Winemaker Notes
A cool, wet spring led to the latest bud-break we've seen for the past several year and hence later flowering. This means a greater chance of favorable weather and the development of a large crop both in terms of berry quantity and size. This calls for discipline in fruit-thinning. The summer was warm and sunny, accumulating growing degree days and "catching up" the projected harvest to about two weeks behind 2015 and 2016. Underlying the challenges of the 2017 vintage, it was a very sound growing season and harvest.
While the Willamette Valley and Pinot Noir are a like a fairy tale match made in heaven, most of Oregon is in fact, a glorious source of Pinot noir. Claiming over half of its total area under vine, Pinot noir also thrives in Southern Oregon’s Umpqua and Rogue Valleys where sedimentary and volcanic soils dominate hillside vineyards and cool temperatures create the perfect environment for Pinot noir. Also, Oregon’s Columbia Gorge is becoming increasingly popular for Pinot noir production. What sets Oregon Pinot noir apart from the Pinot of other regions, both New and Old World, is its innate combination of grace with both power and restraint.