Cristom Eileen Vineyard Pinot Noir (375ML half-bottle) 2019
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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
Dried-strawberry, rose-stem and wet-earth aromas follow through to a full body with firm, intense tannins and a flavorful finish. This is structured and very tight at the moment. Give it time to open and show its true self. Try after 2023.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium ruby, the 2019 Pinot Noir Eileen Vineyard is pure, delicate and so pretty! It has layered aromas of raspberries and blueberries with tangerine peel, aniseed and an array of earthy accents. Bursting with juicy acidity and super silky in texture, the palate has a weightless feel despite its intense, layered flavors, and it finishes with tremendous length.
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Wine & Spirits
Haunting scents of pine, olive leaf and garrigue lend complexity to the dark and sumptuous plum fruit from Eileen, Cristom’s highest-elevation block, where Van Duzer winds first hit the property. In its texture and sanguine depth you can feel the structure produced by those winds, but the lasting impression is one of poise, the tannins showing a willow-like give.
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Wine Enthusiast
The tight raspberry and cherry fruit is showcased with a dusting of cocoa from barrel aging. The winery uses native yeast and a percentage of whole clusters in the fermentations, adding complexity and texture along with highlights of stem and leaf. There’s a lemony twist to the acidity, which lift the finish. Another year or more of bottle age is recommended.
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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.