Also recommended, but no tasting note given. An iconic Willamette estate, Myron Redford’s Amity – about which I wrote a bit more in issue 202 – bottles Pinot Noir after ten months (in “normal” vintages, hence almost inevitably with less barrel-time from 2011) but release slowly. Tel. (503) 835-2362

The 2009 Pinot Noir Amity Estate Single Vineyard comes from a source planted between 1970 and 1974. Hints of herbs, cedar, spice box, black cherry, and black raspberry lead to a savory, balanced, more structured wine than is typical of the vintage. Give it 1-2 years of cellaring and drink it through 2021. Tel. (503) 835-2362; www.amityvineyards.com

Fresh strawberry and red raspberry dusted with brown spices on the nose of Amity’s basic Willamette Valley bottling of 2009 Pinot Noir anticipate a sweetly-ripe, spicy palate, whose black-tea like tannins however rob the palate of textural polish and the finish of sheer fruit juiciness. That said, this offers up-front appeal and should be a satisfying table companion over the at least the next couple of years. Amity is the pioneering and now 36 year long project of Myron Redford, for whom Darcy Pendergrass has been winemaker since 2008 after having worked her way up from a job in the winery’s tasting room. I tasted only three wines from them this year, all good if not especially distinguished. Tel. (503) 835-2362

My favorite of the Amity offerings is the 2008 Pinot Noir Amity Estate Single Vineyard which was aged for 10 months in 17% new oak. It sports a sexy perfume of exotic spices, incense, underbrush, and red fruits that jumps from the glass. With excellent density and richness, this impeccably balanced Pinot will evolve for several years and deliver a drinking window extending from 2013 to 2023. www.amityvineyards.com