Ayoub Estate Pinot Noir 2022

2021 vintage notes

Over the last two decades, Ayoub's Estate Pinot noir has become a consistently must-have Willamette Valley Pinot noir. We prize it for its silky, slowly unfurling complexities; those who cellar it know that it ages magnificently.

In 2021, the Estate opens perfumed and seductive with wild strawberry, plump summer cherry, orange blossom, nutmeg, and brown sugar. Satiny and deliciously giving in its pie cherry and deep raspberry flavors, complex and beguiling as it fans out with air, showing more and more of the silky sophistication we've come to expect and love from Ayoub's Estate. A joy to open now and savor over several days, I suggest doing that with your first bottle and cellaring the rest for a handful of years or more. -Marcus

93 points Wine Spectator: "Vibrant and expressive, with lovely rose petal and raspberry aromas that open to sleekly layered guava, orange-tinged tea and spice flavors that glide on the finish toward polished tannins. Drink now through 2030. 350 cases made."

2019 vintage notes

A showcase in silkiness. Ayoub's Estate is always about silky texture and in 2019 it is married with a succulent delicacy, a thoughtful complexity. The aromas are already lovely and enveloping, from red fruit to floral and spice. It is graceful and even a little shy at first; I can attest after having it open for 10 days, it is going to last a long time in your cellar and deliver incredible drinking pleasure for well over a decade. - Marcus

2017 vintage notes

One of the most exquisite Pinot noirs in the entire Willamette Valley, Ayoub's Estate defies conventional descriptors. Even more about feel than flavor, it's a silky, sensual wine wine that's an absolute must-have for Oregon Pinot lovers.

Mo's Estate Pinot always comes back to one word: silk. It's the texture and the way the wine moves. Since I don't have to stick to one word, I can say that the 2017 Estate is aromatically gorgeous, too, boasting red fruits and nutmeg cream. The elegant, understated power surges effortlessly, creating a sense of completeness.

Having tasted each and every vintage of Ayoub Pinot noir, I am fully confident in agreeing with Mo that this is one of his best Estate Pinots ever and will be an exceptionally long-lived wine. I recommend letting the '17 rest for a few months before trying it and drinking it over the next fifteen years. - Marcus

2016 vintage notes

When you ask us to describe Ayoub's Estate Pinot in one word, it is an easy choice: silk. It's the texture and the way the wine moves. Opening with a beautiful perfume of fresh red and black fruits, it blossoms from first sip, enveloping you in silky red-fruited bliss before moving effortlessly deeper, an incoming tide carrying with it sweet orange and nutmeg. Understated power swells through the finish, creating a sense of completeness. - Marcus  

2015 vintage notes

94 points Wine Spectator: "Expressive and beautifully focused, with refined cherry and loamy mineral aromas and elegantly layered raspberry and tea flavors that persist through polished tannins. Drink now through 2024."

Can one single wine prove that 2015 is a stronger vintage than 2014? When it is as exquisite as Mo Ayoub's 2015 Estate Pinot noir, the answer is "yes."

As great as any past vintage of Ayoub, the 2015 is the pinnacle of what Mo has worked painstakingly to achieve. It is silk in a bottle. It is a culmination of the greatness of prior vintages, with a cherry on top.

2012 vintage notes

Black cherry with a violet lift rides alongside nutmeg and loam on the nose. Velvety silkiness is what defines the Estate, dishing layers of red and black fruits with accents ranging from spiced cherry pie to Oregon black truffle to dark cocoa to orange. The only downside is the quantity. Wait for the score and it will be gone. Wait for a day and it will be gone. There are only a literal handful of cases available. Mo says "sex in a bottle" and everything else he said I can't print.
2010 vintage notes

The Ayoub Dundee Hills Estate Pinot noir 2010 has Mo positively ecstatic and with good reason. It's powerful and elegant, the strongest Ayoub Estate yet, the 11 year-old vines starting to express themselves. Black cherry, orange blossom, and white pepper aromas lead into a rich palate of concentrated raspberry and bright pomegranate, before the finish captivates you with shavings of caramel and mint, and tremendous, creamy purity. Only 192 cases made.

