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A fascinating horizontal tasting across soil types: three wines made with the same varietal, by the same winemaker from grapes grown on each of the three primary viticultural soil types here in the northern Willamette Valley.
INCLUDES ONE BOTTLE EACH:
2023 Clay Court Pinot Noir (Jory Soil)
2023 Five Mountain Pinot Noir (Laurelwood Soil)
2023 La Bohème Pinot Noir (Willakenzie Soil)
VINTAGE 2023 required experience and patience that was rewarded with essential hang-time and ripening. The growing season started cool, then May sunshine brought an average bloom in mid-June followed by a glorious summer. We enjoyed many classic 80-degree Willamette Valley days, with nighttime highs staying down in the 50s even in August, typically the warmest month here in Oregon. The only exception to these consistent diurnal swings was a single big heat spike in mid-August. We anticipated picking in early September. However, some fortuitous rain events allowed us to push back harvest and we were thankful for the additional hang time.
Harvest came early, but not too early. We brought in beautiful fruit and we were pleased to still be picking Pinot noir into early October. When you have fast accumulation of fruit sugars, cool weather can be a welcome respite with even small amounts of rain helping the grapevines regulate and slow ripening. One of the reasons why Oregon Pinot Noir is so prized is for its freshness of fruit, and you can only get that vibrancy when it’s under 50 degrees during picking.
2023 brought amazing fruit quality, but our production was down, especially on cool climate white wines like Pinot Gris. Being an estate grown winery, we must follow Mother Nature’s lead as we cannot buy fruit to increase production. Smaller yields do mean a smaller crop and less wine, but we embrace vintage variation. Another great benefit of being estate grown is that it’s our decision exactly when to pick. Rather than rushing to bring fruit into the cellar, in 2023 were able to play the odds and wait out the rain on blocks that needed additional hang time to get the flavor development we needed.
Oregon has a wild geology shaped by volcanoes and floods, winds and time. This varied geology is one reason why the Northern Willamette Valley is an excellent area for growing grapevines. Today, the three dominant soil types for growing Pinot Noir in our region are Willakenzie, Laurelwood and Jory. It took us decades, but we now grow Estate Vineyards on each of these three soil types:
Willakenzie/marine sediment – Our Winery Estate (La Bohème, Roosevelt), Mount Richmond & Goodrich Vineyards
Laurelwood/windblown silt – Our Five Mountain & Windhill Vineyards
Jory/volcanic clay – Our Clay Court Vineyard
Our Soil Trilogy is a great way to experience three wines made with the same varietal, by the same winemaker from grapes grown on each of the three primary soil types here in the Willamette Valley.
Varies – see individual wines.
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