerality in this wine, along with rich fruits, a little smoke and even a touch of blue cheese. The texture features a hefty backbone of structure that should carry it through several years of aging. It’s downright tannic, and benefits from a little decanting, and/or some hearty or fatty food to pair.
From the Winery:
2012 Basalt Pinot exhibits rich notes of blackberry, Italian plum, dried orange peel and cassis, with spice notes of coriander and nutmeg. On the palate, the intense flavors are reminiscent of black cherry, dried blackberry, bergamot, aged black tea and sweet plum. The sweet fruit flavors are supported by a very structured mid-palate, with an intensely focused and lengthy finish.
