Discover WILLAMETTE VALLEY Wines & 5 Top Wineries to Visit

Willamette Valley is certainly one of my favorite wine regions in the United States. It's an area I'm very familiar with, having first visited back in 2009, and I've been there six or seven times since then as well. So in this video, I'm going to provide a fairly comprehensive overview of the Willamette Valley Appalachian. I'm going to discuss its history and some of the factors that impact grape growing for wine production in Willamette Valley. I'll also introduce the numerous sub-Appalachians in Willamette Valley. After that, I'm going to reveal some of my favorite wine producers in the Willamette Valley, and also identify some of the wines that I buy from my own wine collection. So be sure to stick around for that. In terms of wine production, Oregon is the fourth largest wine producing state in the United States, after California, Washington, and New York. There's a number of smaller and family-owned wineries, and in fact, almost 70% of the wineries in Oregon produce less than 5,000 cases per year. There's been dramatic growth in the number of wineries in Oregon. Back in the year 2000, there were only around 140 wineries, but recently there's as many as 800 or so. While there certainly are some other wine producing areas in Oregon, Willamette Valley accounts for more than 75% of the wine production, and has around 70% of the planted vineyards in Oregon. Willamette Valley's modern era of wine production traces its roots back to 1965, when Irie's founder, David Lett, planted some Pinot Noir vines in the Dundee Hills, in an area that used to be an orchard. Willamette Valley wine was definitely very much under the radar, but then in the 1970s, there was an event that's called the Wine Olympics, and Irie participated in that, along with some Burgundy producers, and one of its wines finished 10th among some pretty formidable competition. There was a rematch of sorts, and Demand Druon compared some of its wines to some of the Irie wines. In that event, Irie came on strong, and one of its wines, the 1975 Irie Pinot Noir, finished second to only the 1959 Demand Druon Chambord Moussigny. Irie's strong performance in that 1979 competition ultimately led to Demand Druon purchasing some land in the Willamette Valley. Demand Druon is now one of the top producers in Willamette Valley, and it's a producer that I visit often when I'm in town. In addition to having stunning views of the Dundee Hills, I also enjoy comparing some of their Burgundy wines to their Willamette Valley wines, both white and red. Of course, in Willamette Valley, Pinot Noir is king, and accounts for close to 70% of the wine production. Next up is Pinot Gris, which accounts for around 16% of wine production, but it's definitely been on the decline. Chardonnay has been increasing. For years, Chardonnay struggled because they're using the Wente clone from California, and that didn't do so well in Willamette Valley's cooler climate. But once they switched to the Dijon clone, the Chardonnay started to perform much better, and as a result, there's now some outstanding Chardonnay being produced in Willamette Valley as well. Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley often has medium-plus acidity and medium-to-medium-plus tannins. The fruit profile can vary between red cherry and raspberry to black cherry and plum. Sometimes I'll also get an intriguing rhubarb descriptor, which is quite unusual for Pinot Noir in other places. In my experience, oftentimes Willamette Valley could be fairly described as being in the middle of the spectrum between Burgundy Pinot Noir and California Pinot Noir, so it won't have quite as much ripe concentrated fruit as California Pinot Noir, but it will be a little bit more concentrated and vibrant in terms of the fruit profile than many Burgundies. Willamette Valley spans three and a half million acres between Portland and Eugene, Oregon. There's a cool-to-moderate climate with some cooling influences from the Pacific Ocean, which is only about 50 miles away. While there's lots of annual rainfall in Willamette Valley, it's actually fairly dry during the growing season, and there's also long daylight hours during the summer and fall, which helps the fruit to ripen. In terms of the soils, the valley floor has soils that are too rich and fertile to be used for the production of grapes for high-quality wine, so you'll see a lot of other crops on the valley floor. And then the vineyards for wine production will be on the hillsides and in the foothills. These hillsides have a variety of free-draining soils, but one of the most common is Jori, which you can recognize by its distinctive red color. As in Napa Valley, there's a number of so-called nested or sub-AVAs in Willamette Valley. Willamette Valley has created a number of them recently, and so now they're up to 11. There were six that are the original AVAs created back in 2005 and 2006, and those are definitely the most well-known. The reason there were these different sub-appellations created in Willamette Valley is because the conditions can vary quite a bit, and these varying conditions can impact the wines quite dramatically. For example, the Dundee Hills AVA is a series of volcanic hills. The vineyards are planted at elevations ranging from 60 to 320 meters above