Craig Becraft

9.1

Bold for a Pinot with dark fruit, dark earth, slightly muted with age — 4 months ago

Freddy R. Troya

9.1

Holocene — Aureolin Chardonnay 2024
Eola-Amity Hills AVA, Oregon, USA 🇺🇸

Overview
A mineral-driven, cool-climate Chardonnay sourced from the Eola-Amity Hills AVA, shaped by persistent marine winds and long, slow ripening. The wine balances precision, freshness, and layered texture, delivering a distinctly non-California expression that leans toward tension, clarity, and terroir transparency.

Aromas & Flavors
Fresh citrus peel, green apple, and pear skin lead the nose, followed by subtle white florals, crushed stone, and faint saline notes. On the palate, lemon zest, underripe peach, and chalky minerality dominate, supported by restrained orchard fruit and delicate savory undertones that build quietly with air.

Mouthfeel
Linear, vibrant, and tightly coiled with crisp acidity driving the structure. Texture is fine-grained and energetic rather than creamy or heavy, offering excellent lift and persistence through the finish. The balance between tension and finesse keeps the wine refreshing while maintaining depth.

Food Pairings
Oysters or crudo. Grilled halibut with citrus and herbs. Dungeness crab. Goat cheese salads. Light poultry with lemon and thyme.

Verdict
A beautifully precise Chardonnay that reframes expectations of American expressions. Fresh, mineral, and terroir-driven, this wine delivers clarity, elegance, and compelling drinkability with excellent balance and finesse.

Did You Know?
The Eola-Amity Hills sit directly in the path of the Van Duzer Corridor, where strong afternoon ocean winds naturally slow ripening, extend hang time, and concentrate flavor development. This cooling influence is a major driver behind the region’s signature tension, mineral edge, and vibrant natural acidity.

🍷 Personal Pick
This wine genuinely shifted my perception of Eola-Amity Hills Chardonnay. Not plush or oak-driven, instead focused, energetic, and quietly complex. A bottle that rewards attention and keeps pulling you back for another sip. — 9 months ago

"Odedi"

9.1

Holocene Wines Codex Pinot Noir 2023, Willamette Valley, Oregon

Ruby in color with a wide reddish rim.

Fruity nose of raspberries, cherries, currants, spices, tobacco leaf herbs and black pepper.

Medium bodied with medium acidity.

Dry on the palate with plums, cherries, spices, light wood, tobacco, chocolates and peppercorn.

Long finish with fine grained tannins and tangy raspberries.

This young Pinot Noir from Williamette Valley in Oregon is starting to drink nicely now. Elegant and nicely balanced. Fruity, tangy and interesting.

Needs a few years in the bottle to mature properly, but already enjoyable, even by itself.

A good quality wine that will continue to age nicely in the next 5 to 7 years.

Complex, and good by itself or with food.

100% Pinot Noir grapes were aged for 19 months in (20% new) French oak barrels. A small production of less than 3,500 bottles.

13.3% alcohol by volume.

91 points.

$50. — 9 months ago

romo

9.1

Enjoying these new chards from @Todd Alexander almost as much as the Pinots. — 2 years ago

Justin Cykler

9.4

Todd Alexander (of Napa lore and current winemaker at Force Majeure) has built a beautiful first vintage of Holocene Oregon Pinot - a winner!! — 10 years ago

Freddy R. Troya

9.2

The Black Square — Cabernet Sauvignon 2022, The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater, Oregon, USA 🇺🇸

Overview
100% Cabernet Sauvignon from this basalt-strewn, high-desert terroir shows a distinctly savory expression, structured, mineral-driven, and aromatic. Less plush Napa, more earth and place. A refined, terroir-forward Cab with tension and character.

Aromas & Flavors
Black Forest cake, ripe dark cherry, cassis, crushed rock, dried herbs, sagebrush, violet, subtle graphite.

Mouthfeel
Medium+ body, firm yet polished tannins, dry, lifted acidity, savory and linear rather than plush. Elegant grip with excellent balance.

Food Pairings
Grilled lamb chops, rosemary steak, mushroom ragù, duck breast, aged Manchego.

Verdict
A Cabernet that speaks landscape more than oak. Complex, herbaceous, and harmonious, cerebral and refined rather than showy. Terroir lovers’ Cab.

🍷 Did You Know?
The Rocks District is famous for its cobblestone soils (ancient river stones), which often give wines a distinctive savory, herbal, and stony character rarely found in classic California Cabernet. — 9 months ago

Courtney Bo

9.7

Thanksgiving 2025 — a year ago

with Cheryl