00 Wines, 'VGR', Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon, 2023

Overview of the Wine
Double Zero Wines is a daring journey exploring the potential of cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir by wine industry pioneer Chris Hermann and entrepreneur Kathryn Hermann. 00 Wines was founded in 2015, emerging from a fusion of family heritage and winemaking ambition. The vision was born from Chris Hermann, an attorney specializing in international wine law, and his late father, Dr. Richard Hermann, a distinguished botanist and Douglas Fir geneticist at Oregon State University. Their shared passion for European viticulture and the natural environment of Oregon planted the seeds for something extraordinary.

Within 10 years of pressing their first vintage of Chardonnay, 00 Wines has emerged as a benchmark for the modern cool-climate Chardonnay revolution. Their iconic Willamette Valley blends VGW and EGW are signatures of the House of 00. Each vintage, select single vineyard barrels are selected for individual bottlings, and superlatives of these single vineyard barrels are selected for the rare Hermann Family Cuvée series. 00 Wines seeks to explore terroir driven Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in its most profound forms.

Winemaker
Chris Hermann

Grape / Blend
100% Pinot Noir

Origin
Willamette Valley, Oregon

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
The 2023 vintage has been celebrated as one of the greatest in recent memory. This VGR bottling reveals vibrant aromas of wild raspberry, black cherry, and rose petal, layered with notes of dried herbs and forest floor. On the palate, it is at once refined and expressive, with silky tannins, bright acidity, and a finish that reflects the soil-born tension of its source vineyards.

Crafted with precision and blended with intent, the 2023 VGR Pinot Noir is a vivid introduction to the 00 Wines approach to red wine. It embodies purity, place, and a seamless integration of Oregon’s viticultural history with its future potential.

97 Points - James Suckling
Transparent and minerally, showing dark-cherry and forest-floor aromas with some ink and blood undertones. Medium-bodied with beautiful integration and excellent length that goes on for minutes. Firm tannins. Vivid. From ungrafted vines planted in the 1970s. Drink or hold. 

96 Points - International Wine Report
The 2023 00 Wines VGR Pinot Noir begins with lifted aromas of crushed pomegranate, Bing cherry, dried rose petals, and forest floor dusted with cedar shavings. As it gathers on the palate, the wine leans into flavors of wild strawberry and subtle spice tones, supported by a soft earthiness that adds quiet depth. Its medium weight allows the fruit to glide easily while the tannins stay finely textured and subtly gripping. A gentle thread of allspice appears near the finish, giving the wine a warming contour that lingers with polished ease.

93 Points - Wine Advocate
The 2023 Pinot Noir VGR is pure and expressive, with blackberry and blueberry mingling with grapefruit, licorice, spice and mushroom. The medium-bodied palate is youthfully coiled with a focus on earth and mineral at this stage. It’s structured by firm, grainy tannins and bright acidity and has a long finish. It will benefit from a few years in the cellar.

Product size: 750ml