The complexity of Oregon’s Willamette Valley is millennia in the making. Thanks to an ancient lava eruption, the Missoula Floods, and the shifting of tectonic plates over the Willamette Valley’s, the geological history in this pocket of the world cannot be replicated. The incredibly diverse Chehalem Mountains AVA is home to a vast array of soil types that lend to the stunning wine produced there. Michael and Lisa Noel planted their treasured two acres to six Burgundian clones of Pinot Noir in premium Jory soils at 800 feet of elevation. The high elevation hill has a western-facing aspect and looks over a picturesque view of Ribbon Ridge AVA and the Coastal Mountain Range, forming the western boundary of Willamette Valley. Their veteran vineyard manager, Luis Hernandez, currently manages the famed 87-acre Sokol Blosser vineyard for over twenty years before joining the Noel family. Under his guidance, yields are limited to a mere one to one-and-a-half tons per acre, lending ample concentration and aromatics to each grape used. Farming is strictly organic and worked without pesticides, herbicides or fungicides. This dedication translates to pristine, concentrated fruit and a definitive sense of place.

Michael and Lisa first met at Carnegie-Mellon, but it was on a trip to visit Lisa’s family in Verona, Italy in 1996 that first inspired the couple to seek out a life in the wine industry. Before they purchased their special pocket of land in the Willamette, Michael first crafted wines in his garage. After they jointly cleared the land and planted their vines, the Noels hired veteran winemaker Todd Hamina who handcrafts the Noel Family Vineyard Chehalem Mountains Pinot Noir in his own Biggio Hamina Cellars. Following fermentation, only the free-run juice is racked into 100% French oak barrels where the wine ages for roughly one year. Thanks to the strict use of the free run juice, the wine has immense purity, a silken mouthfeel and has incredibly soft tannins akin to a well made Chambolle-Musigny.