Et Fille 2005 Pinot noirs

Et Fille- it's all about Howard and Jessica, who have a knack for Pinot noir.

Their distinct style -- lavish, perfumed, complex, juicy sweet fruit and berry flavors, long finish with hints of exotic spice, incense, vanilla, and smoke and lots of uplifting acidity and seamless, balanced tannins.

A steal of a Pinot -- for the first time, Howard and Jessica have produced a "Willamette Valley" Pinot noir, a blend of the barrels of their single vineyard wines that didn't quite fit the flavor profile. This is a blend of juice from Maresh, Elton, Kalita, and Palmer Creek Vineyards - fine vineyards, if not quite as well known nationally as some.
The price is amazing- $22 a bottle for a wine we'd compare to MANY $30+ Oregon Pinots.

Sophisticated Collectible Unique -- luxuriant single vineyard Pinots from Kalita and Palmer Creek vineyards. Lingering in the mouth and in my memory, memorable Pinot noirs. Very reasonably priced, layered and complex, luscious and mouthwatering. Less than 100 cases of each made.

A Winery You Want to Know -- Avalon has a track record for finding the next generation of highly rated, hard to get Oregon Pinots, and bringing them to you, our customers. Well, here's a future star if we ever tasted one. And you know the rest of the story -- less than 100 cases of each made, we have a nice allocation but the wines will go fast, grab now or they'll be gone, etc, etc.

The Wines

Et Fille "Willamette Valley" Pinot noir 05 $21.95/$19.75
A Steal of a deal
Sweet, black cherry and lush red raspberry flavors and scents predominate, with big toasty vanilla in the nose, It's a crowd pleasing lush, dense, viscous slurper, wonderfully balanced. There's a hint of red licorice and vanilla toast on the finish. "Juicy" is the descriptor that keeps coming to mind. A personal favorite, and I highly recommend it. -jean

Et Fille Palmer Creek Pinot noir 05 $31.95/$28.75
Highly recommended
Dark in color, with a perfumed nose of sandalwood, raspberry, anise, black cherry, and raspberry. The texture is viscous in the mouth, with a satiny mouth feel. Blackbery, black cherry, multiple cherry variety flavors, and cassis prevail, with undercurrents of licorice and spice. The finish is expansive, and filled with layers of fruit. There's pie cherry, Mt Rainier cherry, Bing cherry, and a hint of bittersweet chocolate, lingering pleasantly in the mouth. -jean

Et Fille Kalita Vineyards Pinot noir 05 $31.95/$28.75
Highly Recommended
Delicately nuanced scents of perfumed cherry, violets, cola, and raspberry in the nose. Flavors are just huge- juicy black cherry, plum, blackberry, and black currant, with hints of white pepper and spice in the long finish. The finish shows how beautifully integrated this wine is, even young. There's a subtle streak of acidity that calls for successful cellaring, and says this wine will pair superbly with fine foods.

Howard says this wine is different in its flavors from his other wines, with darker fruit flavors, softer acids, a bit of cola in the nose and flavor, and a slightly less perfumed quality. He attributes a lot of the differences to the soils in the vineyard. Last year the wine was a bruiser. This vintage, it's a bit less massive, allowing the distinctive flavors of Kalita to show through clearly. -jean

More About the Et Fille Wines

Howard thinks I gush too much about his wines -- maybe so. I was impressed the first time I tasted the wines, and continue to find a distinct style, a completeness, an unputdownableness (yes it's a word) usually found in wines from winemakers with many more years of experience and who own their own vineyards.

Howard started making wine as an amateur, using the Sineann facility of friend Peter Rosback. Peter encouraged Howard to move from amateur to professional.

Maybe coming to winemaking later (Howard is "mature", like me (I'm 53)) gave Howard a wider worldview, a greater experience of wines from around the world. Maybe he just has a knack. Maybe his years as a successful businessman gave him the ability to manage a project and pull off a task as complex as creating a wine from beginning to end with extraordinary success.

Whatever the reason for the excellence of the Et Fille wines, give them a try! At these prices, you'll be grabbing some of the nicest Pinots in Oregon at prices a good $20+ below the norm.

-jean

Covet Cases are Here

What makes an unforgettable wine gift? Wines that gift recipients go nuts over receiving. We've created a small number of cases of Oregon and Washington wines that we squirreled away in the cellar for special customers and occasions. Cayuse, Woodward, Shea, Bergstrom, Betz, Francis Tannahill, Beaux Freres, Owen Roe, Spring Valley - just some of the wineries included..

Check out the Covet Cases. Watch the Gift Wines page for more Covet cases as we continue to search the cellar for gems.

Memorable Wine gifts, $99 and Up -- are made when the wines are hard to get, rising stars or limited editions. We're offering a few pre-made wine gifts featuring out of the ordinary Northwest quaffers. We'll be advertising them in a week or so, but you get first dibs. Check out the "Tour of Oregon" for a nice under $100 wine gift. Or the Owen Roe case, for a really special gift for the big reds lover.

Design your own wine gifts? Sure- give us a call and we'll put together some special selections, from one bottle to cases of "the good stuff".