2022 Ponzi Aurora Pinot Noir

$115.00

2022 Ponzi Aurora Pinot Noir

Name: 2022 Ponzi Aurora Pinot Noir
Brand: Ponzi Vineyards
SKU: 22PN350BCW
Price: 115.00 USD
Availability: InStock

Hedonistic, layered, structured

Dick and Nancy Ponzi's Home Vineyard.

The homesite of Dick and Nancy Ponzi, Pinot Noir from the Aurora Vineyard captures decades of trials and experimentation, dedicated to the advancement of Ponzi Wines and Oregon Viticulture. This East-facing, high-elevation vineyard produces exceptional, terroir driven Pinot Noir that defines a sense of place.

97International Wine Report

Appellation: Chehalem MountainsVineyard: AuroraTA: 5.4 g/LpH: 3.69Volume: 750 mLABV: 14.0

$115.00

Shipping calculated at checkout.

Winemaker Notes

The nose opens like a cedar chest, just unlocked — spiced chocolate cherry, blueberry compote, wet soil beneath, black pepper at the edges, sea foam cutting through with brine where you'd expect only fruit, clove, coffee grounds, and nutmeg settling low and warm. The palate turns from salted caramel and Werther's candy into dried sweet cherry, forest berry, pomegranate, cedar plank holding the frame, soil underneath, dried thyme and rosemary caught in it, clove lingering on the finish like a last ember.

Pairings

Black truffle pasta

Wagyu beef tataki with yuzu ponzu

Salmon with a Pinot reduction

Occasions

A dinner where the wine does the talking

When you're opening a bottle with sommeliers

In the vineyard

The 2022 growing season opened with false promise. A beautiful early spring encouraged bud break across the valley — then a blast of Arctic air sent temperatures below freezing for nearly seven days. An unprecedented late frost event. What emerged weeks later, from the protected secondary and tertiary buds, was quietly remarkable. Summer came on strong, October arrived dry — one of the warmest in Oregon history — and fruit ripened exactly as it should. Paloma is Luisa Ponzi's home vineyard — a southeast-facing site at 880 feet elevation in the Laurelwood District AVA, named for the doves that share the land with the vines. At this elevation, less loess cover means the vines are already in the basalt, producing a wine of uncommon depth and intensity. Harvested October 12, 2022.

IN THE CELLAR

Fermented in small lots with a five-day cold soak to build aroma and color, peaking at 90°F. Punched down twice daily for 14–20 days, followed by a seven-day post-fermentation maceration for structure and length. Aged 20 months in French oak, 50% new. Racked and bottled by gravity, unfiltered and unfined. Five months in bottle before release.