Say it with me: Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, crafted at its highest level, is among the finest wine experiences you can have. So why is a top single-vineyard bottling (Lewis Rogers Lane) from a region-defining producer (Ayres) still under $50? I simply chalk it up as one of the biggest pricing blunders of the 21st century. 

Sure, Burgundy has Oregon winemaking beat by a couple millennia but when it comes to the here and now, Willamette Pinot is a scorching moonshot with no end in sight. Every producer we’ve featured has been treated like royalty, yet Ayres’ offerings always seem to have an additional sense of urgency attached to them. And today, we’re sharing the pride and joy of their lineup—a sublime and perfumed Pinot Noir from Brad McLeroy’s dry-farmed “Lewis Rogers Lane” vineyard. Having personally visited and tasted today’s wine at Brad’s “mom and pop” estate in the iconic Ribbon Ridge AVA, I’m convinced there’s vinous magic afoot. Share a glass with Brad and he’ll tell you this tiny-production cuvée communicates his special terroir clearer than any other. If you’re still unconvinced, consider that some of the most time-tested and comprehensive Willamette tasters we know called this ’21 release “one of the prettiest, most pure expressions of Ribbon Ridge Pinot Noir [they’d] tasted.” Enjoy up to a case. 

After several years making wine under the brilliant wing of Veronique Drouhin (Domaine Drouhin) in the heart of the Dundee Hills, Brad McLeroy started out with just a few acres and has since built up a respectable collection of primarily east-facing vineyards on ancient Willakenzie sediments. 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 more “artisanal” than that. Furthermore, no herbicides or pesticides have ever been used at the property, all the vineyards are dry-farmed with organic practices, and the estate has been certified sustainable for over 15 years. 

Unlike the other sub-appellations of the Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge is a distinguished 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 is among 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’ “Lewis Rogers Lane” incorporates all of their Pinot Noir clones (667, 777, 115, 113, Pommard) from their very own estate vineyard deep in the Ribbon Ridge AVA. 

All of the hand-harvested fruit for this cuvée fermented with natural yeasts, with a small portion of whole-cluster fruit to enliven texture and add complexity to the finished wine. The wine spent just under one year in French barrels, 15% new, before bottling. Only 14 barrels were produced.

Perfumed and deeply polished with sublime, melt-in-your-mouth textures. That’s Ayres’ 2021 “Lewis Rogers Lane” in a sentence. It rumbles out of a Burgundy stem with ripe, high-toned black cherry, kola nut, muddled black raspberry, red licorice, sweet oak spice, damp earth, huckleberry compote, and a scintillating combination of blue and purple flowers. The plush palate is a few clicks beyond medium body and bright, juicy forest berries envelop the core before yielding to light hints of baking spice and earth. It’s pure. It’s addicting. It’s serious. It’s Willamette Valley Pinot crafted at its highest and most harmonious level.