Vanessa

9.2

The story of Domaine Serene harks back to Minnesota, where Grace met the late Ken Evenstad, and the couple’s partnership in life and business first began. 💕@domaineserene

With a faith in the terroir of Willamette Valley, Oregon, this pioneering couple purchased land in the Dundee Hills AVA, establishing Domaine Serene in 1989, crafting their first vintage in 1990.🇺🇸🍇

Since then, Domaine Serene has grown, expanded, and rightfully garnered critical acclaim for producing some of the finest expressions of Pinot Noir from this region. 👏👏👏👏👏 Due to their thoughtful dry-farming and sustainable practices in the vineyard, meticulous micro-cru vinification processes, pursuit of blending, judicious use of oak, and aging prior to release, a consumer may come to expect a unique, consistent experience with a glass of this beautiful wine.🍷 In our experience, it never disappoints as a special wine to be shared during the holidays or celebratory moments. 🎉

Here is the Domaine Serene, Evenstad Reserve, Willamette Valley, Vintage 2017, ABV 14.4%. It has a strong structure, and balance, backed by high acidity, medium tannins, high alcohol, and vibrant fruit aromas such as cherry, kirsch, and blackberry. It also offers complexity in aromas and flavors with not only red / black fruit, but also violet, licorice, clove, vanilla, cola, saddle leather, nutmeg, and forest floor notes. The finish lingers.👌👌👌👌

In 2015, the Evenstads made their dream a reality by purchasing Château de la Crée in Santenay, Burgundy, France, an estate that dates back to the 15th Century. 🇫🇷 Their story is inspiring and their wines are delicious. We hope to someday visit their estates in Willamette and Santenay.

Until then we will continue to enjoy their wines and remember their story, pioneering spirit, partnership, and pursuit of excellence in their craft. Cheers! ✨✨✨ — 3 years ago

with Deked1

Josh Whitlam

9.9

Wines like this reinstate my faith in buying wines above the £20 mark. I really hope Frappato gains more of a following in the years ahead as its higher acid, lower tannin structure makes it a fine pairing for good cuisine as well as not being too OTT by the glass. The dominant flavour for me was homemade blackcurrant jam. Yum! The only reason I've put this wine slightly short of perfect is it's higher alcohol can show through and if you're not quite in that frame of mind, it could put one off slightly. Otherwise, bloody amazing; I wish I had a roomful of it to drink and that I didn't have to go to Sicily to buy it! — 11 years ago

Erik Walck

9.4

So good. Great dessert wine. Smooth. Chocolate. Goodness. — 4 years ago

Garald W Deakins

9.0

Gift from Dave. Very smooth. — 8 years ago

Bobby Gilbane

9.5

Hot damn. Just glorious. Everything one could hope for after an enormously shitty week. This has restored my faith in mankind. — 8 years ago

Scott Cowan

8.9

Cherry jam nose. The heat wafts up with the vanilla scented jam too, and remains in nice, not over-powering, ways through first sip - mid-palate - finish such that I think the stated 14.1% alcohol under-states the actual case. I’m drinking this 2017 vintage Feb 12-13 2019 and it tastes good now with promise of tasting very good, with some potential complexity in a few years. Just now, this wine packs a punch well above it’s weight class: $18 at Berkeley Bowl. It’s far below the quality of top Paso cabs but it’s far below their sticker prices too... so, hey, why not enjoy this as a more than serviceable table wine for hearty and even some spicy fare now, cellar several bottles to taste 1-5(+ ?) later as a cheap investment that could pay off huge? One can always pull out the Justin Isosceles Reserve and Tablas Creek bad boys for special Paso-wine occasions. I do miss a longer finish ... but tiny hints of licorice, shiitake+hedgehog and maybe also portobello mushrooms, and slightly larger suggestions of smoke plus some leather lead me to believe The Fableist is working on some delicious stories to tell in coming years — and will then, perhaps, linger longer on the finish. Yeah, I do think the yummy plummy jam will give way to more flavors in time — and if this hunch/hope/faith proves true, Ill increase the rating a fair amount over 9.0 for some tip-top QPR. — 6 years ago

Garald W Deakins

9.2

2009, FHC, Syrah. Notes of plum, black licorice in both aroma and flavor. Dark and inky. A Daves favorite. — 9 years ago

Vinny Eng

9.6

Leap of faith @forlornhopewine. — 11 years ago