Argyle’s new Art of the Blend series is stunning. The wines are sold as a trio, with each bottle featuring an artist chosen from a juried competition. From the winery’s website:
“After nearly thirty years of growing and making World-class wines in the Willamette Valley, we have opened the Argyle House to our Community to interpret the intersection of Art and Science. The centerpiece of the new creative partnership between Argyle and the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) is the creation of the first annual Argyle Scholarship.
Founded in 1929, PNCA is a leading West Coast art and design college that has helped shape the region’s visual art and design landscape for more than a century. With the opening of the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design, Portland’s North Park Blocks has become PNCA’s new campus—a bustling hub for creativity and entrepreneurship, reflecting the influential role of art and design in our 21st century economy.
The centerpiece of the relationship between Argyle and PNCA is the creation of the first annual Argyle Scholarship. After a juried competition, each of the three scholarship recipients produced a work that reflects a creatively researched understanding of Argyle and our wine-growing community.
These works have become the labels for a special series of Argyle Vintage Brut: ‘The Art of Sparkling’, is sold in a set of three bottles – one of each image – and packaged in a custom box, complete with profiles of the artists.”
Aside from beautifully-designed packaging, the 2013 Vintage Brut is a blend of 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay, offering orchard fruit and lemon zest upfront—the Pinot Noir is a bit slower to unfurl, a pure array of delicate red berries. Brisk bubbles gradually subside to a landscape that is vibrant, with tart Granny Smith apples and clean citrusy notes, along with wet shell, and a pinch of baking spice on the finish. Nice persistence. The interplay of both varieties is lovely. 12.5% ABV | Sample
9.0 Points