2018 Lange Winery Pinot Noir Reserve Willamette Valley 750 ml

Our first glimpse of the Willamette Valley's 2018 growing season came early, when we reeled in a few spring Chinook salmon with Jesse Lange. We visited Oregon again during the summer, and checked in one last time as the year wound down with a cool and unhurried harvest. By then, we were feeling the same thing that had winemakers from Dundee to Eugene beside themselves: We all knew 2018 was going to be one of the greats. 

Let us know when you’re ready to bottle, we told Jesse, and if the Reserve turns out anywhere near as good as we expect it to, we’ll take as much as you want off your hands—as long as we can secure first dibs for Wine Access members.

Today’s the day it all pays off—the fishing trip, the stellar harvest, and the tasting when we first sampled this beauty from Jesse’s wine thief. Deep ruby, with a nose bursting with blackberries and bramble, it’s got an attractive palate of black and red fruit, sawdust, and spice, resolving in elegant, silky tannins that transmit all the glory of the vintage to the glass. 

Sourced from Jesse’s best barrels and top sites, there’s no bottle that better displays his skill as a farmer, vintner, and blender than the Reserve, and we’ve got hundreds of four- and five-star reviews attesting to that: One fan said of a past vintage, “This wine has the depth and body that elude most moderately priced Pinot Noirs,” calling it “an outstanding wine at a bargain price.” 

We recommend grabbing a case, because while we secured the first ones in the nation for our members, we doubt we got enough to address the demand that’s built up since 2018. That’s the last time we offered Jesse’s spectacular Reserve, and with this one sporting 93 points from James Suckling and coming from a vintage that the Willamette Valley Vintners are calling “textbook perfect,” the writing’s on the wall. This will disappear.

We’ve offered some stellar Pinots from Lange, and the Reserve boasts fruit from some of the same superstar vineyards that go into Jesse's $60+ single-vineyard Pinots, Freedom Hill and Temperance Hill among them. A slew of other stellar sites, including Durant, Yamhill, Madrona Hill, and Lange’s own estate vineyards, round out the supply. 

Lange, an obsessive farmer, calls all the shots on when to pick, tracks all the fruit to the crush pad, and has a preternatural knowledge of what’s in his cellar. “We can barrel-taste 400 Pinot Noir barrels, and I can tell you the provenance of every one: fermentation, harvest data, soil type, clone…” He went on, naming about a dozen other categories that make up what he calls each barrel’s “dossier.” 

The variation in the barrels shows why Jesse says making the Reserve is the most fun. Unlike his expressive single-vineyard wines, there are no self-imposed restrictions on which barrels or vineyards he can use—the Reserve can feature any kind of Pinot Noir, as long as it shines. “It’s got to have great pop right out of the gate,” he says. “The Reserve is fleshy and approachable, with enough structure for decade-long aging.” 

Always one of Wine Access members’ favorites, Jesse’s Reserve is a knockout in 2018. We weren’t going to miss it, and suggest you take the same approach.