Oregon ‘Pinotes’: Tastings and Reflections from the Willamette Valley
It took a bit to get this posted, but here it is! I just enjoyed a fantastic week in Oregon celebrating the end of 2021 and the start of 2022 with dear friends, my incredible wife, and a lot of fantastic wines. The weather was cold and the ground was covered in snow, but the Willamette Valley sparkled and the people we visited and wines we tasted along the way filled us with warmth. Get some lovely Oregon Pinot for your beef stews and warm up your winter! Notes on our tastings below. We had fun as a group each coming up with one word to describe the wines along the way. Each of the estates we visited gave us a remarkable experience. In the notes below, I rate the overall experiences and winery impressions as well as the wines tasted. View the rating scale at the right or read my other post on ratings! I have organized the notes alphabetically (Antica Terra ★★★★★★ / Archery Summit ★★★★★ / Argyle ★★★ / Le Cadeau ★★★ / De Ponte Cellars ★★★★ / Evening Land ★★★★★ / Gran Moraine & Zena Crown ★★★★ / Sokol Blosser ★★★).
Tasting room at Antica Terra
ANTICA TERRA (★★★★★★)
Owner and winemaker Maggie Harrison, Antica Terra is pure magic. The tasting room is in a nondescript metal building in town rather than out in the vineyards. They make a full experience where guests taste a range of Antica Terra wines alongside amazing wines from producers around the world whose wine speaks to Maggie. This is accompanied with incredible foods prepared by their in-house chef. Maggie got her start at Sine Qua Non in Santa Barbara and her wines are, in a single world, ‘beautiful.’
2014 Pierre Gimonnet & Fils, ‘Chouilly’, Special Club, Grand Cru, Champagne ★★★★
An amazing start from a wonderful Grower-Producer in Champagne. 100% Chardonnay and absolutely elegant.
2019 Antica Terra, ‘Aurata’, Chardonnay ★★★★★
Barrel fermented, this Chardonnay is golden in color with fantastic melon, tropical fruit, and mineral components. Rich and round on the palette, this wine is a star.
2004 Clos des Papes, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc, France ★★★
So fun to have aged white Châteauneuf! Dried fruits dominate along with some almond. Very interesting wine and special to have a chance to try it!
2018 Antica Terra, ‘Ceras’, Pinot Noir ★★★★
Amazingly integrated tannin in this wine, it showed lovely cranberry and ripe cherry fruits with a delicate baking spice aromas.
2018 Chateau Simone, Rosé ★★★★★
A surprise wine in our tasting, this is called ‘the best rosé in the world.’ In truth, it is almost a light-colored Pinot! It was astonishing. Blended Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Consult, it is just dripping with flavor and is the most complex rosé I have ever enjoyed.
2018 Jerome Galeyrand, Gevrey-Chambertin, ‘La Justice’, Burgundy, France ★★★
The one word in my tasting notes is ‘unctuous’. While not my favorite, a good example of quality village-level Gevrey-Chambertin.
2018 Antica Terra, ‘Antikythera’, Pinot Noir ★★★★★★
Without question, this was the best wine of the trip. Shuning in its complexity. Rare and almost impossible to get. It was mesmerizing. Mushrooms, pomegranate, herbs, wonderful acid, and incredible minerality. This wine is from the West side of Amity in the Eola-Amity Hills and comes from the beautiful marine-sedimentary soils of the area.
2013 Lillian, Syrah, Santa Barbara County ★★★★
2013 Lillian, Syrah, ‘Gold Series’, Santa Barbara County ★★★★★
The Lilliam Syrahs were Maggie Harrison’s first projects before starting Antica Terra. These are amazing examples of complex, and beautiful California Syrah. While both of these wines are nothing short of tremendous, the ‘Gold Series’ (which was special to our tasting) is on par with the best Syrahs I’ve ever had. Deep in color, full of flavor, the wine is not Rhône Valley Syrah - but it is also not typical high alcohol and over-extracted California Syrah. I adored this wine.
2013 Clos des Papes, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge, France ★★★★
Clos des Papes is one of my two favorite producers in Chateauneuf-du Pape. These wines are always tremendous and full of hallmark spice and character along with rich, deep plums, cherries, and stewed fruit notes.
2004 Domaine François Raveneau, Chablis 1er Cru, ‘Butteaux’, France ★★★★★
A bonus wine selection for me, I have never had the privilege to taste Ravenau’s wines before. Raveneau is arguably the most important producer in Chablis. This aged example was really special. My notes were getting pretty thin at this point though!
In the vineyard at Archery Summit
ARCHERY SUMMIT (★★★★★)
Archery Summit was the first winery I ever visited in Oregon back in the mid-2000s. They have remained my favorite producer since and I always seek out there wines which can be long-lived and have a brilliant balance of Burgundian style with Oregon sensibilities! This visit was excellent and we tasted in their amazing cave cellar. The social bottles at the end of the tasting were a real treat.
