New Release: Erendira Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2010

Ermisch Family Cellars, in collaberation with veteran winemaker Robert Brittan of Brittan Vineyards, is the producer of the fabulous Erendira 2010 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. Kirk Ermisch, of Ermisch Family Cellars, is also the founder of the Southern Wine Group, an importer and producer of wines from Latin America and Oregon. The Southern Wine Group, located in Bend, Oregon, imports several independent brands from Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Baja, California; in addition to, owning and operating the Bodega Calle winery in Mendoza and producing the Erendira Pinot Noir with consulting winemaker, Robert Brittan.

Produced under the roof of the famed Carlton Winemaker’s Studio in Carlton, Oregon, everyone in the Southern Wine Group has lent a hand in producing the Erendira Pinot Noir, from the sorting table, to cellar work, to bottling – “We’ve always preferred complexity and character over power, and the Willamette Valley vineyard sources we’re utilizing reflect that.”

The vineyard sources used for the 2010 Erendira Pinot Noir came from Blakeslee Vineyard (Chehalem Mountains AVA), Minnifee Vineyards (Yamhill-Carlton AVA), Brittan Vineyard (McMinnville AVA), Marsh Vineyard (Yamhill-Carlton AVA) and Saikonnen Vineyard (Chehalem Mountains AVA). Grapes were hand harvested, fermented in open top bins and punched down two to three times per day. Aged for 12 months in second and third use French oak barrells.

The Ermisch Family Cellars Erendira 2010 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir offers beautiful, vibrant cranberry and fresh red fruit aromas, while lively acidity brings those cranberry aromas to life on the palate, along with a hint of pie spice and earth. Super fruity and juicy. this Pinot Noir is simply delicious, and it does, indeed, reflect the complexity and character of the Willamette Valley.

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What’s next? I have several Argentine wines from the Southern Wine Group that I’m very much looking forward to sampling and writing about in the next few days. I’ve also got a pre-release industry screener of the Southern Wine Group’s, Boom Varietal, a documentary all about the rise of Argentine Malbec, which will be in my DVD player this evening. Here’s the trailer for the documentary: