The International Wine ReviewApril 2009

Report # 16 Oregon Pinot Noir

Introduction Oregon is among the world’s finest producers of Pinot Noir. Its wines are widely recognized for their outstanding quality by consumers and the trade worldwide. While Burgundy is still widely acknowledged as the Holy Grail of Pinot Noir, Oregon’s reputation as one of the top producers of New World Pinot Noir is virtually undisputed. Perhaps even more surprising than Oregon’s reputation for producing quality Pinot Noir is that this recognition has come so early. In historical terms, Oregon wine is a very young industry. Yet, even as early as 1979 when the industry was truly in its infancy, Oregon Pinot Noir was winning international competitions like Gault Milau in Paris. Since that time Oregon Pinot Noir has only gotten better, much better in the opinion of most observers.

In this report, the International Wine Review looks at the spectacular success of Oregon Pinot Noir. We examine the factors which have affected this success, including the soil, climate and viticultural practices. We ask whether the multiple newly designated AVAs make wine sense. We explore the emerging role of organic, biodynamic and sustainable viticulture practices and the minimalist winemaking practices employed. We examine the style and character of the wines being produced today, and the pairing of Pinot Noir with food. Lastly, we include reviews of the more than 200 Pinot Noirs tasted for this report.

By any measure, the Oregon wine industry, and Pinot Noir in particular, has made remarkable progress in a relatively short period. From the time David Lett, Oregon’s “Papa Pinot”, first planted his Pinot Noir vineyard at Eyrie Vineyards in 1966, the industry has grown to more than 395 producers and 11 thousand acres of vines. This is about the same acreage as New Zealand and Burgundy’s Cote d’Or and about half the total plantings in California. However, the very low yields in Oregon translate into it having much smaller shares of total Pinot Noir production. Oregon produces about half the Pinot Noir wine as New Zealand, despite having the same acreage, and it produces about one-quarter the amount of Pinot Noir wine California does, although it has about half the planted acreage.

Oregon has benefited from having extremely favorable growing conditions for Pinot Noir, more similar to Burgundy than California. At least as important, in our opinion, is Oregon’s unique winemaking culture. The tradition of researching, learning, and sharing with other winemakers began with Oregon’s Pinot Noir pioneers and continues today. This very special Oregon wine culture has given birth to a number of unique wine institutions like the Oregon Wine Board, Pinot Camp, the International Pinot Noir Celebration, the newly established Oregon Wine Institute, and new initiatives like Salmon Safe and LIVE [Certified Low Input Viticulture and Enology] that promote sustainable agricultural practices.

In this Issue

Introduction .............................................CoverA Very Brief History of Oregon Pinot Noir ......... 2Pinot Noir: The Grape ................................... 3Geography, Climate and Soils ......................... 4In the Vineyard .............................................. 5In the Winery ................................................ 7The Styles of Oregon Pinot Noir ....................... 8Oregon Pinot Noir and Food Pairings ............... 9The Market for Pinot Noir .............................. 11Tasting Notes and Ratings ............................. 12Annexes…

1. Timeline for Oregon Pinot Noir ........................................282. The AVAs of the Willamette Valley ....................................293. Production and Price Statistics for Oregon Pinot Noir ........304. Top Rated Oregon Pinot Noirs Under $35 ........................31

“Oregon really started out with a bunch of well-educated hippies sitting around in meadows passing around bottles,

critiquing each other. They had no bias about sharing information. That spirit is still very much alive today."1

continued on p. 2

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1 Josh Bergstrom as quoted in Janis Miglavs, Oregon The Taste of Wine (2008)