Cristom Eileen Vineyard Pinot Noir 2018
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Product Details
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Winemaker Notes
The Eileen Vineyard is named for Cristom’s co-founder, Eileen Gerrie, mother of second-generation winegrower-owner Tom Gerrie. Original planting of the Eileen Vineyard began in 1997 and was later expanded in 2006, resulting in a total of 16.61 acres. Perched atop the Cristom estate, Eileen is also our highest-elevation vineyard, with commanding views of Oregon’s Cascade Range to the east, and Coastal Range to the west.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A complex nose with sappy, foresty notes framing ripe blueberries, red cherries and sultry, gently herbal, bunchy influence. The palate has impressive power and drive, packed with fresh red-cherry and boysenberry flavors. The acidity is a feature and holds a very long, supple and lively finish. Drink or hold.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Cristom Eileen Vineyard Pinot Noir stole my heart as it brought its energized style to the fore. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits a bright aroma and black fruit flavors, as well as a hint of ripe citrus peel. Enjoy it with a rotisserie leg of lamb accented with freshly-grated whole peppercorns and garden-picked rosemary. (Tasted: October 28, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Spectator
Structured and filled with tension, offering deep blueberry and cherry flavors that are laced by dusky spice and black tea, finishing with medium-grained tannins. Drink now.
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Wine & Spirits
From the top end of the Cristom property, where the vines are the most exposed to the Van Duzer winds, this wine is spicy and tightly wound when first poured. The dark plum fruit is steeped in licorice root notes, with a lovely concentration that lingers. It has the tannic backbone and the whole-cluster grip to match duck sausages.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Pinot Noir Eileen Vineyard was made with 48% whole clusters and aged 17 months in 57% new French oak. It has a medium ruby color and savory prosciutto and aniseed-laced rhubarb and cranberries plus loads of latent spices. The medium-bodied palate is fresh and silky, its juicy uplift is an excellent foil for its broody, spicy fruits, and it finishes long.
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Robert
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Cristom Vineyards is a family-owned and operated winery that has established itself as a top producer of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the Eola-Amity Hills district of Oregon's Willamette Valley. Second-generation proprietor Tom Gerrie leads the production team, which includes long time winemaker Steve Doerner and recently arrived vineyard manager & winemaker Daniel Estrin. Each bring experience from working at top Pinot/Chardonnay producers in California: Doerner from Calera and Estrin from Littorai. Tom’s parents, Paul and Eileen Gerrie, founded the winery in 1992.
The estate is divided into five single vineyards: Jessie, Eileen, Marjorie, and Louise (all named for Matriarchs in the Gerrie family); and the newly added Paul Gerrie vineyard, acquired in 2012. There are 95 acres on vine throughout the 240-acre property. The majority vineyards are planted at a high density of around 2,300 vines per acre and heavily cropped to produce about 2 tons of fruit per acre.
Cristom farms its estate vineyards according to the biodynamic practices originated by Rudolph Steiner. In 2017 Tom began to implement biodynamic principles to bring the true expression of the vineyard into its wines. Cristom has been a leader in natural winemaking practices, including native yeast and an early pioneer of whole-cluster fermentation in the US. The vineyards and winery are Certified Sustainable by the Oregon LIVE program (Low Input Viticulture and Enology).
Vintage after vintage, Cristom produces top-quality wines, no matter how easy or challenging the elements make it. This consistency is a testament to the deep knowledge of the vineyard, the respect for the land, and a light touch in the cellar. Recognized globally as a leading producer in the beloved Willamette Valley, their wines continue to be a unique blend of tradition, modernity and finesse.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Running north to south, adjacent to the Willamette River, the Eola-Amity Hills AVA has shallow and well-drained soils created from ancient lava flows (called Jory), marine sediments, rocks and alluvial deposits. These soils force vine roots to dig deep, producing small grapes with great concentration.
Like in the McMinnville sub-AVA, cold Pacific air streams in via the Van Duzer Corridor and assists the maintenance of higher acidity in its grapes. This great concentration, combined with marked acidity, give the Eola-Amity Hills wines—namely Pinot noir—their distinct character. While the region covers 40,000 acres, no more than 1,400 acres are covered in vine.