Oregon proves that size doesn’t matter: despite representing just 1% of US wine production, it has risen to fame and is arguably the New World’s Pinot Noir capital, even though the first Pinot Noir vines were only planted here in 1965. Indeed, a number of Burgundians have realised the state’s potential for this site-specific variety and set up shop here.
Growing grapes in Oregon isn’t for the faint-hearted. Sharing the 45th parallel with other Pinot Noir specialists, Burgundy and New Zealand’s Central Otago, it has a short growing season. Long summer and autumn days, however, allow Pinot Noir to ripen fully, creating detailed, finely structured wines.
Vineyards dot the length of the state, from the Californian border up to the Washington frontier with one isolated region – Snake River Valley – sitting in the far west, on the border with Idaho. What’s common to the state’s vineyards, however, is that they sit to the west of the coastal range, which shelters them from heavy rains.
The Willamette Valley is Oregon’s most important AVA, centred around the cities of Portland and Salem. Pinot Noir is the most important variety, representing close to 60% of all wine made in the state, however it has also developed a reputation for Pinot Gris (especially that from Eyrie Vineyards) and Chardonnay. Producers tend to be small, with 70% producing fewer than 5,000 cases of wine a year, and with a focus on sustainability (the state is home to 52% of America’s biodynamically certified vineyards).
With the likes of the Drouhin family, Jean-Nicolas Méo (Nicolas-Jay) and Louis Jadot (Résonance) now on the ground as well as home-grown talent, Burgundy-lovers have plenty of reasons to cross the Pond in search of earth-shattering Pinot Noir.
