Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
There's an unmistakable earthen note of crushed chalk, a dead giveaway for Temperance Hill Pinot Noir, and it leaps forward in this stellar bottling from Evesham Wood in the 2023 vintage. Sourced from a two-acre parcel in this higher elevation, Eola-Amity Hills vineyard, cared for by the meticulous and legendary Dai Crisp. Fresh red berries, alpine wild flowers and pine bough with the classic crushed chalk minerality alight the glass. The palate is upright, taut and electric. Cranberries, blood orange and chopped herbs mingle with gleaming salinity and crisp raspberry leaf.
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Vinous
The 2023 Pinot Noir Temperance Hill Vineyard, tasted from barrel, is spicy to the core as peppery rose and licorice give way to wild berries. Beautifully balanced, it offers silken depths of floral-infused red berry fruit and a hint of citrus that gently curls the tongue. Harmony persists to the very end with lovely length and rounded tannins that add perfectly poised punctuation.
Barrel Sample: 93-95
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Wine Enthusiast
Erin Nuccio takes organic certified fruit that is superbly farmed by esteemed vineyard manager Dai Crisp and turns it into something magical. The wine's earthy one-two punch of grilled mushrooms and loamy soil mingle beautifully with aromas of blackberries, pipe tobacco and fresh-planed cedar. Temperance Hill's flavors are lean and clean, with a blend of black cherries, more cedar, black pepper and a nocino-like walnut note. This one of those delightful occasions where blazing acidity crosses paths with chewy tannins.
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.