By Gard Estate Wines
2021 Pinot Noir, Royal Slope

The Wine
Rhubarb, kirsch, fig paste, and earth. The 2021 Solaksen Pinot Noir begins with a perfect combination of sweet and savory tones. Swirling brings ripe plums, orange peel, black tea, oak spice, and red licorice. Extremely complex and layered, the palate is rich yet structured, with lots of dark, ripe red fruit flavors. With remarkable texture and tension, this fantastic wine is a unique expression of Pinot Noir from our Royal Slope terroir. The longer the wine sits in the glass, the more dimension it gets. Ripe, flavorful, and with touches of greenness and oak spice, the tannins here are fully developed, and the texture is extremely soft and creamy. Very long in the mouth and certainly hedonistic, the wine finishes with the perfect amount of sweet and savory flavors without losing its earthy components. A rarity in Washington State, this beautiful Pinot can be enjoyed now or in the next 15 years.

The Winemaking
Stainless steel fermented, extended maceration. Aged in new and neutral French oak puncheons for 18 months.

The Vineyard
Gard Vintners wines are 100% estate-grown sustainably at Lawrence Vineyards, featuring 14 distinct vineyard sites. With elevations ranging from 870 to 1,675 feet and primarily south-facing slopes, Lawrence Vineyards provides a great framework for grape production. The diversity of each location delivers a high level of complexity to Gard wines. Lawrence Vineyards is certified sustainable.

The Winery
Gard, meaning "farm" in many of the Scandinavian languages, is a tribute to our family's Scandinavian heritage and farming tradition. Founded in 2006, Gard Vintners is a family-owned and operated estate winery in the heart of Washington's Royal Slope AVA, with vineyards on the Royal Slope, wine production in Prosser, tasting rooms in Ellensburg, Walla Walla, and Woodinville, and Gard Public House restaurant in Royal City.

Wine Details
Release Date: November 2024
Winemaker: Matias Kusulas
Blend: 100% Pinot Noir
Vineyard: Solaksen
Alcohol: 14.20%
MSRP: $65
[Information provided by Gard Estate Wines]

Wine: Gard, Pinot Noir, Royal Slope, Columbia Valley, Washington, USA 2021
Score/Rating: 94
Suggested Drinking Window: 2024 - 2029
Review Date: 10/17/2024
Reviewed By: Clive Pursehouse
Tasting Notes: This comes from the Solaksen Vineyard at 1150ft, which helps, given the heat in eastern Washington. It stays fresh despite its ripeness, and that's a feat in the 2021 vintage; this wine is loaded with savoury herbs, fresh mint, and piquant blood orange. Winemaker Matias Kusulas wants to push the wines. He keeps it fresh mint, with wild strawberries and sweet fleshy cherries.

Wine: Gard Vintners 2021 Pinot Noir
Score/Rating: 93
Suggested Drinking Window: 2024 - 2030
Review Date: 10/2024
Reviewed By: Eric Guido
Tasting Notes: A wild blend of peppery florals, cedar shavings, blackberries and flowery underbrush wafts up from the 2021 Pinot Noir. Supple and round, it sweeps across the palate with a wave of ripe red and blue fruit notes with a tactile mineral tinge toward the close. It leaves the palate stained in primary concentration, finishing long and gently tannic with a wild blueberry chewiness that slowly fades.

Wine: GARD Pinot Noir, Royal Slope ‘Lawrence Estate Vineyard [sic]’ 2021
Score/Rating: 92
Suggested Drinking Window: 2024-2030
Reviewed By: Jeremy Young
Tasting Notes: The 2021 Lawrence Estate Pinot Noir from Gard saw 3 months of skin contact and was aged in 50% new French Burgundy barrels. Pouring a medium garnet-ruby hue with a light ruby rim, this is a full-bodied, rich, decadent, and fruit-forward wine that sports notes of earthy, dusty marionberries, dried cherries, dusty herbs, cola and shades of dried meat. Tannins are round and sweet with moderate plus acidity falling on the finish. [...].