#32 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2023
Delicate red in color. The incredibly expressive bouquet offers notes of sandalwood, herbs de Provence, and Red Delicious apples. On the palate, freshly picked red huckleberries provide tart and lasting succulence with a hint of baking spice. The sandy soils of the Chehalem Mountains offer salinity and minerality on the finish that is complemented with dark cherry and rhubarb.
Review:
Supple, richly textured and elegantly complex, this Pinot opens with a burst of fresh raspberry, then unfolds with notes of forest floor and brown baking spices, plus a touch of licorice as it builds tension toward refined tannins.
-Wine Spectator 95 Points
The first impression of this stunning red is of brilliant red raspberry fruit, as pure as a sunbeam. Yet an inky depth plays counterpoint, rumbling beneath, dark and a bit spicy, grounding the fruit with tannins from the silica-based soils of Bergström’s estate vineyard in the Chehalem Mountains. The tension between these two elements is gorgeous, the fruit saturating and full, and yet it has an energy and drive giving the texture a lifted, graceful feel.
-Wine & Spirits 95 Points
The DAOU Cabernet Sauvignon presents a deep ruby-purple color, foreshadowing intense aromas of cherry and blackberry jam complemented by dark chocolate, tobacco leaf and desert sage. The nose also reveals secondary nuances of wet gravel, sandalwood and plum pudding with subtle notes of fennel, black olive and eucalyptus. On the palate, a swirl of black raspberry, pomegranate, cherry preserve and Zante currant melds seamlessly with crushed herbs, fig and cranberry. An impeccably balanced finish flows effortlessly from the juicy mid palate, leaving lovely notes of boysenberry, rhubarb, graphite and dried thyme.
Review:
Clean lines of cherry, toasted wood, red flower and a pinch of thyme make for a satisfying nose on this widely available bottling. The palate pairs familiar blackberry flavors with mocha spice.
-Wine Enthusiast 91 Points