Winemaker Notes
The Jessie Vineyard, named for winegrower-owner Tom Gerrie’s great-grandmother Jessie Summers, was established in 1994 after the Gerrie family saw great potential in planting a steep, east-facing hillside. Ranging in elevation from 320 ft to 550 ft (98 m to 168 m), this 11.53 acre (4.67 hectare) site is one of the steepest in Oregon, and the most challenging to farm on the Cristom Estate.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
The aromas are pretty amazing here with dried flowers, pure fruit, sweet berries and dark strawberries. It’s full-bodied and very layered with ripe, velvety tannins and a long, flavorful finish. Richness with focus. Very drinkable now, but better after 2023.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Pinot Noir Jessie Vineyard offers notable layering and purity this vintage. Intense, savory cranberry fruit is accented by tones of charcuterie and sweet balsamic on the nose, and the palate combines that sweet, savory and earthy character in a silky frame, finishing with a flourish of spices and great length.
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Wine & Spirits
Jessie is a steep, densely-planted vineyard established in 1994. The maturity and the density of the vines yielded a 2019 with assertive fruit character and the textures, and layers, to support it all. It leads with fruit, a compelling combination of plum and dark berry, with clove and cinnamon accents that recede with air. The flavors feel generous but not pushy, the wine’s lush intensity held in check by a fine mesh of tannin and acid. An impressive performance, for cassoulet.
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Wine Enthusiast
A light touch of compost adds texture and detail to this wine that is sourced from a midslope, east-facing vineyard block. Tart red fruits and a finishing lick of chocolate are the principal flavors. Overall this is full-flavored and balanced with a nice mix of acidity, fruit and tannin.
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.