Winemaker Notes
Pinot reigns supreme at Anne Amie Vineyards with Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc forming the heart of our production. Complimenting the Pinot family, we also produce small selections of Riesling from our Willamette Valley estate vineyard on the hillside directly in front of the winery. As with all great wines, ours start in the vineyards and we are fortunate to have some of Oregons best sites, both those farmed by us and those we contract with to purchase. Our vineyards (as do the ones we purchae from) receive only the minimal required treatments and yields are severely reduced to yield fruit with great depth and complexity.
Yamhill-Carlton, characterized by pastoral, rolling hills composed of shallow, quick-draining, ancient marine soil, is ideal for Pinot noir and other cool-climate-loving varieties. It is in the rain shadow of the Coast Range to its west, whose highest point climbs to an altitude of 3,500 feet. Yamhill-Carlton is actually surrounded by mountains on three sides: Chehalem Mountains to the north, the Dundee Hills to the east and the western Coast Range to its west, which, when it lets Pacific air through, serves to cool the region.
Vineyards grow on the ridges surrounding the two small communities of Yamhill and Carlton and cover about 1,200 acres of this 60,000 acre region, which roughly makes a horse-shoe shape on a map.
Müller-Thurgau is a white grape variety created by Hermann Müller in the Swiss Canton of Thurgau in 1882. He crossed Riesling with the table grape, Madeleine Royale, following an ambition to make a delightful drinking wine from an easier-to-grow vine than Riesling. When done right, Müller-Thurgau is a full-bodied, floral white with a refreshing, crisp quality. Somm Secret—Worldwide, Müller-Thurgau is one of the most widely planted of the new breed of grapes created since the 19th century.