In case you’re unaware of the enduring hype and intrigue swirling around Arterberry Maresh, this is one of the founding families of Willamette Valley wine and their hauntingly classic Pinot Noirs have been worshipped for decades. Perhaps the peak of adulation came when Robert Parker tasted their 1985 release, exclaiming “only a handful of Pinot Noirs in my experience have delivered greater beauty or more striking singularity.” And while today’s 2018 is 33 years removed from that legendary bottling, Parker’s words still ring true.

Cellar wizard Jim Arterberry Maresh, a third-generation Dundee Hills grower, has raised the bar to a seemingly insurmountable height, producing nuanced, aromatically complex, and wonderfully pure Pinot Noirs that everyone can afford. We’ve offered and sold through them over the years, but today’s special bottling is a first—an affordable “upgrade” if you will. The “Old Vines'' displayed on the front label is the sole clue: Maresh’s 2018 comes from two of the oldest and most sought-after vineyard sites in all of Willamette Valley. Unfortunately, this distinguished cuvée has been produced just two other times, as they only wanted 40+-year-old vines fueling this tremendous, if not historic, Pinot Noir. Furthermore, they’re not made in substantial quantities and each release has garnered eye-popping scores that have only quickened the velocity in which they sell out. The choice is yours, of course, but when there’s a rare chance to secure a profound, old-vine Pinot Noir from a Burgundy-toppling region for $45, it’s not really much of a choice!

I consider it the ultimate win-win when we can offer a wine that is not only an unparalleled value but made by a reference-point producer—a “teachable moment,” if you will. In the late 1950s, Jim and Loie Maresh bought a farm in the Dundee Hills and began growing assorted fruits and other crops. Shortly after David Lett of Eyrie planted what was said to be the first Pinot Noir vines in the Willamette Valley, Jim and Loie—encouraged by another Willamette Valley luminary, Dick Erath—planted their first grapevines, in 1970. That original site, called the Maresh (pronounced “Marsh”) vineyard, is the fifth-oldest vineyard in the Valley and a major fruit source for today’s wine. 

Jim and Loie’s daughter, Martha Maresh, married Willamette Valley winemaker Fred Arterberry, whose eponymous label was well-known and well-regarded, thanks in no small part to prime Pinot fruit from the Maresh Vineyard. Arterberry Winery closed after Fred’s untimely death in 1990, and for many years the fruit from the Maresh site was used in acclaimed vineyard-designate bottlings from other producers. But when Jim Maresh, Jr., Fred and Martha’s son, established his label in 2005, he brought it back into the family fold. Given how “young” Oregon’s wine industry is, it’s rare to hear tell of a “third-generation” winegrower in the region, and in fact, Jim Maresh, Jr. may be the only one. For today’s “Old Vines” Pinot Noir, he sources fruit both his grandfather’s organic, dry-farmed Maresh Vineyard (60%), as well as the acclaimed Weber Vineyard (40%) which is yet another mature, top-performing Dundee Hills site. Soils here are mostly “Jory,” a silty clay/loam derived from igneous rock. At the cellar, the Pinot Noir was completely de-stemmed and saw 18 months of aging in French oak barrels, just 8% new. The wine was bottled in the Spring of 2020 without any fining or filtration. 

Arterberry Maresh’s style has always emphasized tension and lifted aromatics framed by moderate alcohol, and even at this relatively young age, today’s 2018 “Old Vines” shows seamless integration. Compared to Arterberry Maresh’s entry-level Pinot Noir, this special cuvée is its wiser, more developed older brother. After a 15-minute decant, deeply perfumed aromatics waft out of a large Burgundy stem in the form of wild strawberries, crushed black raspberries, baked plums, blood orange, goji berries, and huckleberries alongside savory aromas of crushed earth, dried rose petal, red licorice, loose tea, and spice cake. The medium-bodied palate is firm and elegant with delicate layers of lush, brambly fruit that enhance a soft crushed-mineral core. In other words, this is an impeccably balanced wine that should be required drinking for students of fine wine and/or admirers of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. Cheers!