Kelley Fox Mirabai Pinot Noir Willamette Valley, Oregon – 2021

Kelley Fox is one of the wine world’s unsung heroes. She makes beautifully balanced, fragrantly-fruited Pinot Noirs in miniscule quantities from her biodynamically-tended vineyards in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.  For me there are few better Pinot Noir producers than her in the USA.

“Mirabai” Pinot Noir is her largest volume bottling – she bottled around 1600 cases in the 2021 vintage. It comes 70% from her Weber vineyard, from vines planted in 1983, and 30% from her Maresh vineyard, from vines planted between 1978-1991. The 2021 vintage was an excellent one in the Willamette Valley, with perfect sunny days and cool nights during most of July and August. 

“The Mirabai 2021 is a light-to-medium, youthful, cool-toned red with with blue and deep pink undertones. It’s eye-catchingly brilliant in the glass and transparent. True to the 2021 vintage, the nose is deliciously heady, this one full of Hood strawberries (the best-scented of all, I think), soft minerality, and a hint of spices and tea. The mouth is the same and carries on the classic Dundee Hills silk and finishes long. The Mirabai 2021 is a beautiful, balanced joybringer. It has soaring energy and feels like birdsong!” Kelley Fox