2025 Racine Wine Co. - Klee Pinot Noir Willamette Valley (750ml)

Chris Berg and his wife Hilary planted their first vines near Yamhill, Oregon in 1999, turning a small family property into what became Roots Wine Co. The winery's Klee bottling, named for Bauhaus painter Paul Klee, is exported under the Racine Wine Co. label, a nod to Berg's hometown of Racine, Wisconsin, whose name fittingly means "root" in French.

The wine is blended from the Bergs' estate vineyard and thirteen other family-owned sites across the North Willamette Valley, with about 40 percent of the fruit grown in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA on sedimentary and alluvial soils. The grapes are farmed organically and fermented with indigenous yeasts, then aged for ten months in French oak, only a small portion of it new, so the oak frames the fruit without overpowering it. The wine goes unfined and unfiltered, keeping the finished bottling true to the vineyards it comes from.

The glass shows dark cherry compote, strawberry leather, and stewed plum, lifted by a floral note of rose oil. Soft, well-integrated tannins carry the fruit through a long, gently spiced finish. Pair it with grilled salmon, roast duck breast, or aged gouda.