95 Points Jeb Dunnuck
Dark ruby, the 2021 Pinot Noir Marjorie Vineyard takes on a darker mineral profile with forward aromas of wet stone, black raspberry preserve, and layers of baking spices and crushed purple flowers. Moving to the palate, the wine is medium-framed, with ripe tannins, an angular texture, fresh acidity, and a spicy finish. This certainly needs more time and will gain complexity with time in cellar.
95 Points Vinous
Darkly alluring, the 2021 Pinot Noir Marjorie Vineyard is perfumed with dusty violets and lavender, giving way to dried black cherries. Luxuriously round, with juicy acidity, this cascades across the palate with crisp raspberry fruits as rosy inner florals amass toward the close. Hints of blood orange pucker the cheeks as the 2021 finishes staining and long with long lingering chalky mineral tones.
94 Points Wine Enthusiast
Aromatically, Marjorie is a big bowl of blueberries with a cherry cupcake on the side. Tart red cherry and lemon verbena tea flavors are punctuated by notes of dark chocolate and candied rose petals. Brilliant acidity and fine-grained tannins make this wine “pop.”
94 Points Decanter
Planted in 1982, the estate's oldest vines, this is a site that gives structure and length year in and year out. The aromatics flash savoury and mineral with crushed stone and green tea leaf alongside pine bough and a hint of tomato leaf all with a backing of crushed red berries. The palate shows great concentration to match its ample structure. Red fruits, savoury herbs and spice to match the aromatics.
Winemaker Notes
When founders Paul and Eileen Gerrie purchased the estate in 1992, there was an existing vineyard with tremendous potential planted in the mid-slope of the east facing site. Paul renamed the vineyard Marjorie after his mother and the first single vineyard wine was produced from the 1994 vintage. The Marjorie vineyard sits in the center of the Cristom Estate with a gentle slope from 480 feet to 600 feet over some of the most consistent volcanic soils on the entire Estate. A little bit unique to itself, most of the Vineyard is planted over a moderately deep volcanic soil with some very rocky areas in the north and southeast corners. The vineyard wants to produce elegant wines of finesse with bright red fruit and succulent acidity.
