2015 Ponzi Vineyards Pinot Noir Reserve Willamette Valley 750 ml

As Wine Spectator put it: “All Oregon Pinot Noirs are measured against the Ponzi yardstick.”

Ponzi’s single-vineyard bottlings sport $80-$100+ price tags, and this is a chance to taste that kind of first-class Willamette Valley pedigree and terroir at much less than that.

With their half-century of history in Oregon, stellar terroir, and impeccable winemaking, Ponzi Vineyards can lay claim to being one of the finest and one of the first. They are one of the storied Grands Crus of Northwest Pinot Noir, and Pinot aficionados of all stripes will be thrilled they claimed what they could of our tiny 20-case allocation of the 2015 Ponzi Pinot Noir Reserve. This vibrant, satiny red simply exudes quality, and is a snapshot of one of the finest vintages in Oregon history that will please all fans of Pinot Noir, no matter what region they call their favorite. 

Our recent trip to the Willamette Valley took us to Ponzi’s breathtaking modern tasting room, where we swirled and sipped this sleek and elegant 2015 while overlooking the gently sloping Avellana Vineyard, one of the sources of the Reserve. The wine is a pale ruby color, highlighted by a beautifully complex nose of fresh strawberry, raspberry, crushed stone, anise, agave, and violet. The palate is silken, with ripe black cherry and mulberry fruit complemented by allspice, fresh herbs, and a hint of forest floor.

At a time when Oregon Pinot Noirs are making more waves than ever, and California and Old World wineries seem to be grabbing for a piece of the Pacific Northwest, Ponzi remains one of the standard-bearers of the region. A huge reason for that is Luisa Ponzi, the second-generation winemaker who has linked her family’s first wave of Oregon success to the next, cultivating the classic texture and finesse of Burgundy with the fruit and richness evocative of the Willamette Valley.

The Burgundian elegance she coaxes from Pinot Noir is explained by her training: She apprenticed in Beaune with Christophe Roumier at the legendary Domaine Georges Roumier. Armed with that experience, Luisa has continued to elevate the estate founded by her pioneering parents Dick and Nancy Ponzi, who started with a small 20-acre farm that has now flourished into one of the Willamette Valley’s marquee estates.

Located in the Chehalem Mountains sub-AVA of Willamette Valley, Ponzi sourced the 2015 Reserve from their estate vineyards of Aurora, Abetina, and Avellana, as well as from the Zenith and Bieze Vineyards in the more southerly AVA of Eola-Amity Hills. It hails from a season that fell smack-dab in the middle of what Vinous called an “unprecedented chain of outstanding vintages in the Willamette Valley,” a year in which a warm and dry summer led to one of Ponzi’s earliest harvests in a quarter-century. A cool September and October meant that the fruit could be harvested at an unhurried pace—a luxury that translated into perfect ripeness.

Luisa and her crew aged the Pinot for 20 months in 30% new French oak, which added a touch of baking spice and class to the wine before it was racked and bottled by gravity, sans fining or filtration. The result is another classic from Ponzi, and one that will surely thrill Wine Access members as much as the 2014 Reserve (which has amassed a slew of 4- and 5-star ratings) has.