sea level. There's also a wide diurnal range due to this higher elevation. Nighttime temperatures in the Dundee Hills tend to be a little bit cooler, which helps to preserve acidity and freshness in the fruit. But daytime temperatures in the Dundee Hills AVA can be warmer because the coastal range in the Chehalem Mountains help to shield that area from some of the cool wet weather from the coast and also from some of the cooling afternoon breezes that it might otherwise experience. And this helps to ensure that the fruit in this area gets right most vintages. I'm not going to get too bogged down in a discussion of all the nested AVAs, but it is also important to have an appreciation for the impact of the Van Duzer Corridor in Willamette Valley. The Van Duzer Corridor helps to funnel cold afternoon breezes from the Pacific Ocean to portions of Willamette Valley through the Van Duzer Corridor. This definitely impacts areas such as the Van Duzer Corridor AVA, the Eola Amity Hills AVA, and to a lesser extent the McMinnville AVA. In these areas, you'll get some strong cool breezes pretty much every afternoon. And this helps to preserve acidity and freshness in the grapes, and it definitely extends the growing season. And so the fruit in this area is probably some of the last to be harvested, certainly with respect to red wine production. These breezes are no joke. They're extremely strong. Just to give you an idea of how strong they can be, one afternoon in the summer, I was enjoying a tasting at Evening Land, which is in the Eola Amity Hills AVA. Everything was completely calm, and it was fairly warm that day, so we were sitting on the patio, but we were in the shade. And then all of a sudden, the breezes picked up, and they were so strong that they actually blew two or three different Zalto glasses off the table. In addition to the six original sub-AVAs that were created back in the 2005-2006 time period, there's been another five sub-AVAs that were created in the past few years. I don't think I need to get into a thorough analysis of the lower Long Tom AVA, for example, but here's the list if you'd like to learn more about them on your own. With that by way of background, I'm ready to discuss five of my favorite producers for Willamette Valley wines. But of course, if there's a producer that you enjoy that I did not mention, please be sure to let us know in the comments below, as a number of viewers definitely review the comments and look for additional suggestions from viewers there. Some of these wines may be available in some of the bigger box retailers, but the best way to get a number of them will be directly from the winery on their website. Also, because a large number of Willamette Valley wineries produce numerous wines with varying single vineyard bottlings, in this video, I'm just going to discuss the producer generally, and also typically recommend an Appalachian Pinot Noir, or maybe a Chardonnay for that producer. The first Willamette Valley winery is one that will definitely be of interest to Burgundy lovers, as it was founded back in 2012 by Burgundy winemaker Jean-Nicolas Mio, whose family owns Mio Camuset, and music entrepreneur Jay Goldberg. Mio visited Willamette Valley a number of times before establishing Nicholas J. Winery, and during one of those visits, he had the opportunity to do an in-depth barrel tasting, where he tried 20 different single vineyard wines. One of those wines was produced from the Bishop Creek Vineyard, which is in the Yamhill Carlton area. Mio believed that this vineyard could produce fruit that made wine in a style that was exactly what he was trying to achieve. Namely, distinctive, powerful, and complex, yet elegant, with a highly perfumed nose. A short time later, that vineyard became available for purchase, and so Mio and Goldberg did not hesitate, but they bought it and founded Nicholas J. Winery. They also began making wine from source fruit, and more recently, they planted vines in Dundee Hills as well. In the vineyard, Nicholas J. emphasizes dry farming, organic, and biodynamic practices. The Nicholas J. wines are in high demand, particularly those that are produced from their estate fruit. So to get those, you'll most likely have to be on their mailing list, but they do have a wine that's called L'Ensemble, that's produced from source fruit, that's highly acclaimed, and which is available on their website for $75 a bottle. So that is an excellent introduction to Nicholas J., and I would recommend giving that one a try before you join the mailing list, and try to purchase some of their more expensive wines. There's a number of outstanding producers in the Ribbon Ridge AVA. Examples include both Frere and Brickhouse, but in this video, I'm going to feature Patricia Green Cellars. Patricia Green Cellars has a 52-acre estate vineyard that's located in the Ribbon Ridge AVA. In the vineyard, Patricia Green Cellars emphasizes sustainable practices, including dry farming. Patricia Green Cellars has a large number of single vineyard bottlings, and actually specializes in producing a number of bottlings from vineyards that are of particular significance to Willamette Valley. Nevertheless, it is their entry-level wine. The Patricia Green Cellars preserve Pinot Noir that is one of the most phenomenal values in all of Willamette