While you all sold us clean out of Arterberry Maresh’s Dundee Hills a few weeks ago, that was only the beginning of the extraordinary Willamette Valley treasures we have in store, and today’s two-part library release proves that emphatically. First up is Ayres’ gorgeous, dark-fruited, jaw-droppingly perfumed 2015 “Pioneer.” Ayres has mastered artisanal Pinot Noir from the famed Ribbon Ridge AVA, so when proprietor Brad McLeroy alerted us to the fact that his trove of back vintages was running on fumes, our reply was instant in the extreme—we booked a flight, rented a car, and met him at his cellar door. 

After tasting through some delicious barrel samples, he unveiled the main attraction: four older vintages in scant supply, and it was the cuvée on offer today that left us completely transfixed. The 180 bottles in our possession represent the last in existence, and each one is enjoying a marvelous drinking window: Dip your nose in a Burgundy stem and tell me that this seven-year-old Ribbon Ridge stunner doesn’t emit some of the noblest, soul-lifting Pinot aromatics imaginable. It’s right in line with a Chambolle or Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru—except a Burgundy of this provenance and age, with this level of intricacy and deeply woven texture, would cost $100 at the bare minimum! We’re allowing up to six bottles per person so please move double-time if you want a piece of this rare pie before it’s gone forever!

NOTE: Be on the lookout this afternoon for part two of our Willamette Valley back-vintage showcase!

As you’ve probably gathered by now, we’re huge fans of this ‘mom-and-pop’ winery and believe that serious magic is happening within Ayres’ Ribbon Ridge vineyards. Ribbon Ridge is a pretty magical place by itself: It’s an outlier region, and also the smallest, of the Willamette Valley, tucked into the western tip of the greater Chehalem Mountains. You don’t hear as much chatter about Ribbon Ridge as you do the Dundee Hills or the Eola-Amity Hills, but what you do hear tends to be glowing. 

Harry Peterson-Nedry is Ribbon Ridge’s great frontiersman, planting its first vineyard (Ridgecrest) in 1980. There are now some very big names in Ribbon Ridge, including Beaux Frères and the great Patricia Green, who arrived in 2000, the same year as Brad and Kathleen McLeroy of Ayres. After several years making wine under the brilliant wing of Veronique Drouhin of Domaine Drouhin in the heart of the Dundee Hills, Brad McLeroy started out with just a few acres and has since built it to 20 mostly east-facing vines on ancient Willakenzie sediments. McLeroy is a stubborn, terroir-hoarding purist and by sticking to his game, he is making some of the most sublime Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley. 

Unlike the other sub-appellations of the Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge is a distinguished natural geological formation of uniform soils—a unique seabed uplift from the northwest peak of the Chehalem Mountains. It’s not the coolest place in the Willamette, nor is it the warmest, but it hangs its hat on being one of the driest, with a long consistent growing season, less susceptible to temperature spikes and uneven ripening. And with Pinot Noir, the less climatic twists and turns, the better. Ayres is the name of the estate as well as the vineyard, and “Pioneer” is a special block within Ayres, representing McLeroy’s oldest plantings of Pinot Noir (in 2001). It’s pure Dijon Clone 667, which means dark-fruited, plush Pinot Noir, but it’s far from thick and glossy. The Ayres style is remarkably light-handed and wonderfully perfumed.  

The McLeroys are the fortunate gatekeepers of their land. They farm their own vines, they make the wines on-site, and they live there—it doesn’t get much more “artisanal” than that. No herbicides, nor pesticides have ever been used at the Ayres farm. All the vineyards are dry-farmed with organic practices, and the estate has been certified sustainable since 2007. For this 2015 “Pioneer,” hand-harvested fruit fermented with natural yeasts, with a small portion of whole-cluster fruit to enliven texture and add complexity. The wine spent roughly one year in French barrels, around 10-20% new, and has spent the last five slumbering in his cellar.

Although Ayres’ 2015 “Pioneer” flashes with vibrant tinges of dark ruby, you won’t be focused on its brilliant color: the nose delivers breathtaking aromatics that could never be mistaken for anything other than purely crafted, sublime, developing Pinot Noir. Ripe black cherry and kola nut lead the charge, followed by black raspberry, cool blue fruits, rose petals, forest floor, licorice, light baking spices, and a sage-rosemary infusion. The palate is ripe and supple, there is certainly polish, but it remains fresh and refined overall with an uncanny resemblance to a Côte de Nuits Premier Cru of the same vintage. What’s more, seven years of age has also added several fine layers of savory earth, hints of mushroom, and dried tea leaves—spectacular enhancements to an already supple, complex Pinot Noir. After a brief 30-minute decant, treat it to large Burgundy stems around 60 degrees and savor your other bottles over the next 5-8 years. Cheers!