Argyle, Willamette Valley (Oregon) Pinot Noir Reserve 2004 ($37):  When Argyle Winery was founded two decades ago, it put Oregon on the map for sparkling wines.  Still today, many wine drinkers would say that bubbly wine is precisely what Argyle is about--and understandably, because Arglye Brut (and the winery's limited production sparkling wines available mainly locally) are excellent wines.  But actually the Argyle still wines are every bit as fine as the bubblies, and in fact dominate the winery's production.

About 80% of Argyle's approximate annual total of 45,000 cases is non-sparkling wine, and 75% of that is Pinot Noir.  Argyle winemaker and founder, Rollin Soles, produced the winery's first Pinot Noir in 1992.  In addition to a basic Willamette Valley Pinot Noir bottling, the winery generally makes three special Pinot Noirs: a Reserve, the single-vineyard Spirithouse Pinot Noir ($52), and Nuthouse Pinot Noir ($42), a selection of the ripest, 'blackest' fruit of the year.  Despite the ripeness and richness of the Nuthouse Pinot, Argyle's Pinot Noirs hold to a nuanced and silky style rather than being powerful.  They are seductive rather than commanding.

The Reserve Pinot Noir communicates its delicacy from the first glance.   It is a relatively pale, bright ruby--not saturated with color, as many Pinot Noirs today tend to be.  The fragrance suggests black cherry and a floral note, and is surprisingly concentrated in juxtaposition to the wine's light color.  In the mouth, the wine is sweet and yet savory at the same time, with a loosely-knit, silky texture, a juicy mid-palate and hardly any tannin.  Of course it's full-bodied and high in alcohol, as Pinot Noir generally is, but nothing grips as you drink the wine. It is truly fluid.

Of Argyle's top three Pinot Noirs, this Reserve is the raciest, but the wine is far too soft for that descriptor.  The 2003 Spirithouse Pinot Noir could be described as a more concentrated version of the Reserve, with purer, more focused flavors and more power on the finish.  The 2003 Nuthouse Pinot Noir has more tannin apparent than the other two, and more richness of texture, but is still soft.  These two wines both carry their 15% alcohol so well that I momentarily wondered if that number on the label might be a typo.  I recommend them both highly, but at 3,100 cases production level, the Reserve is easier to find than the Nuthouse or Spirithouse (1810 and 375 cases, respectively).  Arglye Reserve Pinot Noir is a blend of grapes from the Dundee Hills in northern Willamette Valley and the Eola Hills, the southernmost of Willamette's AVA zones.

The 2004 Arglye Reserve Pinot is extremely flexible with food.  It brings freshness to long-cooked foods such as roasts or traditionally-cooked vegetables, for example, and it has enough presence to complement flavorful dishes such as an Indian curry.

90 Points