April 13, 2023 - WOW. Fruit! Gorgeous cherries and blackberries Soft tannins, medium body, gently coats the palate. So delicious even after 12 years. it has at least 3 to 5 more years to go.
July 26, 2021 - Brought out of the cellar and decanted for 2 hours.
Nice light red color with just a slight orange rim.
Bright red fruit aroma Strawberries and Cherries
Cranberry and strawberry along with an earthy cedar forest component at first taste followed by Cherries. Long fresh red fruit flavor well balanced with acidity and tannins.
This wine is very enjoyable now and has the structure to age well for a few more years. Paired well with Lamb shoulder.
August 14, 2020 - Excellent. Well done, Wes!
October 6, 2019 - Still bright and rather youthful. Charming nose of dusty cranberry and currants. It certainly has life ahead and is maybe around peak depending on ones taste. A well done Pinot from a cooler vintage and awesome vineyard.
October 3, 2017 - Sometimes patience is rewarded. Decanted 30 mins. ahead off of light sediment. Light-medium ruby color tinged with brick. Very nice nose of spices, cherries, violets, plums. Medium-bodied on the palate, with spicy fruit flavors in a delicious acid balance tinged with minerals. The finish is long, very low tannins, drying, with orange peel notes. This one is showing very nicely; it's near its peak but could probably hold longer.
December 13, 2016 - This was the fourth bottle of this wine that I have had and it was the best. Which seems to suggest that what this wine needed was a little more time. Seemed more balanced between acidity and fruit which was something that I liked. Riper fruit flavors, good texture and mouth feel, bright. Nice.
December 3, 2016 - Clear, medium-ruby color. Secondary/primary aromas, medium intensity, black cherry, allspice, black tea, sandalwood, rose hips, mushroom. Medium weight on the palate, rich density to the middle, showing tight black cherry and fig paste fruit, black tea spices, cedar, dark earth, hints of mineral. Medium acidity, fine ripe tannins, and peppery spice on a medium length finish. This has developed toward a richer SRH more reminiscent of a less cool-climate vintage, but overall good balance. Very nice. Drink/hold.
November 14, 2016 - Same as previous notes. Not bad, but not particularly good, and not worth the higher price than the regular bottling. This winery has closed and the vineyard has been sold to Hall Winery. Wes Hagen, the 68th most influential wine maker in the world a few years ago, was forced to move on, to another winery perhaps.
August 26, 2016 - This is my third bottle of this wine since last year. I keep hoping it will get better to justify the price, but it just doesn't. It's not a bad wine, but it isn't a particularly good wine. One thing for sure though is that the Vigneron Select does not justify the higher price than the regular bottling.
March 7, 2016 - If this is the Vigneron Select, Wes Hagen laid an egg on this one. A poor showing for the 68th most influential winemaker in the world.