2018 Chardonnay, Eola-Amity Hills ★★
2019 Dundee Hill Pinot Noir ★★★
2019 Arcus Vineyard, Dundee Hills Pinot Noir ★★★★★
Wow! Extremely complex and from the oldest vineyard of the estate, this wine made us swoon. Dried red fruits, lavender, mushrooms, and a long finish supported by lovely acidity. Our group words were “earthy - purple - juniper - buttery”.
2019 Red Hills Vineyard Dundee Hills Pinot Noir ★★
While not my personal favorite, many fans of bigger styles or Cabernet would love this wine. darker in color and a more tannic structure. It is delicious, just less of a pure Pinot than the other wines.
2018, Arcus Vineyard, 25th Anniversary, Dundee Hills Pinot Noir ★★★★
A gorgeous nose of menthol and dried raspberry, this wine finishes long with silky tannins. “Berrylicious and silky”.
2008, Summit Estate Pinot Noir ★★★★★
Rootbeer candy! This wine is amazingly fresh and herbal with notes of pine needles and caramel along with dark cherries and a bit of spice. Really special and still drinking amazingly well.
2019, Summit Estate Pinot Noir ★★★★
2014, Whole Cluster Cuvée Pinot Noir ★★★★★
Only 2nd vintage the used entirely whole cluster fermentation, I love this style. It is so spice-focused and has an entirely different tannic feel in the mouth than the other Pinots. Really long finish and extremely complex.
2019, Archer’s Paradox Pinot Noir ★★★★
This is the renamed version of the Whole Cluster Cuvée and is also delicious. A bit fresher as it is only 2 years old, it still has lots of spice-notes including cumin, nutmeg, and other baking spices. The bing cherry element is definitely on the front still. A delight!
ARGYLE (★★★)
Argyle has long been the leader of Oregon Sparkling Wine. This tasting was more commercial and less intimate. While the Extended Tirage wines were excellent, overall it was not quite as much of an experience as our other visits. That said, they make tremendous wines and are a great example of Oregon Sparkling Wine.
2015 Spirit Hill Vineyard Blanc de Blancs ★★
2017 Knudsen Vineyard Blanc de Blancs ★★
2017 Knudsen Vineyard Brut ★★
2017 Argule Brut Rosé ★★
2010 Extended Tirage Brut ★ ★ ★ ★
2011 Extended Tirage Brut ★ ★ ★ ★
De PONTE CELLARS (★★★★)
View of Willamette Valley from De Ponte Cellars
A super small producer located just up the hill and around the corner from Archery Summit in the Dundee Hills, De Ponte was among the first Oregon wineries I ever visited over a decade ago. The experience here is lovely. Suzanne met us in the tasting room and is part of the family that has owned the property since its founding. As the only group there, it was an excellent tasting, warmed by the wood stove and cork walls. Their Pinots are tremendous. Earthy and full of the bright cherry and raspberry flavors indicative of the grape. But they also make a Melon de Bourgogne which is awesome and a wine that just slips down. The family also does a lot of animal support including a fundraiser for Mastiff Rescue which I love!\
2019 Melon de Bourgogne ★★★
Super cool wine and really fun! Clean, crisp, light with bright apple flavors. Perfect with oysters!
2019 Clay Hill, Pinot Noir ★★★
2015 Estate, Pinot Noir ★★★
2015 Lonesome Rock, Pinot Noir ★★★
2013 Dundee Hills, Pinot Noir ★★★★
Earthy and funky. A treat! Rain in August near harvest made this wine a bit less fruit-forward than some of the other Pinots here.
2018 Dundee Hills, Pinot Noir ★★★★
Described as ‘slutty’! This is a crowd pleaser!!!!
2017 Blanc de Noirs, Sparkling Pinot Noir ★★★
EVENING LAND (★★★★★)
Wow! This was an incredible tasting! Our host was Alyssa and she made this so fun. We got a number of extra treats at this visit which ended up taking nearly 3 hours! Evening Land produces gorgeous, terroir-driven wines in the Eola-Amity Hills. The single vineyards are fantastic and their overall non-interventionist winemaking style is evident in each bottle.
2016 Blanc de Blancs ★★★★
This might have been the best sparkling wine of the trip. Fresh, complex, and full of minerality. Baguette and brioche notes, layered with lemon butter, lime, honeydew, and melon.
2020 Seven Springs Rosé of Pinot Noir ★★
2019 La Source Pinot Noir ★★★
From their highest elevation section of the Seven Springs Vineyard, this East-facing slope develops amazing acid.
2017 La Source Pinot Noir ★★★★
A bit earthier than the 2019, there were wonderful notes of black tea. It was like a warm hug. The lack of new oak in the winemaking really provides a softness in this Pinot.
