3/3/17 AYRES PINOT NOIR FRIDAY SIPS


FRIDAY SIPS
Ayres Pinot Noirs with Special Guest owner/winemaker Brad McLeroy
Today, March 3 from 1:30 - 6:30
(The wines will be ready to pour at 1:30, Brad will arrive at 3:30)
Postponed from an ice storm a month ago, we are pleased to welcome Ayres owner/winemaker Brad McLeroy back to The Cellar Door to pour and discuss a lineup of his Pinots including an older version.
Located in the Ribbon Ridge, Ayres is one of our top-notch producers that not only produce stunning wines but really reflect value as well.


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2015 AYRES PINOT NOIR
WILLAMETTE VALLEY
$19.99 BTL./$239.88 CASE

When it comes to 20-dollar Pinot Noirs, Ayres, like Cameron, Evesham Wood & J. Christopher, is a pinnacle producer who really over-delivers. Brad McLeroy's Pinot Noirs have been Cellar Door mainstays for over 10 years now and we are doing backflips over the quality of his 2015 Willamette Valley.

Blended from the estate's Ribbon Ridge vineyard and augmented with some purchased Yamhill-Carlton, it commences with an ambrosial, extensive nose that comes in waves. As the wine is swirled in the glass, sensuous violet tones, black fruits, herbs and transparent red earth tones reveal themselves nicely. With respect to the texture, the wine is somewhat like an Italian plum, exploding with ripe dark fruit and then gaining structure and grip on the brilliantly focused and extending finish. Instantly one can figure out that Brad was quite successful for 2015. Very drinkable now, but no problem for this wine to age 4-6 years, too. Kudos to Brad McLeroy for making yet another kickass Pinot Noir and resisting the temptation to increase his prices.



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2015 AYRES PINOT NOIR
PERSPECTIVE
$26.99 BTL./$323.88 CASE

The Perspective Cuvee is Brad’s love letter to the tiny Ribbon Ridge appellation. Blended from four different Ribbon Ridge vineyards including some Ayres Estate fruit, this wine reveals all of the specifications that one looks for within this particular Oregon growing region.

One of the most purely delicious 2015s that we have tasted, this is serious and supple Oregon pinot noir that does not rely on a bunch of new oak flavorings. Waves of cherry blossom, lavender, black plum and fresh-turned earth/spice billow from the glass and fill your senses; the structure is refined, rich yet maintaining elegance with a drawn-out, warm finish. Enjoy over the next 7-10 years.



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2015 AYRES PINOT NOIR
LEWIS RODGERS LANE
$31.99 BTL./$383.88 CASE

Brad's estate vineyard site, named after the adjacent Lewis Rodgers Lane is one of the finest in the entire Ribbon Ridge appellation. Here we not only have the expression of Ribbon Ridge but most importantly, we have a wine that is very definitive of its single vineyard origin.

The 2015 is deep and dark. Generous aromas of juicy black cherry and raspberry, minerality, cinnamon-graham and violet elevate and seduce immediately. The feeling in the mouth is round and coating with rich flavors of ripe berry filling the mouth and minerals in the background. There is an elegant restraint about this pinot noir that nicely balances the deep core of fruit and fine-grained tannins along with a long, elegant finish that is filled with spice and depth. Excellent potential for aging a decade and beyond.



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2011 AYRES PINOT NOIR
LEWIS RODGERS LANE
$34.99 BTL./$419.88 CASE

This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no fooling around. Within the Ayres line-up, Bryan can definitively state a favorite and since he is doing so, a line from an all-time great song, Talking Heads "Life During Wartime" has to be included.

With my slanted Burgundy palate, when I tasted the 2011 it was one that certainly got me up off the chair. Possessing plenty of substance and starting to really reveal its inner beauty after 6 years, the 2011 shows 100% of Pinot Noir's sultry side on both the nose and the palate. Resounding floral aspects abound - roses play with lavender and mingle with red fruits, underlying red earth and smoke. The texture is lacy, finesseful and smoothly mouth crawling from start to finish. Long and engaging, even more starts to come out as the wine unfolds in the glass. A wow wine with fantastic follow-through. Like The Talking Heads, this has the makings of being a timeless classic!