The 2009 Pinot Noir Justice Vineyard sports an enticing perfume of Asian spices, incense, rose petal, and red fruits. It conceals a bit of underlying structure that will allow it to evolve for 1-2 years and drink well through 2019+. Bethel Heights Vineyard is moving toward using 100% estate fruit for its wines. They produce a substantial amount of solid quality white wine and around 10,000 cases of Pinot Noir with the Willamette Valley and Estate bottlings accounting for roughly 80% of that total. And if the truth be told, and to the credit of Bethel Heights, the quality of these entry level cuvees is very close to the Vineyard and Block-designated wines at a fraction of the price.Tel. (503) 581-2262; www.bethelheights.com

At 13.8% alcohol (hardly immoderate for its vintage, but still a striking contrast at least on paper to the corresponding 2010), Bethel Heights’ 2009 Pinot Noir Justice Vineyard features dried cranberry and cherry in a satisfyingly sweet and lingering performance that however lacks the multi-dimensionality, clarity, or vivacity of the corresponding 2010. I’d plan to drink this over the next 2-3 years. Ben Casteel returned home in 2005 from a stage in Burgundy and a five year stint at Rex Hill to work a crush alongside his father and founding winemaker Terry; after which, he took over that job. Cousin Mimi Casteel – whose background is horticulture and forest ecology – acts as both general manager and viticulturalist. This site northwest of Salem, whose oldest block dates to the Casteels’ original 1977 and 1979 plantings, is known for consistently delivering fine Pinots, although the Casteels also source somewhat beyond its bounds and are serious about white grapes – theirs and those of neighbors – as well, even if with mixed success. The team here is beginning to favor a certain percentage of whole clusters and stems in Pinot depending on vintage, though fermentation is usually still induced by inoculation. Tel. (503) 581-2262