Lange Estate Winery And Vineyards, Dundee Hills (Willamette Valley, Oregon) Pinot Noir 2018

 I visited this vineyard years ago, and can still picture it in my mind, but that recollection can now be eclipsed by the vivid current experience of this wine’s beauty, as well as the sneaky power enveloped in its soft structure.  Deeply pigmented and quite rich and soft in feel, yet not at all chunky or obvious, it reminds me of a well-drawn, two-dimensional “optical illusion” cube that appears entirely different in three dimensions depending on how you choose to look at it.  (I drew thousands of these things while bored out of my gourd in high school classes, and know whereof I speak.)   It really is a light-bodied wine if you choose to regard it that way, but also punches way above its weight in terms of depth and length if you elect to pull those attributes into your sensory foreground.  This is the magic of terrific renditions of Pinot, of course: they can be lacy and ethereal, or coiled and formidable, but not that many renditions capture both of these characteristics.  This one does.  Absolutely delicious now, but surely more intricate if less fruity a decade from now.  Take your pick.