2017 Brittan Vineyards Pinot Noir Cygnus Block McMinnville 750 ml

Robert Brittan was the first winemaker at Far Niente, then spent 16 years at the helm of Stags’ Leap Winery. He was on top of the Napa wine world...and then he left.

Feeling compelled to take on a new challenge, he went to Oregon to explore the limitless potential of the Willamette Valley. Now he’s not just one of the Oregon wine world’s most prominent names and in-demand consultants—he’s considered one of the West Coast’s defining winemakers.

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate has gushed that a “personal encounter” with Brittan’s “singular wines should be high on the to-do list of any wine lover.” His Cygnus Block is planted to the Swan clone of Pinot Noir, known for its low yields, late ripening, and tiny berries, all of which combine to produce intense wines full of dramatic flavor. Because conventional wisdom long held that Swan was too heat-loving to ripen properly in Oregon, it’s rare to see it there. But Robert Brittan is a risk-taker, and this wine proves his gambit was a genius move.

It took years for the Brittans to find the right site in Oregon. Robert had considered buying land there as early as 1988, but it took until 2004 for he and his wife Ellen to finally purchase a vineyard southeast of the town of McMinnville. They produced their first vintage in 2006, and within a few years were making wines that left Wine Advocate brimming with “superlatives and awe.”