Wine By Joe 2019 Pinot Blanc, Willamette Valley, $14

Best Buy! Oregon native Joe Dobbes has loved this unappreciated white grape native to the Burgundy region of France for two decades, and his work under his nicely priced Wine By Joe brand has been getting attention from some of the wine world’s biggest pundits going back to 2006. For years, Dobbes pulled from Seabreeze Estate Vineyard in the Van Duzer Corridor for Pinot Blanc. In 2019, Dobbes’s longtime protégé, Andy McVay, focused on Bill Fuller’s historic Tualatin Estate Vineyard northwest of Forest Grove for the WBJ Pinot Blanc. (It’s a site Dobbes worked with during his days as the head winemaker for Willamette Valley Vineyards). This is a remarkable, oak-free and enticing example, opening with fun aromas of dusty white peach and cotton candy. Inside, it’s utterly delicious with long and complex flavors of tree-ripened peach, tangerine oil, pineapple and pleasing minerality. The crystalline finish should also appeal to devotees of dry Riesling. Suggestions pairings include Dungeness crab, Zoodles Marinara, ceviche, sushi, seared scallops, Thai noodle salad and even peach pie.

Rating: Outstanding!

Produced: 1,192 cases

Alcohol: 13.5%

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