Winemaker Notes
For over 20 years, Cristom Vineyards founder Paul Gerrie dreamt of acquiring an especially stunning 100-plus acre parcel of land that laid to the north of the original Cristom estate. Shortly before his retirement in 2012, Paul was able to secure this land - capping his legacy with Cristom Vineyards.
Cristom is proud to name the Paul Gerrie Vineyard in his honor, as it represents both the culmination of knowledge gained from over a quarter-century of farming in the Eola-Amity Hills, as well as the winery's commitment towards producing estate-based wines that possess balance, intensity, and complexity.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine & Spirits
Paul Gerrie is the latest vineyard to join the pantheon of what Cristom calls “the four ladies,” its estate vineyards. The wine is impressively complex for such a youngster: Steve Doerner’s whole-cluster regimen adds a turfy note and lush, resinous tannins to a resolutely red-plum-and-cherry mélange of fruit. Elegant and fine; for salmon.
-
James Suckling
An attractively fragrant nose with ripe dark cherries, cinnamon and orange rind, as well as some stony notes. Very focused palate that establishes good volume with ample dark cherries and fine, layered tannins.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This is a new cuvée from Cristom, from new vines planted in 2014. It was made with 54% whole clusters and aged 18 months in 64% new French oak. Pale to medium ruby colored, the 2017 Pinot Noir Paul Gerrie Vineyard has a nose of dusty earth, charcuterie, crushed black cherries, licorice and rhubarb with notes of turned earth and a spicy undercurrent. The palate is medium-bodied and über silky with restrained fruits, a grainy frame and seamless freshness on the 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.