Valley. This is a wine that I've previously featured on this channel as one of my favorite cellar defenders. The 2021 Vintage, for example, received a 91-point score from Jeb Dunnett, yet you can find it for right around $25 per bottle, and this is always one of the very best values around. Kelly Fox started her winery back in 2007 with a production of only around 100 cases. Demand has steadily increased, as has her production, and now she produces around 5,500 cases of wine annually. If you're interested in wine recommendations, wine collecting strategies, and learning more about wine, please do subscribe to my channel. I've been collecting wine for more than 15 years, and also have a level 4 diploma from the WSET. So I have both formal certification, as well as substantial practical knowledge from the School of Hard Knocks. Kelly was very much influenced by Irie's David Lett. Kelly's objective is for the fruit in the resulting wines to be reflective not just of the site, but also of the vintage. She emphasizes purity of the fruit. She takes a non-interventionist approach to winemaking. The wines mature in neutral French oak. These wines are definitely described as elegant, light, and ethereal. Kelly produces her wines from source fruit and has a number of top vineyard sources, including Moresh, Freedom Hill, Durant, and Highland. These bottlings are available on the website for around $90 per bottle. But before you splurge for one of the $90 bottles, I recommend that you first try the $45 Mirabai Pinot Noir. This impressive wine is always an excellent value, and you can even get it for a bit less than that if you take advantage of some discounts. This wine is made from a blend of fruit from the Weber and Moresh vineyards. It comes in at 13.5% alcohol by volume, and she uses around 30% whole cluster fermentation for this one. I also recently discovered that Kelly Fox makes a Willamette Valley Chardonnay, and that the 2023 vintage is the third bottling of that wine. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, so I can't comment on it personally, but it's definitely one that I hope to try. If any of you have tried that wine and can comment on it, please let me know in the comments below. Will Hamilton founded Violin Cellars back in 2013. He learned how to make wine at Eveningland, and he also worked with Walter Scott as well. The Violin Cellar wines are made very much in the same style as these other two producers. Violin Cellars is probably the smallest producer that I'll be discussing in this video. As with Kelly Fox, Will produces the wine for Violin Cellars from source fruit. He makes both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and produces around 2,500 cases annually. The Violin Cellar wines are probably the most cost-effective wines that I'll be discussing in this video. Will makes both a Willamette Valley Pinot Noir and a Willamette Valley Chardonnay, both of which sell for only around $35 per bottle, and both of which are extremely enjoyable on release, but will age for a few years without any problem as well. I would be remiss if I did not mention Will's Sojo Pinot Noir, which is a single vineyard Pinot Noir that sells for around $65 per bottle, and which is absolutely incredible. So I definitely recommend the Sojo from Violin Cellars as well. I've been a fan of Tony Soder's wines for many years, dating back to when he was the winemaker for Etude in Napa Valley, and was making some absolutely sensational Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon in the mid-1990s. But shortly after that, he relocated to Willamette Valley, and has been making high-quality wine for Soder Vineyards from Willamette Valley fruit for decades. Soder Vineyards has estate vineyards located in three of the top AVAs, Ribbon Ridge, Yamhill Carlton, and Eola Amity Hills. These vineyards are certified biodynamic. The fruit that does not go into the single vineyard bottlings is used to produce both estate Chardonnay and estate Pinot Noir that is a blend from some of these vineyards. The 2021 Soder Vineyards Estates Chardonnay received an impressive 96-point score from James Suckling and sells for around $60 per bottle. Following a barrel fermentation, this wine matured for 12 months in 36% New French Oak, followed by six months in Stainless Steel, and another year in Bottle. This wine comes in at 13.2% alcohol by volume, and is an excellent introduction to the Soder Vineyards Chardonnay. In 2022, Soder also produced about 3,500 cases of an estate Pinot Noir. This wine also sells for $60 per bottle. This wine matured in 30% New French Oak for around 10 months. They used one quarter for cluster fermentation for this wine. The Estates Pinot comes in at just a little less than 14% alcohol by volume. Soder also produces a large number of wines, including the Origin Series, the Planet Oregon Series, where a percentage of the sales is donated to environmental initiatives, and they even make some sparkling wine. In my view, the very best way to learn about a wine region and to discover the wines that you enjoy most is to visit that region, and I highly recommend that everyone visit Willamette Valley. If you're going to make a trip there in the near future, be sure to check out this video that's linked above, where I provide 10 travel tips for Willamette Valley.