50+ wines reviewed below and in the database, including the latest from Cloudlift, Dahlman, Januik, La Biblioteca, Lange, Lightning Rock, Long Shadows, LucidWild, Nine Hats, North Valley, Novelty Hill, Orr, Pomum, Samā, Walla Walla Vintners, and WeatherEye.

Willamette Valley’s 2023 vintage produced some thrilling Pinot Noirs. Compared to the nail-biting 2022 season, which was marked by an April freeze, 2023 was a relatively stress-free growing season in the valley. (Read a full harvest report here.)

When I talked with Lange Estate winemaker and winegrower Jesse Lange following the 2023 harvest, he was positively giddy about the young wines that he had in barrel. “The wines are the most precocious I have ever seen in our 34 years of making wine here in the Willamette Valley,” Lange said at the time. “We’ve never seen wines this good, this early.”

Now, it’s fully two years later, and these wines are being released. Lange continues to be effusive about them.

“I think they’re some of the best wines I’ve ever put together, top to bottom,” Lange says. “I thought the vintage provided a lot of opulence. We picked everything in 10 days in 2023, so very compressed. But I thought the wines, we caught them at the right time.”

Indeed, the best 2023 wines provide the compelling mixture of intensity and grace that the Willamette Valley can offer. In addition to the Lange wines, the stunning Pinot Noirs from LucidWild reviewed below show these same characteristics.

While it was clearly there for the taking in Willamette Valley in 2023, the overall success of the wines very much depended on picking decisions. The trick was capturing the ripeness that the vintage provided while still retaining freshness. Many of the wines reviewed below did so beautifully.

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