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SAVORY SIPS: ALEXANA

Tracy Onufer headshot

Tracy Onufer 

Apr 28 2023
Alexana

Date of Visit:
Aug 20 2022

Address:
12001 NE Worden Hill Rd, Newberg, OR 97132

AVA:
Dundee Hills

Website:

www.alexanawinery.com

THE PLACE

Dr. Madaiah Revana, a practicing cardiologist for almost 50 years, established Alexana Winery in the Dundee Hills AVA in 2005.  He partnered with Lynn Penner-Ash to produce Alexana’s first seven vintages at her Penner-Ash Wine Cellars, along with expanding Revana Vineyard’s planted acreage on the 80-acre estate.  Alexana’s Gold LEED–certified tasting room opened in 2011, followed by their 3-story gravity-flow winery in 2012.  Alexana expanded in 2019 with a 7,500-foot addition to their tasting room and the purchase of an adjacent 64-acre property, named Kinney Ranch Vineyard.  Pinot Noir dominates both the Revana and Kinney Ranch Vineyards, along with small amounts of Chardonnay and Pinot Gris.  Alexana Winery’s Revana Vineyard Dundee Hills Estate Pinot Noir has appeared in Wine Spectator’s Top 100 of the Year list twice, in 2021 (2018 vintage, #14) and 2013 (2010 vintage, #17).  This feat is even more impressive considering that Alexana is still a teenager at a mere 17 years old.  

Alexana
Alexana
Alexana
Alexana

THE BRAND

Alexana utilizes a natural approach to winemaking to let the vines tell their own story each year.  Grapes are hand harvested and triple sorted to ensure only the best and ripest fruit is used.  The winemaking process includes small lot fermentations with native yeasts in Alexana’s gravity-flow winery facility.  The Revana Vineyard is LIVE certified, employs sustainable farming methods, and is farmed by hand.    

THE EXPERIENCE

Alexana offers a Featured Tasting Flight with a Chardonnay followed by four Pinot Noirs for $40 per person. The tasting fee is waived with $150 purchase per person.  Reservations are required and the experience includes a personalized tasting and information guide.  A charcuterie pairing is available for an additional $25 and can be ordered when making a reservation.   

THE WINE

  • 2021 Rosé of Pinot Noir ($36): The Rosé is a new release and was offered complimentary upon arrival at the tasting room.  The nose includes strawberry, raspberry, peach and light rose aromas.  The primary flavors are strawberry and raspberry, and the wine is dry with medium acidity, a light body, and a medium-minus finish.  
  • 2016 Signature Chardonnay ($55): The Signature moniker indicates the best expressions of the wine from each vintage.  The winemakers blind taste each barrel and select the best barrels to craft this wine.  For the 2016 Chardonnay, tropical aromas prevail, including banana, pineapple and mango, along with bread.  The wine has medium-plus acidity and body, a medium finish, with mellow mango flavors. 
  • 2020 Revana Vineyard Dundee Hills Estate Pinot Noir ($60): The Revana Vineyard Estate Pinot Noir represents a seamless blend of the vineyard’s primary blocks – East, West, and Landslide.  Each block is fermented separately and aged for 11 months in French Oak barrels.  The winemaker selects individual barrels from each block to craft the overall Revana Vineyard Estate Pinot Noir.  The 2020 is still quite young and will benefit from a few years of aging.  The nose includes cranberry, strawberry, light rose and light cherry aromas.  The palate features strawberry, cherry and herbaceous flavors, with high acidity, light tannins, a light body and a medium finish. 
  • 2019 East Blocks Pinot Noir ($75) and 2019 West Blocks Pinot Noir ($75): The East Blocks and West Blocks Pinot Noirs are poured together for side-by-side tasting.  The West Blocks contain sedimentary soils and receive full sun, resulting in smaller cluster berries, riper fruit and grippier tannins.  The East Blocks are more shaded and are primarily volcanic soils.  I fully admit that my palate isn’t refined enough to detect the nuances between the two wines!  Both feature aromas of red cherry, strawberry, raspberry, and pepper.  Both have high acidity and a medium finish.  But for my palate, the East Blocks was more fruit forward and seemed riper, which is opposite of what I expected.  I felt that the West Blocks tasted “younger,” even though both wines are the same vintage.  But the side-by-side tasting a fun exercise to test your olfactory and gustatory senses and see what differences you can detect. 
  • 2013 Signature Pinot Noir ($85): The Signature Pinot Noir is crafted in the same way as the Signature Chardonnay in that the barrels are blind tasted and the best barrels are blended together.  The 2013 has aged nicely in bottle, with aromas of red cherry, fig, prune, and pepper.  The wine has high acidity that is balanced by soft tannins, and features a developed cherry pie flavor, along with vanilla and anise. 

Best bottle for your next dinner party:  2021 Rosé of Pinot Noir 

Best bottle to add to your wine cellar: Revana Vineyard Estate Pinot Noir (2018 if available) 

THE HIGHLIGHT

Doing a vertical tasting of the 2020 Revana Vineyard Estate Pinot Noir with the 2010 vintage, the latter which earned Wine Spectator’s #17 wine in 2013.

THE TAKEAWAY 

With a lineage that includes winemaker Lynn Penner-Ash and two Top 100 Wine Spectator wines, along with beautiful views from their tasting room, Alexana should not be missed.

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