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Cristom, Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir, “Eileen”

Oregon, United States 2013 (750mL)
$59.00
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Fruit
Earth
Body
Tannin
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Alcohol

Cristom, Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir, “Eileen”

Because Burgundy is still the standard by which the world’s Pinot Noirs are judged, I consider it high praise to say that this mesmerizing 2013 from Cristom could easily be mistaken for Premier or Grand Cru red Burgundy (which almost certainly would cost more). The fact that the Willamette Valley has become a legitimate rival to Burgundy, in such a relatively short period of time, is one of the greatest stories in wine.
As Cristom’s “Eileen” Pinot Noir cruises effortlessly into its prime drinking window, as poised and perfumed as Pinot Noir gets, I can’t help but reflect on how the producers of Willamette Valley have exponentially raised the bar since I first got into the wine business. I repeatedly say that the best “pound for pound” Pinot Noir on earth comes from Oregon, and this wine is further evidence of that. I don’t think any wine region has had such a meteoric rise, and Cristom is one of its heritage properties—critically beloved and focused first and foremost on viticulture, which is why their wines are so consistently brilliant. The “Eileen” vineyard, named for Cristom’s co-founder, Eileen Gerrie, is the estate’s ‘grand cru’ site in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA, a high-elevation parcel exposed to cooling Pacific breezes and rooted in volcanic basalt. Critic Allen Meadows of Burghound called this ’13 “positively Volnay-esque,” and while I’m inclined to agree, I think it’s just as powerful at this point to call it “peak Willamette Valley.” That, to me, is equally high praise: This wine is a benchmark.
Cristom was founded in 1992 by Paul and Eileen Gerrie, who first began planting her namesake vineyard in 1997. It was augmented in 2006 to reach its current size of 16.61 acres, and its positioning is such that it is refreshed by breezes funneled in through a break in the Pacific Range called the Van Duzer Corridor (a key feature of the Eola-Amity Hills AVA). The soils in the Eileen site are various types of volcanic basalt, from different “series” including Nekia and Jory. Between the wide diurnal temperature shifts and the mineral-rich, well-draining soil, this is an ideal site for Pinot Noir—as has been borne out since the release of the first Pinot Noir from the site in 2000.

The estate is Certified Sustainable by an organization called LIVE (Low Input Viticulture and Enology), which means not just eliminating chemical inputs in the vineyards but taking a natural approach in the cellar as well. Vineyard manager Mark Feltz and winemaker Steve Doerner have both been with Cristom since its founding, and today Paul and Eileen Gerrie’s son, Tom Gerrie, runs the show. He is currently in the process of converting the estate to biodynamic farming.

Doerner and company ferment the Cristom wines using native yeasts and varying percentages of whole grape clusters depending on the vintage. Aging is done in an array of Burgundy barrels of varying sizes, a small percentage of which are new. It’s a gentle, minimally invasive approach that yields wines of impeccable finesse and balance, even in a warm, “generous” vintage like 2013. In the glass, it’s a deep and luminous garnet red moving to pink at the rim, with a highly perfumed nose of red and black raspberries, bing cherry, warm spices, violets, black tea, and underbrush. It is slightly over medium-bodied on the palate and starting to show a few ‘secondary’ notes of leather and damp leaves, but the balance of fruit and earth still skews strongly toward fruit. It is very fine, filigree, bright, energetic, long…really everything one could ask for from the Pinot Noir grape. This, right here, is why people fall in love with Pinot Noir and never look back, and if you’re a Burgundy drinker, I’d encourage you to throw this bottle into a side-by-side tasting with something serious. I’m confident—no I’m certain—it will perform. Serve this in Burgundy stems after a 30-minute decant with a simple, crisp roast chicken or the attached baked salmon preparation. This one is special, so try to cellar a few, too. Cheers!
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Country
United States
Region
Oregon
Sub-Region
United StatesWillamette Valley
Soil
Volcanic Basalt
Farming
Sustainable
Blend
Pinot Noir 100%
Alcohol
13.5
OAK
Partial New French
TEMP.
60-65
Glassware
Burgundy Stems
Drinking
Now-2030
Decanting
30 Minutes
Pairing
Baked Salmon

United States

Washington

Columbia Valley

Like many Washington wines, the “Columbia Valley” indication only tells part of the story: Columbia Valley covers a huge swath of Central
Washington, within which are a wide array of smaller AVAs (appellations).

Oregon

Willamette Valley

Oregon’s Willamette Valley has become an elite winegrowing zone in record time. Pioneering vintner David Lett, of The Eyrie Vineyard, planted the first Pinot Noir in the region in 1965, soon to be followed by a cadre of forward-thinking growers who (correctly) saw their wines as America’s answer to French
Burgundies. Today, the Willamette
Valley is indeed compared favorably to Burgundy, Pinot Noir’s spiritual home. And while Pinot Noir accounts for 64% of Oregon’s vineyard plantings, there are cool-climate whites that must not be missed.

California

Santa Barbara

Among the unique features of Santa Barbara County appellations like Ballard Canyon (a sub-zone of the Santa Ynez Valley AVA), is that it has a cool, Pacific-influenced climate juxtaposed with the intense luminosity of a southerly
latitude (the 34th parallel). Ballard Canyon has a more north-south orientation compared to most Santa Barbara AVAs, with soils of sandy
clay/loam and limestone.

California

Paso Robles

Situated at an elevation of 1,600 feet, it is rooted in soils of sandy loam and falls within the Highlands District of the Paso Robles AVA.

New York

North Fork

Wine growers and producers on Long Island’s North Fork have traditionally compared their terroir to that of Bordeaux and have focused on French varieties such as Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

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