There could be no “best” wine at an event like The International Pinot Noir Celebration, where great wines come at you in a flood of Biblical proportions. However, certain wines will stand out as special even in such esteemed company. That wine for me this year at IPNC was Oregon’s 2006 Broadley Vineyards Marcile Lorraine. Made from an old block on their estate vineyards located near Monroe, the Broadleys emphasize natural winemaking techniques like whole-cluster fermentation, wood fermenters and bottling unfined and unfiltered wines. The resulting wines are pure, natural pinot noirs that truly show the terroir of their unique microclimate. It’s worth nothing that when the Broadley’s selected their vineyard site they intentionally chose a east/northeast exposure, rather than the southern exposures selected by conventional wisdom in Oregon, in a slightly warmer zone to ensure their grapes could ripen fully without over-ripening before Oregon’s fall rains arrived. This wine is nothing short of stunning with picture perfect translucent ruby color and an elegant character and texture that seems endlessly seductive. It possesses that unique character of pinot noir that enables a wine to be rich and delicate at the same time. This is very simply a exciting wine that you should go out of your way to find. Unfortunately, as always seems to be the case with great pinot, very little was produced so I’d hurry before it disappears.