At SommSelect we always talk about the Willamette Valley delivering the best price-to-quality Pinot Noirs on earth, and this wine is a perfect example to support that bold claim. As the Willamette Valley continues to evolve into one of the world’s very best terroirs for Pinot Noir, a handful of its heritage vineyard sites have crossed over into “Grand Cru” territory. At the top of that list is the Temperance Hill Vineyard, a 100-acre landmark in the Eola-Amity Hills whose high-elevation Pinot Noir factors into the wines of some 26 different producers.
As in Burgundy, one vineyard site may be interpreted many ways, but in the end, the character of the vineyard will assert itself as well. Thanks to both altitude and volcanic soils, among other factors, wines from Temperance Hill are characterized by a firm backbone and an herbal, woodsy quality perfectly suited to their Pacific Northwest origins. Not surprisingly, the ever-resourceful and supremely talented Erin Nuccio obtains fruit from Temperance Hill for a single-vineyard bottling and, not surprisingly, it’s a profound Pinot Noir at a bargain price. This is the Nuccio modus operandi, both with Evesham Wood and his Haden Fig label, and his wines have become staples of the SommSelect Oregon Pinot diet. His take on the legendary Temperance Hill is one of the least expensive you’ll find, but make no mistake: it delivers on every level!
This should come as no surprise to those of you who’ve enjoyed the many excellent wines we’ve offered from Evesham Wood (and Haden Fig, for that matter). Erin Nuccio’s rapid rise through the wine ranks has been documented here before: He started his career in wine at a retail shop in Washington, DC; moved west with his wife to attend enology school and apprentice at wineries; then landed a job with Evesham Wood founder Russ Raney, whose vineyard, first planted in 1986, was (and is) a model of sustainability (it was certified organic way back in 2000). Over the years, Nuccio became winemaker at Evesham Wood while also launching Haden Fig (a SommSelect’s subscriber favorite), and in 2010 Nuccio and his wife, Jordan, purchased Evesham Wood outright. In addition to bottling wines from Evesham Wood’s jewel-box estate vineyard, “Le Puits Sec” (“The Dry Well”), Nuccio continues the Raney tradition of crafting single-vineyard bottlings from sustainably farmed sites across the Willamette Valley.
The Temperance Hill Vineyard, overseen by grower Dai Crisp since 1999, was first planted back in 1981. It now spans 100 acres of (mostly) Pinot Noir, is Certified Organic, and counts some 26 different producers (including prestige names like Bergstrom, Antica Terra, and St. Innocent) as clients. Ranging in elevation from 600-800 feet, atop the remnants of an ancient volcano, it is one of Willamette’s coolest sites, prized for wines that have penetrating aromas—a profound ‘woodsiness’ in particular—and firm backbones.
Like the other Evesham Wood single-vineyard bottlings, today’s 2015 was a minuscule-production wine (145 cases total) made naturally and by hand: It’s hand-harvested, fermented on indigenous yeasts, and “punched down” (pushing the cap of skins into the juice during fermentation) manually. It was aged 18 months in mostly used French oak barrels.
Nuccio describes this 2015 (which is sold out on their website) as having the “classic Temperance nose of cedar and green tobacco,” but says it is a little less pronounced than in previous vintages, “[making] way for more fruit to show through.” Our tasting confirmed this delicious balance of sweet and savory: In the glass, it displays a deep, reflective ruby core moving to magenta/pink at the rim. The aromas are a penetratingly perfumed mix of wild strawberry, black cherry, black raspberry, underbrush, rose petals, sandalwood, herbs, and a strong dose of damp, freshly turned earth. All the Evesham Wood Pinots have great balance and nerve, and this one especially so: It is medium-bodied and combines an appealing lushness with a fine-grained, yet firm, dusting of tannin, reminding me of wines from Chambolle-Musigny. It is ready to drink now and should continue to improve over the next 5-10 years or more; decanting is optional (it never hurts), but temperature, of course, is always most important. Serve this just above cellar temperature, ~60-65 degrees, in Burgundy stems and pair it with the attached Roasted Duck with Orange and Ginger recipe. Yet another winner from Evesham Wood!
