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.
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.