2019 Summum Pinot Noir ★★★★
This wine is not made every year. It was delicious and a bit chocolatey!
2017 Anden Pinot Noir ★★★★★
One of the highlight wines of the trip. The Anden Pinot is 100% whole-cluster fruit aged in neutral French oak. It is quite ‘old school’ with a touch of the whole-cluster brightness on the tongue, filled with lots of herbs, flowers, and spice, ranging from mint to roses.
2019 Seven Springs Passetoutgrain ★★
Simple and delicious! This is a co-fermentation of Gamay and Pinot Noir and is delightful. So easy - it was described as “Really Slutty!”
2019 Seven Springs Chardonnay ★★
2019 La Source Chardonnay ★★★★
2019 Summum Chardonnay ★★★★
The La Source and Summum Chardonnays were fantastic to enjoy side-by-side. The differences were very interesting. Both are aged in Austrian Oak, and have a real Burgundian feel. The 2019 La Source was reminiscent of Meaursault with wonderful minerality and a luxiruois mouthfeel. The Summum was richer and even deeper in aroma and flavor and more reminiscent of Montrachet with an almost ‘kettle-corn’ like profile.
2019 Seven Springs Chenin Blanc ★★★
I love Chenin Blanc and this small production was awesomely funky.
2019 Seven Springs Pét-Nat of Pinot Noir ★★
GRAN MORAINE & ZENA CROWN (★★★★)
This property was new to me and I am so happy we arranged a visit here. It is a spectacularly beautiful tasting room and we had it all to ourselves as the snow began melting around us and a rainbow crossed over the Yamhill-Carlton AVA. Our tasting included a food pairing from Chef Dustin Johnson of Biscuit & Pickles Catering and was absolutely delicious. What we thought would be small bites turned into a full lunch with fried chicken, salmon, and a ‘s’more-in-a-jar’! Amazing wines with a real sense of terroir.
NV Yamhill-Carlton Brut Rosé (Gran Moraine) ★★★★
This was an incredible start. Just delicious sparkling wine that set us off on our day 2 adventure! We definitely may have bought a bottle!
2017 Cascade Pinot Noir (Gran Moraine) ★★★
2018 Dropstone Pinot Noir (Gran Moraine)★★★
Both of these two Pinots from Gran Moraine are really wonderful. Our group was 50/50 for the preference but both were fantastic and had subtle spices along with tremendous red fruit aromas.
2017 Block 14 Pinot Noir (Zena Crown) ★★★★★
The Block 14 single vineyard from Zena Crown is located in the Eola-Amity Hills and is filled with incredible terroir. Immediately a fan, Zena Crown wines are now on my menu!
2017 Slope Pinot Noire (Zena Crown) ★★★★
2018 Yamhill-Carlton Chardonnay (Gran Moraine) ★★
Food Pairings by Chef Dustin Joseph - ★★★★★
Crispy fried chicken on toasted brioche bun
Brown butter salmon filet with parsnip, mushrooms, tomato conserva
Mason jar Callebaut chocolate mousse
LE CADEAU (★★★)
We made an impromptu and QUICK stop here while waiting for another visit. Our host was fantastic and worked us quickly through the Le Cadeau lineup. With rockier soil, these are very structured and bigger Pinots than many we tasted.
2013 Le Cadeau Brut Rosé ★★★★
This was the wine of the flight and was interesting in that it was barely a rosé. The color was just perceptible and could have been called a Blanc de Noirs. With its age, it was earthy and quite delicious.
2016 Aubichon Chardonnay ★★
2018 Le Cadeau Chardonnay ★★★
2017 Aubichon Cellars Reserve Pinot Noir ★★★
2018 Le Cadeau ‘Côte Est’ Pinot Noir ★★★
2017 Le Cadeau ‘Trajet Reserve’ Pinot Noir ★★★★
SOKOL-BLOSSER (★★★)
One of the older estates in the Willamette Valley and still family-run, it is a beautiful property with fantastic sustainability work. They even have a living roof on top of the cellar! This is a great estate for anyone to visit on a trip to the valley. Our experience was excellent and we got a small private tour from Alix who really saved the day as there was a loud party that arrived by limo in our tasting space. This is definitely a larger producer but will offer an excellent representation of the region’s wines to all who visit.
2019 Bluebird Cuvée Sparkling ★★
2020 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris ★★
2019 Dundee Hills Chardonnay ★★
2020 Rosé of Pinot Noir ★★
2018 Watershed Block Pinot Noir ★★
2018 Peach Tree Block Pinot Noir ★★
2018 50th Anniversary Old Vineyard Pinot Noir ★★★★
2018 Big Tree Block Pinot Noir ★★★
2018 Goosepen Block Pinot Noir ★★★
2019 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir ★★★
2018 Sparkling Rosé of Pinot Noir ★★★
