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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Wine & Spirits
This pinot, from the top elevations of Cristom’s property, topping out at 720 feet, dramatizes a tension between savory whole-cluster scents and luminous lean-fruit expression. It’s aromatically seductive, with its scents of clove and thyme, lavender and autumn leaves leading into dark cherry flavors. What’s most impressive, though, is the texture, firm but lively, with an acid-tannin matrix that drives the wine with firm, silky intensity.
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James Suckling
This has a very bright array of rich red cherries, together with a herbal accent and a thread of rose-like perfume, as well as autumnal leaves and sweet, woody spices. The palate has very assertive red cherries with elegant tannins that are paper-fine, but have combined length and strength. Great detail here. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Pinot Noir Eileen Vineyard was made with 48% whole clusters and aged 18 months in 67% new French oak. It has a medium ruby color and opens with cinnamon stick, dried leaves and dusty earth, segueing slowly to black cherries, peppered meats, Earl Grey tea leaves, charcuterie, dried herbs and a spicy vein. The medium-bodied palate is slow to blossom, softly chalky and super fresh with a long, nuanced finish. This will benefit from another year or two in bottle.
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Wine Enthusiast
Bold, substantial raspberry and black cherry fruits anchor this block selection, wrapped in the drying astringency of tea leaves. The finish lingers gracefully, and a bit more bottle age may help to soften up the tannins.
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Wine Spectator
Graceful and expressive, featuring multilayered cherry and blueberry flavors, laced with green tea accents and building structure toward polished tannins. Drink now through 2024.
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.