2022 Lemelson - Pinot Noir Willamette Valley Thea's Selection (750ml)

Eric Lemelson planted his first Willamette Valley vines in 1995, after an earlier career as an environmental lawyer, and built a gravity-flow winery that processed its first harvest in 1999. From the start, the estate committed to organic farming and low-intervention winemaking, a philosophy that still guides the five estate vineyards spread across three Willamette Valley sub-appellations.

Thea's Selection is the winery's house cuvée, blending fruit from all five of those organically farmed sites into a single expression of the vintage. The 2022 growing season in Oregon brought an early spring frost that trimmed yields, followed by a hot summer and warm fall that pushed the surviving fruit to full ripeness, producing wines with notable aromatic depth and structure.

The result is earthy and savory, opening with black cherry, plum, and red currant layered with black tea, baking spice, and a whisper of forest floor. Silky tannins and a juicy core carry through to a long, bramble-fruited finish. It pairs naturally with grilled salmon, mushroom risotto, or roasted duck.