#38 on Wine Spectators Top 100 of 2011 - WS 93pts - Winemaker Notes - The 2009 REX HILL Willamette Valley Pinot Noir is a classic example of Oregon Pinot Noir from a vintage that gave us intense fruit and intense flavors. Initial perfumed aromatics redolent of violets and roses, black currants, blueberries, black raspberries and wild strawberries are joined by suggestions of tobacco leaf, clean earth, dried fruit, smoke and spice as the wine opens. Some whole-cluster fermentation contributes dark fruit, tea and savory aromatic characteristics. The attack is rich with beautifully ripe tannins and flavors of red fruits and the blue fruits which are a hallmark of the vintage. The lithe mid-palate finds additional complexity with a strong, lingering finish that includes minerality, graphite and spices. This wine has the intensity, structure and concentration to age and become more complex over the next 15 to 20 years. rated 90+