Et Fille Chehalem Mountains Nicholas Vineyard Pinot Noir 2008
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Oregon's Willamette Valley is comprised of American Viticultural Areas that represent different soil types and microclimates impacting the profile of wines from those sites. The wines are grown in four of Oregon's distinct viticultural areas, or wine regions. We have a small test vineyard on Parrett Mountain, but also manage long-term contracts for blocks at six vineyards located throughout the Willamette Valley. We think that this creates diversity between our single vineyard designate Pinot Noir and adds complexity to our Willamette Valley and Heredity blends of Pinot Noir.
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.”
The Chehalem Mountains is a northwest-southeast span of several distinct mountains, ridges and peaks in the northern part of the Willamette Valley. Of all of Willamette Valley's smaller AVAs, it is closest to the city of Portland. Its highest summit, Bald Peak at an elevation of 1,633 feet, serves to generate cooler air for the rest of the AVA and its hillside vineyards. The region covers 70,000 acres but only 1,600 acres are planted to vines; soils of the Chehalem Mountains are a mix of basalt, ocean sediment and loess.