2018 Twomey Cellars Pinot Noir Dundee Hills is sold out.

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Silver Oak Family’s Silky Oregon Pinot

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    2018 Twomey Cellars Pinot Noir Dundee Hills 750 ml

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    • Curated by unrivaled experts
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    • Temperature controlled shipping options
    • Get credited back if a wine fails to impress

    Their irresistible, ruby-hued 2018 Dundee Hills Pinot shows why the family of Silver Oak headed north to the Willamette Valley—and why Michelin-starred wine country temples SingleThread and Madrona Manor feature Twomey.

    The irresistible, ruby-hued 2018 Dundee Hills Pinot is a perfect showing of why the Duncans, California’s first family of Cabernet, headed north to the Willamette Valley.

    The seat of their ambition is the Prince Hill vineyard, which has a history in Willamette Valley as long and storied as theirs in Napa: Oregon pioneer Dick Erath snipped some Pinot Noir cuttings when he was in Alsace in the ‘70s, and promptly took them to UC Davis—where he left them to be propagated virus-free. When Davis called him to pick them up (a decade later!), Erath planted the unique clone at Prince Hill, which became his home vineyard. 

    Twomey’s foray to the Willamette Valley happened to coincide with the legendary vintner’s retirement, which presented the Duncans with an opportunity to buy the famed site. It’s currently the site of Twomey’s Willamette Valley tasting room, and in coming years will be the home of their winery. 

    Loaded with smooth sophistication, the 2018 bursts with showing off bright raspberry, red cherry, and plum fruit, accented with notes of kola nut, pink peppercorn, allspice, and lavender. It’s structured and tense on the palate, finishing with complex flourishes of spice and a hint of earth—and one sip could convince you that the Duncans built their world-class reputation on Pinot Noir. 

    That’s precisely why Seattle’s iconic Canlis, SF’s Park Tavern, and Michelin-starred wine country temples SingleThread and Madrona Manor all list Twomey alongside Grand Cru Burgundies, and cult classics like Kosta Browne and Williams Selyem.

    Matt Duncan is the new generation of Silver Oak’s founding family, and as he told us recently, the Willamette Valley represents a big piece of their future. “What’s really special about Oregon is that the sky’s the limit,” he said. “Long term, we have big ambition for more single-vineyard, world-class Pinot Noir.” 

    Twomey may be relatively new in the area, but the 2018 Dundee Pinot benefits from some serious native Willamette Valley knowledge. It was made by Twomey Oregon winemaker Chris Burrough at Lingua Franca winery, where he rubs shoulders with some of the valley’s most knowledgeable Pinot Noir mavens. Sourced from the Prince Hill, Meyer, and Black Walnut Vineyards, Burrough used 40% whole-cluster Pinot Noir, and gave it a touch of vanilla and baking spice with 100% French oak, 35% of it new. 

    One sip shows that the future is bright for the Duncan family in the Willamette Valley, and the proof is in how delicious their Pinot Noir is right now. Truly a beautiful bottle from one of the first families of California wine.