Bergström's 2023 "Cumberland Reserve" Pinot Noir Will Make Burgundy Blush with Envy!
Oregon Pinot Noir is on a roll, and Josh Bergström and his crew run one of the Willamette Valley's best wineries. Today, we bring you their 2023 "Cumberland Reserve" Pinot Noir, a wine so good it might make Burgundy blush with envy!
This bottling is one of the surest bets in Pinot Noir today. Recent vintages have snagged multiple 93- to 95-point writeups from the likes of Wine Advocate, Vinous, James Suckling, Wine Spectator, and Decanter. Yet, with all that fanfare, this 25th Anniversary "Cumberland Reserve" has the potential to best them all. We are talking serious quality here that will impress even the most ardent Pinot drinkers, especially at our lowest-in-country price of $44.99.
And don't forget that Oregon's climate is perfect for Burgundy's famous white wine grape - Chardonnay. The 2023 Ken Wright Cellars Willamette Valley Chardonnay is the highest-rated Chard they've ever produced, even outscoring every one of their single-vineyard bottlings. At twenty-five bucks, this gem is a steal.
Read on for all the details of these Willamette Wonders, then hit the Big Yellow Button to bring home the delicious joy!
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2023 Bergström "Cumberland Reserve" Pinot Noir
Willamette Valley, Oregon
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Now celebrating 25 years of biodynamic viticulture in the Willamette Valley, Josh Bergström aims to execute perfection. In 2023, he's definitely taken everything the vintage gave to turn out a remarkably special bottling of "Cumberland Reserve" Pinot Noir.
Famously tightly coiled, this Bergström bottling is serious stuff. Cumberland Reserve's composition is a barrel selection of five biodynamic, organic, or LIVE-certified vineyards in top Oregon AVAs - Dundee Hills, Chehalem Mountains, Ribbon Ridge, Yamhill Carlton, and Eola Amity Hills. No wonder this wine over-delivers in every respect!
Meant to capture Willamette's potential and totality, Bergström utilizes whole cluster fermentations and just 10-15% of new French oak barrique. The result is a pure expression with a profile reminiscent of cool, leafy, pre-dawn-picked raspberries, beetroot, cranberry sauce with orange zest, freshly fallen brush, dried marrionberry, garden herbs, fern frond, and spruce. It’s an impressive wine, and the only way to coax out every bit of flavor is to give it a good decanting. We recommend grabbing a few extra bottles to enjoy over the next decade.
This wine's length is outrageous. Its quality, drive, and balance will make any Pinot Noir drinker extremely happy. The 2021 vintage of this wine had Wine Advocate raving with a 95-Point review. Could this vintage be every bit as good or even better? Well, we'll just say that we love it.
The winery lists this beauty at a reasonable $55. The median online retail is $53. At our lowest-in-country price of $44.99, don't delay!
Vin Chicago Price: 44.99
2023 Ken Wright Cellars Chardonnay
Willamette Valley, Oregon
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Nearly forty years after resettling in the Willamette Valley, Ken Wright is crushing it with some of his career's most pleasurable and approachable wines. Ken is a single-vineyard specialist, so when this utterly affordable Willamette Valley bottle out-scored every Chardonnay he ever made at his eponymous winery, we couldn't wait to bring it to you!
With flavors of lively, fresh sliced, cinnamon-spiced green apples sautéing in honey butter, lemon leaf, greengage, a dollop of pineapple-mango crème, a whisper of vanilla, and a dusting of graham cracker, we think this is going to be a crossover hit with a wide swath of white wine fans. The inner density, depth, and length here are commendable and greatly surprised us - in the best way.
Here is Jeb's best-ever review for a Ken Wright Cellars Chardonnay...
"Displaying a bright, youthful yellow hue in the glass, the 2023 Chardonnay Willamette Valley was aged in a mix of two-thirds stainless and the rest French oak. It has a lovely nose of flinty wet stone, lemon oils, poached apple, delicate sweet spice, and brothy, salty earth. It has a lovely, juicy feel on the palate, with a refined and elegant, supple, silky texture, as well as a beautifully long finish. Offering real depth and complexity without being heavy, it’s going to drink well over the next 10 years. A very impressive Chardonnay from Ken, it’s showing a lot of promise. Maturity: 2024 - 2034."
- 94+ Points, Jeb Dunnuck (8/6/2024)
"This white is vibrant and luscious, with pear and tropical fruit flavors laced with hints of vanilla and spices. Finishes on a zesty accent. Drink now. 3,472 cases made."
- 92 Points, Wine Spectator (1/20/2025)
We found 21 online listings with a median of $30. We are cool five bucks less. This a no-brainer to grab by the handful!
Vin Chicago Price: 24.99
