Abbey Ridge could arguably be the best site in the Dundee Hills, though White Rose and a few others make a strong argument that isn’t really true. That said, the Dundee Hills-in my opinion-isn’t remotely close to the best AVA. So definitely not the best vineyard in the Willamette Valley.
Even arguing for the Dundee Hills-Eyrie’s Daphne vineyard, again IMO, is as good as Abbey Ridge in the same higher elevation way. But Durant, Clos Electrique, Eyrie OV and Maresh vineyard all make very, very strong arguments for the lower elevation (as in lower than Abbey Ridge) version of the Dundee Hills. That doesn’t even take Arcus into the equation…
I love Jay Somers, and he makes great wines, but I don’t agree with him on best vineyards. Which is why a list is way better than “this is the best”. Any vineyard on this list and many I have skipped can make the “best” wine in any given vintage.
And if you like to drink your Willamette Valley wines from 5-10 years of age and have silky fruit, the Premier Cru quality AVA of the Dundee Hills is probably your best bet. Especially the Old Vine sites, which really make some great wines.
If you want GC quality, you should probably take a look at AVAs with shallower soils. At 15-20 years of age, I’ll take Eola-Amity Hills, some Ribbon Ridge, and the vineyards I listed in the Patton Valley-Cherry Grove corridor. Bednarik makes some ridiculously good wines (planted in 1985).
Love my peeps in the WV, so please don’t take this personally. I’m stirring the pot. There really isn’t a best.
Reputable or great or most likely excellent? There aren’t exactly tons of vineyards that are big enough to a lot of wineries each year. Many have been named already. There are also the small sites that basically have one producer associated with them and a few have been named. There are obviously many, many of those.
I have had the good fortune to work with an insanely large swath of vineyards that would make this list in some form or another and another section of sites that would be adjacent or near these sites (Balcombe for instance is adjacent to White Rose, which Patty and I tended from 1994-99 and bottled in 1996-1998, and just up the hill from Durant).
The question obviously is about what is produced and what the consumer should care about. Some great vineyards have, let’s say, behind the scenes issues which might make them less reputable in the eyes of a producer while having no impact on a buyer of wine. So, let’s set that aside.
I, like Marcus, agree that I find the Pinots of the Dundee Hills beautiful but wanting more even when I think they’re amazing. One of my favorite vineyards to make wine from was in the Dundee Hills and it had enormous character and power that I found above and beyond most DH wines but I also know that many parts of that vineyard were not at the level of my main block.
I certainly think the Ribbon Ridge area has a claim to the area with the most consistent excellence within its borders. The RR trade tasting we do is largely a roomful of very good+ wines. Been fortunate to work with 4 sites over the years within the AVA. What has become clear to me is that the fruit we get with great numbers at harvest, from old vines, that has excellent ownership and ends up producing freaking crazy stunning wines is Ridgecrest Vineyard. Is that the most reputable site? Who knows. But if I was betting money I’d put it on Ribbon Ridge to find the best area and as much as I love my vineyard and believe it has high highs still to come we haven’t made anything from here that rivals the best we’ve made out of Ridgecrest (2023).
Hyland is great. We make an amazing wine from there. It’s also 135+ acres, has changed ownership, has a range of plantings, slopes, clones, varieties, elevations, farming practices.
One of our best wines comes from there. But we get 5 acres of however big it is.
I brought out of town friends to PG this weekend, and my buddy picked up a case of wine, including some of your Hyland Coury clone with my encouragement. So we clearly agree with you. You were busy bottling, so I didn’t ask to say hi.
Another good visit, so thank you. You’ve got a great team.
Over the last half dozen vintages, the Daphne has been my favorite from Eyrie. It is pretty small, though, and relatively new. In the same general neighborhood of Abby Ridge, Mineral Ridge (Soter) and Belle Pente are ultra premium sites, but have only one wine making team honoring the vines…
Winderlea/Anna are nearly contiguous with Maresh, of course with some variations of soil and sun exposure.
They are all certainly “reputable”, as have earned many accolades. What is best, or better, can be debated honestly for generations to come.
Early on in my “Now I like Pinot Noir” days I chased as many Shea bottling as I could find, because it had a reputation for being “great”, what I realize now is it’s less about the vineyard and more about the producer (for me). Mostly I find Shea vineyard to be big, fruit-forward, and on the darker end of the spectrum in fruit profiles…maybe great if you like wines from villages like Pommard or Vosne Romanee, but not my cup of tea. If I was going to make a list of vineyards in Oregon, it would be a list of vineyards that need to be tried to better understand Oregon Pinot Noir.
Agreed regarding Shea.
I saw the same scenario with some of the more highly acclaimed vineyards in CA. Heck, even in Burgundy.(Pick your producer wisely.)
Understanding that all good producers are good producers because, first and foremost, they get great fruit from great vineyards and then have the talent and persistance to not eff it up.
Is it the Dominique or the Montrachet that makes Lafon great? Probably both, but it’s the Montrachet that allows him to be considered among the greatest Chardonnay producers in the world. I like his Macon project but there’s a reason those wines are $50/bottle and the Montrachet is a $1000/bottle.
Same for Rousseau, the Chambertin/Clos de Beze are unreal, the Gevrey is average. I wouldn’t pay $300 for the Gevrey if my life depended on it, but if my budget allowed spending $2000/bottle on the CdB I would buy it in a heartbeat.
What producer out there is so great that it doesn’t matter where their fruit comes from? Who would you pay $500/bottle for regardless of vineyard? Sine Qua Non could be an argument (not my style nor would I buy them at all, but they deserve the mention as I really can’t think of anyone else). Either way, I think it’s a short list.
There are good examples of lesser vineyards that are excellent with the right producer such as D’Auvenay’s Auxey or villages or Coche Meursault village or Leroy NSG/Pommard/etc.
But more relevant than that, how many producers make less expensive Monty or Chevy or RSV that is less expensive for a reason - it’s disappointing. Same thing happens with great vineyards all over Burg and I assume all over the world. Bad producers and/or vineyard managers make subpar wine from even the best plots.
Agreed, there are many producers who make excellent wines from not truly great sites. But even the Coche and Leroy wines come from good vineyards in a region that has been the gold standard for PN and Chardonnay for centuries. Village Meursault wines aren’t Le Montrachet, but they aren’t Scotts Mills either.
Coche does outperform their peers from similar sites on a regular basis though, and producer is definitely the deciding factor for me. But suggesting vineyard doesn’t matter isn’t really something I agree with at all. All great producers do have great vineyards to work with, the hierarchy of site in burgundy may have its exceptions but they put the Grand Cru status on the sites instead of the producers for a reason (notably Bordeaux is different).
Definitely would never mean to convey that. The original comment that I agreed with just said it’s less about vineyard and more about producer. Vineyard certainly plays a part, especially when you are talking about the lower end of locations.
That doesn’t stop some from creating plenty of subpar wine made from GC vineyards due to poor or careless farming and/or poor winemaking.
Agreed. But almost all of the poor examples of GC wines are on the producer (or climate chamge). This does not take vintage into account, but a poor vintage usually affects everyone to some degree so overcoming, or not, difficult conditions is still producer related.
There’s little doubt that a superlative talent can produce a better wine from a good vineyard than a mediocre talent will from a great vineyard.