Domaine Drouhin Oregon Cuvée Laurène Pinot Noir 2019
The Domaine Drouhin Oregon Cuvée Laurène Pinot Noir is named after Véronique Drouhin’s elder daughter, Laurène and is the estate's flagship wine, produced entirely from Pinot Noir grown on the family’s estate in the Dundee Hills. All of the fruit is handpicked into small totes, de-stemmed, fermented with indigenous yeasts, and then placed into barrels (French oak, never more than 20% new). Once the vintage is safely in the cellar, Véronique begins the process of selecting barrels which have an extra complexity, length and depth - barrels which will work together as Laurène. Laurène displays a rich and lively nose, filled with aromas of pretty red fruit, baking spices, orange peel and velvety flower petals. Round on the palate with rustic tannins, flavours of red currant and deep cherry evolve after time. The long and supple finish is spicy and long. Generous in its youth, the cuvée Laurène will mature with elegance and depth. In recent years, Laurène has been named one of the “Great Wines of America” by Paul Lukacs in his book of the same name and “perennially one of Oregon’s best wines” by Portland Monthly Magazine. Writer Matt Kramer presented Laurène in his Wine Spectator seminar, “21st Century Pinot Noir Greatness.”