The 2010 bucks the vintage again. A very late harvest and heavy damage from birds didn't stop Mo. The 2010 is round and full flavored. A velvet wine with an intense scent. A layered and beautifully balanced wine.

Wine Spectator - 93 points - Light, taut and appealing for its currant and distinctly floral flavors, remaining lively, stylish and focused through the finish. Gets better with each sip. Drink now through 2018. - H.S.

2009 vintage notes

Ayoub's Estate Pinot noir...the elegant...the classy... is quintessential Dundee Hills: refined, silky, seamless. Open up the 2009, try it over several hours, and it's like a jazz quartet trading fours -- pretty red fruit on tenor sax, the melange of spices, orange essence, and maple on piano, structure on bass, and minerality on drums. All have their flourishes, their moments of brilliance, that build in intensity and take you back to the top. While this fantastic Pinot noir is starting to show well now, its complexity is better suited to drinking on day two or three, or cellaring for a few years.

While this fantastic Pinot noir is starting to show well now, its complexity is better suited to drinking on day two or three, or cellaring for a few years. - Marcus

The Ayoub vineyard is located in the heart of the Dundee Hills on red clay volcanic soil that is ideal for producing the finest Oregon Pinot noirs. This particular vintage has aromas of red fruits, dried orange peel, cardamom and sweet oak spice. Only 425 cases were made so buy enough to cellar as this wine is expected to age well for more than fifteen years.

Rex Pickett, author of SIDEWAYS, spoke highly of Ayoub in an article he wrote for TRAVEL + LEISURE magazine in March of 2009. "Ayoub's wines are bold, rustic and some of the finest expressions of the Pinot noir grape I've ever tasted."

Wine Spectator 93 points: Silky, subtle and expressive, offering a lovely, transparent mouthful of cherry, blackberry and cinnamon flavors that remain aloft and lively through the long finish against well-buffed tannins. Drink now through 2019. - H.S.

2008 vintage notes

Deliciously aromatic. Spiced strawberries and pie cherries, cedar, and a creaminess that flows through the wine from start to finish. The silky red fruits gain weight in the glass and pick up a dark currant bottom note and subtle dried thyme. Perfectly ripe, with sweet fruit finding its match in fresh acidity. This is such a pretty wine - the finish reminds us of a strawberry tart with a dollop of fresh cream. Make room in your cellar, as this is sure to be a hit of Oregon's amazing 2008 vintage. - Marcus

Wine Spectator 93 points: "Silky, polished and beautifully focused to let its orange peel, tea-tinged berry and red currant flavors sail through the long, expressive finish. Stylish and immediately appealing, but there are layers of extra nuances to come out. Drink now through 2018." - HS

Wine Spectator on Ayoub: "Ayoub is everything those of us want if we prize small, hands-on winegrowers who focus on one special place. The 2008, about to be released, is a marvel of complex red fruits, earthy undertones and mascarpone notes on a silky, seductive frame." - Harvey Steiman, Wine Spectator 4-23-10

2007 vintage notes

A huge mid palate of concentrated flavor - on the darker side compared to many of 2007 Pinots. Loads of blueberry, oak spice, hints of vanilla cream and black currant, finishing with scrumptious black cherry and brown sugar. When first opened, the acidity is prominent, but it softens nicely with time in a decanter. Like many of the high-end 2007 Pinots, this will enjoy a long life in your cellar, and pairs well with food in the near term.

Mo Ayoub's vineyard is in a great neighborhood. With a four-acre parcel tucked into the prime Pinot land of the Dundee Hills, Mo is a stone's throw from Maresh, Rambouillet (Dusky Goose), Winderlea, and many other outstanding vineyards. 2007 is the final vintage of Ayoub made by Josh Bergstrom.