The Willamette Valley was first planted to Pinot Noir by David Lett in 1965. It didn’t take long for the rest of the world, including well-respected Burgundians like the Drouhin family, to discover that Lett was on to something; the complex soil and pitch-perfect climate provides the ideal site for this demanding and celebrated varietal. A short, forty-five minute drive southwest of Portland, the region stretches south from the Columbia River for roughly 150 miles. The Willamette Valley is arguably the only region in the world that can truly rival Burgundy’s famed Cote d’Or. In blind tastings, these wines repeatedly confuse even the top Burgundy experts. There are myriad reasons for this. First off, the appellation sits at the same latitude as Burgundy, which delivers almost identical growing conditions. Second, these wines are further distinguished by the unique soil complexity. The complicated and ancient soils were created by combined efforts of the Missoula floods, numerous volcanic lava flows and the arrival of an ancient seabed (sedimentary soils) thanks to tectonic plate shifting, which deliver a unique blend of soils unlike anything else in the world. 

Russ and Mary Raney, the founders of Evesham Wood, first cultivated the treasured vineyard, Le Puits Sec, which translates to “Dry Well,” in the Eola-Amity Hills back in 1986. The complex soils, rich in volcanic basalt, coupled with the east-facing slopes of 300-plus-feet elevation, offered the perfect site to deliver grapes that would inevitably produce world-class Pinot Noir. Russ and Mary embraced organic viticulture early on along with the traditional, minimal interference techniques of Burgundy. They do not irrigate their prized “old vines;” they allow their vines to dig deep in the earth for nutrients, which further concentrates the fruit. Back in 2010, Russ and Mary finally retired and sold their estate to Erin and Jordan Nuccio, who have soaked their knowledge up like a sponge and have worked to maintain the Raney’s classic way of doing things through minimal interference. With the passion and dedication of their predecessors to fuel them, Erin and Jordan strive to maintain the consistency of quality on the estate in the same manner that Russ and Mary did by successfully allowing the vineyard speak for itself.