Someone revived an 11 year old thread about California AVAs so I thought I’d start up one about Oregon.
My votes are for Ribbon Ridge for Pinot noir and Eola-Amity Hills for Chardonnay.
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I prefer the Dundee Hills AVA for PN, but 100% agree with Eola-Amity for Chardonnay. Just exquisite.
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Agree on the Chardonnay. Pinot is s bit tougher to pick a favorite. There are so many excellent Pinots from the various AVAs.
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Overall, I think Dundee Hills, Ribbon Ridge, and Eola Amity Hills are the top AVAs for both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and it’s hard for me to separate them. Eola Amity has some great vineyards like Seven Springs, X Novo, and Temperence Hill.
Ribbon Ridge can counter with vineyards like Windy Ridge, Brick House, Patty Green, and Beaux Freres. Dundee Hills has Eyrie, Abbey Ridge, Maresh, Durant, Domaine Drouhin, Arcus, and many more. Just based on the number of renowned vineyards, I’d probably go with Dundee Hills for both wines.
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Rick, I agree with you on Dundee Hills, and your list didn’t include Clos Electrique or White Rose, two other top vineyards.
Not certain how much Chardonnay is in Ribbon Ridge. Beaux Freres has precious little, we have 2 acres but only since we grafted some Pinot to Chardonnay in 2019, Whistling Ridge has some but it isn’t a big vineyard, Brick House has around 3 acres I think, Ridgecrest and Wind Ridge don’t have any (I believe), Ayres I’m not sure about but it couldn’t be much and so on. Marcus and Doug have certainly proven the high end level of Chardonnay in the AVA (I certainly hope to join that group although I admit being a bit nervous about it all). I would be curious about what the acreage of it is here given the relatively small total acreage of grapes.
Not certain how much Chardonnay is in Ribbon Ridge. Beaux Freres has precious little, we have 2 acres but only since we grafted some Pinot to Chardonnay in 2019, Whistling Ridge has some but it isn’t a big vineyard, Brick House has around 3 acres I think, Ridgecrest and Wind Ridge don’t have any (I believe), Ayres I’m not sure about but it couldn’t be much and so on. Marcus and Doug have certainly proven the high end level of Chardonnay in the AVA (I certainly hope to join that group although I admit being a bit nervous about it all). I would be curious about what the acreage of it is here given the relatively small total acreage of grapes.
Didn’t find a source for the data quoted so not sure how accurate or up to date. But according the WV Winemakers assoc there are 500 acres planted in the Ribbon Ridge AVA and 1.11% (~5.5 acres) is chardonnay.
Well, I know it’s more than that. Maybe not much more but definitely more.
That did sound awfully low. Figured that site prob not totally up-to-date… And also not sure whether they are only counting member vineyards.
It’s not the size that matters…
I really enjoy wines from all of the AVAs, and DEFINITELY view my cellar similarly to an album collection.
That said, I see more Grand Cru quality for Pinot Noir in Ribbon Ridge, Eola-Amity Hills, and Yamhill-Carlton. More 1er Cru type wines from Dundee Hills and Chehalem Mountains. McMinnville tends to dark and dense, but there are still some gems. And only recently attaining sub-AVA status is the corridor of vineyards between Patton Valley and Cherry Grove(as part of the new Tualitan Hills AVA). But Bednarik, Cancilla, Cherry Grove, and Patton Valley are four phenomenal sites in the North Valley.
For Chardonnay, the quality is pretty widespread, and in my opinion it’s still too early to start a hierarchy of sites.
Love JP at Cameron, Clos Electrique is magic, but how much of that is John, how much of it is his clonal selections, and how much is actually AVA?
As noted, Ribbon Ridge has so little planted…
And while the Eola-Amity Hills obviously produces some great wines, it also has a very high density of excellent Chardonnay winemakers. What if Craig Williams had purchased fruit in Yamhill-Carlton(where Shane Moore at Grand Moraine is making some very, very good wines), and planted Ex-Novo there?
There’s too few data points for Chardonnay to draw significant conclusions, other than Willamette Valley Chardonnay is world class when done well. (IMO)
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Sometimes being a bit nervous is a good motivator. Your Chardonnay is getting better each year. It is among the select few I buy. Come to think of it, I probably buy more Chardonnay from Ribbon Ridge than any other AVA.
A bottle of Arterberry Maresh, Maresh Vineyard 2005, that I opened last August was pretty grand! That said, I prefer the older English use of the term “Best” meaning “of the highest quality.” It’s more expansive of excellence.
I haven’t tried much Chardonnay from Yamhill-Carlton other than Lazy River from Lavinea, though I’ve got plenty of Pinot noir from there. My observation is that Dundee Hills produces more “crowd pleasers” with the bright fruits, while Y-C with its dark fruits and earth appeal more to hard-core Pinot fans.
I’m genuinely curious to see what Cody Wright does with his latest Ribbon Ridge purchase. Purple Hands is one of my top recommendations.
Maybe a dumb question, but do you attribute the Grand Cru styles of Yamhill-Carlton to the winemakers or the region? You have legends like Ken Wright, Bob Brittan, Isabelle Meunier, Lynn Penner-Ash etc making wine in Y-C.
I’m genuinely curious to see how Cody Wright’s vineyard in Ribbon Ridge fares. I like his style of winemaking a lot.
I know this thread is about Willamette valley, but being a noob in regards to Pinot and Chard. What about the places wineries in Sonoma for Pinot and Chard? Thanks!
Lot of ground to cover in both the WV and Sonoma. Might be good to start a separate thread on this, especially since this one is about AVAs and you asked about wineries as well?
Armstrong has an acre of Chardonnay on Ribbon Ridge. Hadn’t really thought about it though, there’s not a lot of Chard on RR is there. We need to change that. I think it’s a great area for both grapes and a wonderful contrast in my cellar for the Pinot and Chard of my Eola Amity Hills.
Trisaetum has some Chardonnay planted but I don’t know how much. Same for Utopia and Domaine Divio. Pretty sure all of those would be somewhat small parcels so maybe 12-15 acres of Chardonnay total in the AVA. Might be that PH Estate has Chardonnay in it although it wouldn’t be producing yet.