Argyle Brut Extended Tirage 2011

Alcohol: 12.5%

Grape(s): 59% Pinot Noir, 41% Chardonnay

Localization: Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA

Tasting Notes: Translucent gold. Powerful, smoke-tinged orchard and pit fruit aromas, along with a suave floral overtone and a hint of honey. Sappy and penetrating on the palate, offering pliant nectarine, orange and poached pear flavors braced by a spine of juicy acidity. Shows fine definition and a touch of toasty lees on a long, subtly chewy finish that leaves a sexy floral note behind. 

96 Points! Extended Tirage Brut is aged for ten years on the yeast and disgorged on demand to ensure freshness. Argyle’s Tirage Library in Dundee has sparkling wines still aging on the yeast, dating back to our first vintage in 1987. Highlighted by its tense backbone and well-framed acidity, it was an ideal vintage for long-term aging on the lees. The freshness of recent disgorgement buoys creamy and layered textures. Ripe nectarine, white cherry, and honeycomb are layered with the mature complexity of brioche and roast hazelnut, bringing harmony to a graceful and elegant finish. 

The Domain: Twenty-five years ago, Argyle began making wine in Oregon's Willamette Valley. Since 1987, winemaker Rollin Soles and viticulturist Allen Holstein have teamed up to produce world-class method Champenoise sparkling wines, barrel-fermented Chardonnay, and silky-textured Pinor Noir from low-yielding vines that are winery farmed on some of the best hillside slopes and elevations. Argyle wines have received a total of 11 Wine Spectator Top 100 designations - more than any other winery in Oregon. The Argyle wines represented on this list include sparkling wine, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir, truly making Argyle one of the finest practitioners of the craft of elegant, long-lived wine growing.