2023 Ponzi Vineyards Pinot Noir Tavola Willamette Valley 750 ml

Ponzi’s Tavola bottling is a standard bearer every vintage—and especially in great years like 2023.

Admittedly, Ponzi has a giant leg up on their competition. They put their first vines in the ground in the 1970s, and have thrived since then—with regular appearances on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 list. They don’t have to pay off massive debt financing and they don’t need inflated pricing “to establish their luxury credentials.”

Robert Parker called Ponzi “a reference point for American Pinot Noir” and they craft the Tavola bottling specifically for fine restaurants to pour by the glass. That means it has to deliver exceptional quality—and the ‘23 is one of the best editions we’ve tasted.

Ponzi is the story of the dedication of Willamette Valley pioneers Dick and Nancy Ponzi, who relocated from California to Oregon in the late 1960s to make wine. 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. The label is so renowned that, in 2021, Bollinger chose them as their first winery to acquire outside 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. An apprenticeship in Beaune with Christophe Roumier at the legendary Domaine Georges Roumier had helped hone her craft, and taught her valuable lessons that she implemented when she returned home.

Tavola is Ponzi’s calling card in restaurants all over America. Half of the blend comes from Ponzi’s LIVE Certified Sustainable estate vineyards, along with top-tier sites across the Willamette Valley. In the cellar, Ponzi spares no expense: The winery is entirely gravity flow from grapes to bottling, and they sort meticulously, using native yeast for fermentation. The wine ages in 25% new French oak for polish, which is a rarity at this price-point.

This is Oregon Pinot Noir at its softest and most approachable, a benchmark from one of America’s premier Pinot-growing areas and a first family of Willamette winemaking.