Arterberry Maresh & Tan Fruit
Wine Advocate Reviews
2019 Vintage
In December 2021, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate published 647 reviews of Oregon wines, predominantly from the 2019 vintage.
Arterberry Maresh and our new Chardonnay only label, Tan Fruit, received one 99 point score, one 98+ score, six 98 point scores, and two each 97 and 96 point scores.
2019 Arterberry Maresh • Pinot Noir Maresh Vineyard $79
Rating 98
Drink 2022-2037
The 2019 Pinot Noir Maresh Vineyard comes from Pommard and Wadenswil clone vines planted in 1974 and was matured for 23 months in oak. Proprietor Jim Maresh says that, “The 2019s needed that extra polish.” It’s extraordinarily expressive and complex this vintage, with detailed cranberry, raspberry and tangerine aromas and nuances of rose petals and aniseed. The palate has a weightless feel from its bright acidity, silky texture and surprising fruit concentration, finishing very long and pure.
2019 Arterberry Maresh • Pinot Noir Weber Vineyard $79
Rating 98
Drink 2022-2037
Medium ruby, the aromatics of the 2019 Pinot Noir Weber Vineyard are off the charts! Dark fruits are streaked with violet, burnt orange, botanicals and game meats on the nose, and the palate is equally concentrated and layered. It offers waves of dark fruits, an abundance of silty tannins and incredible freshness that causes the flavors to burst with energy and call you in for another sip. This singular, stunning expression is “a freak of nature,” explains proprietor Jim Maresh, who only recently revived the single-vineyard cuvée from the Weber vineyard, 3.5 acres planted in 1983. Maresh says that unforeseen circumstances led to very, very low yields this vintage (less than 0.5 tons per acre), which seems reflected in the intensity of this wine. It should be very long-lived in the cellar.
2019 Arterberry Maresh • Pinot Noir Winemaker’s Reserve
NOT AVAILABLE
Rating 98
Drink 2022-2037
The 2019 Pinot Noir Winemaker’s Reserve comes from the Maresh vineyard and captures that weightless intensity that characterizes the best Pinot Noirs from the Willamette Valley this vintage. It offers concentrated aromas of cranberry, black raspberry, lavender, aniseed and iron. The palate is silky and super fresh, with surprisingly powerful, iron-laced fruit, and it finishes with incredible length and ethereal floral perfume.
2019 Arterberry Maresh • Pinot Noir Old Vines $59
Rating 98
Drink 2022-2037
The 2019 Pinot Noir Old Vines comes from Wadenswil clone vines planted in 1970, and it was matured in barrel for 20 months. Medium garnet, it has a distinct mineral character, with tones of flint and iodine complementing spicy cranberry and blackberry preserves. The palate is silky and layered, with intense, dark red fruit and a very long, flavorful finish. It’s got some inherent power that will allow it to develop well in bottle.
2019 Arterberry Maresh • Chardonnay Maresh Vineyard $69
Rating 96
Drink 2022-2032
The 2019 Chardonnay Maresh Vineyard was matured for 22 months—16 months in one-year-old Damy barrels and six months in stainless steel. It’s deeply scented of roasted almonds, honey and beeswax with perfumed quince fruits and hints of flint and mushroom. Satiny in texture, pure and youthfully tangy, it has tremendous energy and textural presence, and it will continue to develop well in bottle over the next decade.
2019 Arterberry Maresh • Chardonnay Dundee Hills
NOT AVAILABLE
Rating 96
Drink 2022-2032
The 2019 Dundee Hills Chardonnay was matured for 12 months in barrel and six months in stainless steel. It has a pure perfume of white orchard fruits laced with beeswax, almonds and flint. The palate is satiny and energetic from its linear acidity and expansive, gently honeyed layers, and it finishes long and youthfully shimmery. This is an excellent candidate for some extended time in the cellar.
2019 TAN FRUIT • Chardonnay TANK FRUIT $62.50
Rating 99
Drink 2022-2037
The Chardonnay Tank Fruit comes from the same Oak Grove fruit as that vineyard designate, but was aged a bit longer, with 12 months in oak and another 12 months in stainless steel. It is pure, ultra perfumed, intense and layered, with alluring white peaches and lilac interwoven with cashews and honeycomb on the nose. The palate derives incredible energy from the push-pull of those deeper tones with salty, energetic acidity, and it finishes with extraordinary length.
2019 TAN FRUIT • Chardonnay Eyrie Vineyard $62.50
Rating 98+
Drink 2022-2037
Only one Damy barrel of the incredible 2019 Chardonnay Eyrie Vineyard was made, from Draper selection vines planted in 1968. It was matured for 20 months, about 14 in barrel and six in stainless steel. The Eyrie is characterized by singular tones of graphite and mushroom powder. “There’s only one barrel in the cellar that behaves like that,” says Maresh, “and it’s the Eyrie. It’s just something in those vines. I oxidize early and make wine that heavily combats reduction. But even with my process, there is something that still comes through on the Eyrie.” Its aromas continually open and evolve as it spends time in the glass, the palate mirroring with waves of savory, flint-streaked flavor. It finishes with tremendous length. This exceptional, age-worthy Chardonnay should rest in the cellar at least another 3-5 years.
2019 TAN FRUIT • Chardonnay Dux Vineyard $62.50
Rating 98
Drink 2022-2037
The aromas of the 2019 Chardonnay Dux Vineyard are alluring and savory, with ripe peach layers, beeswax, roasted almonds and pastry. The palate has a singular satiny texture and impressive concentration, enlivened by tangy acidity and streaks of graphite and finishing with tremendous length and energy. Wow!
2019 TAN FRUIT • Chardonnay Oak Grove Vineyard $62.50
Rating 98
Drink 2022-2037
The 2019 Chardonnay Oak Grove Vineyard has a unique personality that combines powerful exotic fruit with tangy energy and a shimmery saline quality, derived from a year’s maturation in barrel and then stainless steel. Guava, peaches, lilac and beeswax aromas burst from the glass, and the textural palate, which continues to change and evolve as it spends time in the glass, demands your attention with its rich but precise fruit. This unabashedly hedonistic Chardonnay has the intensity and energy to age well, but that youthful, gregarious fruit is hard to resist!
2019 TAN FRUIT • Chardonnay Maresh Vineyard $62.50
Rating 97
Drink 2022-2037
The 2019 Chardonnay Maresh Vineyard comes from Dijon clones planted in 1991, and it was matured in about 35% new oak. This vintage is pure and tensile, with scents of tarragon and fragrant herbs, beeswax and almonds, with plush white peach fruit. The palate combines intense ripe fruit with a spine of tangy, tense acidity, and it finishes with tremendous length. Allow it another 3-5 years in bottle.
2019 TAN FRUIT • Chardonnay Vojtilla Vineyard $62.50
Rating 97
Drink 2022-2037
Vojtilla is a small, four-acre vineyard in the Chehalem Mountains that sits at around 500 to 600 feet in elevation and, says Jim Maresh, is influenced by the nearby Willamette River. Harvested in October this vintage, the 2019 Chardonnay Vojtilla Vineyard comes from Dijon clone vines planted in 1991, and it was matured in about 25% new Damy barrels. It has a stunning perfume of quince paste and mushrooms, pastry and flowers, and the palate is satiny, plush and pure, with a seamless tangy streak and long, powerful finish.
