2018 Lemelson Vineyards Pinot Noir Rose Willamette Valley 750 ml

Showing Rosé the Respect it Deserves

Driving to Lemelson Vineyards in Carlton, Oregon, our rental Jeep splattered with mud from the storm we passed through on the ride from Portland, we had no idea what sort of wines we’d find among the new releases. Sure, the Pinots and Chards have a serious following in the Willamette Valley, as well as devoted fans around the country—sommeliers, in particular, seem to love them—but we trust our palates more than any reputation, so we went to the source.

From the shockingly affordable Pinot Gris and Riesling all the way to the single-vineyard Pinot Noirs, everything we tasted was a gorgeous testament to Eric Lemelson’s vision back when his first releases stunned the Oregon wine world, but the show-stopper for us was the 2018 Lemelson Vineyards Pinot Noir Rosé, a pitch-perfect summertime sipper and a wine that succeeds where so many other rosés come up short.

We just couldn’t get enough of it: How, we wondered aloud, had the team at Lemelson created a rosé of so much depth, concentration, and character? This 2018 is crafted from fruit grown in three different appellations within the Willamette Valley, and all of the grapes for it were intended for this rosé from the very beginning. In other words, from picking to pressing, everything was done with the specific intention of creating this gorgeous wine.

So that was it: A rosé that was crafted with as much attention and respect as the reds and whites. This was easily the best rosé we had tasted all spring. In all honesty, it was one of the best rosés we had tasted in years. Surely, we grumbled to each other when winemaker Matt Wengel wasn’t looking, it would cost a serious penny: Great vineyards, careful winemaking, one of the most respected producers of Pinot Noir in the state. It all added up to a sure-fire expensive bottle.

But then Wengel explained where he’s coming from. “My dad was always a wine drinker when I grew up, but my first real exposure was in college,” he told us. “The wines that captured me were the $2 bottles. I loved how affordable wine could be on a college budget, and how I could start to learn the differences between the varietals. Once I actually started working in the industry, during my first internship, I got exposure to a great many of Sonoma and Napa’s finest wines.”

That got him thinking: Would he ever be able to bring together affordability and seriousness of purpose in a single standout wine?

The answer is right there in this stellar bottle of whole-cluster-pressed magic. He has succeeded to a degree that he never could have predicted. And all of us are the beneficiaries.

We drove back to Portland later that evening with a heavy trunk, several cases of rosé sliding around the back. “Research,” we called it. But the truth was that we all just wanted to bring some home for ourselves.