The Pinot Guy, Michael Alberty, contributed his best bottles of the year to Sunset magazines annual roundup, including the 2015 Ponzi Reserve Pinot Noir. “If I could only take one grape with me to a desert island, Pinot would be it,” the Oregon native says. So it doesn’t come as a surprise that he recommended Ponzi’s showstopper Pinot Noir. Of the wine, he explains it is “A full-bodied expression of Ponzi’s oldest vines: dark red fruit, anise, and pie crust.” You can read all of the recommendations from a handful of top wine writers in the magazine’s best of list here.
Related Wines

Ponzi Vineyards
Pinot Noir Reserve 2015
Willamette Valley
The Pinot Noir Reserve comes primarily from estate grown fruit on Laurelwood soil in the Chehalem Mountains, including from some of Oregon’s oldest vines. It is hand crafted on a boutique scale, with tremendous attention to detail. An intense wine, it has an explosive nose of sassafras, coffee, sweet plum and spice box; a full and seamless palate with baker’s chocolate, blueberry, lavender and tea; and a long and balanced finish. I
Related Producers
Ponzi Vineyards
Chehalem Mountain AVA, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Dick and Nancy Ponzi helped put Oregon on the map in the United States and the world, and the Ponzi family has worked continuously for over 50 years leading and innovating in the region and, in the case of Pinot Noir, across the country and indeed the world. Today winemaker Luisa Ponzi continues her work of the last 30 years with the family of Champagne Bollinger, which acquired Ponzi Vineyards in 2021.