Winemaker Notes
#11 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2025
A fresh, wild, and savory expression with vibrant acidity and an elegant structure. Earth-laced fruit aromas of blackberry bramble, dark cherry, and huckleberry seamlessly intertwine with savory hints of curry leaves and lobster mushrooms, accented by subtle notes of dried orange peel and baking spices. Earthy and floral elements—forest floor, conifer needles, and rose hips—carry through to the palate, beautifully integrated with effusive raspberry and cherry notes, leading to a long, spicy finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Very firm, focused and concentrated, showing pure black cherries and blackcurrants on a lively frame of nervy acidity and moderate tannins. Mouthwatering acidity, with fruit expanding on the palate and spices like cloves and cinnamon developing.
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Wine Spectator
This impressive Pinot is polished and detailed, offering dynamic flavors of raspberry and blueberry, with mineral and brown baking spice hints that build richness toward fine-grained tannins.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2023 Pinot Noir Mt. Jefferson Cuvee is 77% estate fruit, sourced from 250 to 800 feet in elevation. It captures the character of the Eola-Amity Hills in this vintage, overdelivering with notes of ripe cherries, leather, dark spices, and stony persistence. The tannins are ripe and chalky, the acidity is balanced, and the length is notable. Tasted twice, the palate has a plush texture and a graceful yet warming feel.
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Vinous
The 2023 Pinot Noir Mt. Jefferson Cuvée blends dusty rose, licorice and orange-tinged wild strawberries. Soothingly round and pure in style, it offers crisp red berry fruits and mineral tones complemented by pretty inner florals. Gently tannic and long, the palate leaves a pleasantly chewy sensation and finishes with a tart cranberry twang. As of 2023, the Mt. Jefferson Cuvée uses 77% estate fruit. It is a fantastic value.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend from a dozen different vineyards, the 2023 Mt. Jefferson Cuvée Pinot Noir comes primarily from estate fruit, plus 23% purchased fruit. It was fermented with 45% whole clusters and matured for 11 months in 26% new French oak. It has savory aromas of olives, tobacco, mushroom and forest floor over a core of red and black cherry and berry fruit. The medium-bodied palate is expressive and detailed with fine, chalky tannins, vibrant acidity and a long, spicy finish.
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.