2017 Ponzi Vineyards LR Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 750 ml

When you get a call from the winery that “all Oregon Pinot Noirs are measured against,” as Wine Spectator proclaimed, you pick up. Quickly.  

Our Master of Wine, Vanessa Conlin, grabbed her phone on the first ring when she saw that the caller was Ponzi Vineyards. The legendary Willamette Valley winery had 60 cases of an exclusive Pinot Noir they’d crafted as a restaurant and fireside pour for a top Sunriver resort. But with the winter season slower than normal, that deal fell through—so Ponzi came straight to us. When we tasted the boisterously fruity, raspberry- and cherry-scented Pinot and confirmed its outrageous value, we didn’t hesitate to take the entire allocation. 

Willamette Valley pioneers Dick and Nancy Ponzi settled in Oregon in the late 1960s. With French sensibilities firmly in place thanks to many research trips to Burgundy, their small 20-acre farm flourished and grew into the legacy that is now Ponzi Vineyards—a winery so renowned that it was recently acquired by Bollinger. Remarkably, that was the legendary Champagne house’s first foray outside of France. 

In the 1990s, second-generation winemaker Luisa Ponzi began a string of outstanding vintages, creating wines with the classic texture and finesse of Burgundy complemented by the red fruit and richness conjured by the Willamette Valley. She assembled the 2017 LR from 11 different vineyard parcels, of which around seven belong to the Ponzis. The wine was fermented in small lots, giving her the flexibility to coax out the most delightful, fruit-forward profile possible. 

Vanessa called the wine “a surprising and delightful discovery,” and we think it will be as fetching in your dining room as it would in a luxe, snow-covered lodge.