Oregon
Carlton, Oregon
Brian and Jill O'Donnell's Belle Pente estate has come to be known as one of the most reliable, "Blue Chip" producers in the state of Oregon. These wines have another dimension of complexity and elegance to them that is rare in the new world. They farm organically at the estate and follow most of the biodynamic guidelines ( yet seek no certifications), as well as purchase from other quality oriented growers in the nearby areas of the Williamette Valley. Brian limits his radius of vineyards he works with to 5 miles. That way he can frequently check on them to be sure the grapes he has contracted for being grown in the right way. Winemaker Brian seeks to craft terroir driven wines that express Pinot Noir and the places it is grown. He is not making the very dark, big, alcoholic wines that unfortunately seem to be in fashion with many winemakers. All of the wines are carefully made in their tri-level, gravity flow cellar.
(Available in Connecticut only)
After making wines for some well known producers over the last 2 decades, Kelley Fox is flyin' solo as of 2015, and increasing production modestly year by year, without giving up the wines' highly pedigreed sourcing. She utilizes only very high quality, exclusively organic fruit sources. Although she doesn't own these vineyards she is none the less very involved in the farming of her sections. Since these wines debuted a decade ago they have had consistently, uniformly high praise. The most recent being from the Dec. 2016 Vinous Article; "Anyone who avers that New World Pinot cannot match Burgundy for finesse and complexity has clearly never tried anything from this small, impressively consistent producer" and "As approachable as Fox’s wines are soon after release, they have the balance to age and, as a bonus, they deliver exceptional value for their quality." Quietly and slowly Kelley has gone from a tiny upstart as a side project to her "Day Job" to one of OR's "Blue Chip" producers.
Salem, Oregon
Ray Schaeffer is the owner/winemaker of this micro-sized start up focused on the Eola Amity Hills AVA in OR. Les Brebis (pr; lay brew bee) means "the ewes" or female sheep for those not as accustomed to French animal husbandry terms. Using his own name would undoubtedly end up legally complicated and since Schaeffer means "Shepherd" in German, it somehow ended up with this name. Ray sources fruit from several vineyards, all in the Eola Amity Hills AVA, spontaneously ferments in small open top fermenters and then goes to a judicious 20% new french oak elevage. As his still tiny production expands just a bit, there are some additional bottlings. We have for the first time his extreeemely small production wines from his two best vineyards in the Eola -Amity hills, just 3 barrels (68 cases) each of Zenith and Walnut Hill vineyards.
Newberg, Oregon
Matt Kinne has quietly been making excellent Pinots for two decades now. To say he is not big on self promotion, is a huge understatement. Matt prefers to let his uniquely styled wines sell themselves. And they do, for 20 years now. Yet Matt's wines are not for everyone, with their lower alcohols and higher acids, these wines are loved by wine lovers and rarely by some wine writers that prize power and sweet fruit over finesse.
John Haeger's first book on Pinot Noir simply states that,
He maintains a low profile but makes some of Oregon's best Pinot Noir (and) ...Every McKinlay Pinot I have tasted has been complex and fine.
Dundee Hills, Oregon
From the company that brought you Arterberry-Maresh and Kelley Fox Wines, comes the most important new producer of excellent wines out of the Dundee Hills in quite a long time. The two aforementioned were quite good when they began and over a decade became truly superb. Chris Mazepink's White Walnut Estate is starting out superb, right out of the gate, I can only imagine how good these wines will be with additional vine age. All of the viticulture is certified organic by USDA and biodynamic by Demeter and all in the Jory soils of the Dundee Hills. Chris and his sons Archer and Charles planted their 6.5 acres that border Drouhin and Archery Summit in 2014 according to an ideology of "polyculture" Chris had developed over his decades as winemaker for Shea, Archery Summit and Benton Lane. There are also some small nearby parcels that are leased and farmed by the Mazepink family. The only drawback that I see is that at least for some time there is just so little wine available for our market.