Oregon Annual Report: Eye-Opening Chards, Impeccable Provenance and the Quest for ‘Breathtaking’ Wines

The fresh local oysters were savory and briny with a flavor intensity that told you they had been harvested that morning not far away on the rugged and pristine Oregon coastline, with its cold and clear Pacific waters and sculptured yet rugged rocky coastline. We were in the vineyard of Antica Terra, maker of some of the state’s most sought-after wines, eating the oysters and sipping on a cold glass of white wine as the brisk wind from the west swept up the valley, cutting through us in the early April evening sun. It was incredibly cold, but we were in the moment and enjoying every second of it.

Just about everything seems to taste great from the clean seas and green farmlands of Oregon, where you’re almost guaranteed impeccable provenance and flavor of whatever touches your lips. The concept of farm to table has an almost religious following in many parts of the state, and the best wines of Oregon are part of that culture.

“People are intensely proud about what comes from the land here,” said Michael Fay, head winemaker of Domaine Serene, one of the most consistently excellent wineries in the state. “We really care about it all.”

In fact, I was in the hillside vineyards of the Willamette Valley a number of times looking down on the valley floors and thinking of similar views and experiences in Europe during my four decades as a wine critic, particularly in Burgundy. No wonder chardonnay and pinot noir taste so good when you are in Oregon, even though the state produces wine from many other grape types, from riesling to gamay. It’s still all about pinot noir and chardonnay in Oregon although other varietal wines are intriguing. I thought about this many times over my eight-day tasting trip to Oregon with Associate Editor Nathan Slone when we rated almost 800 different wines.

But the great wines of Oregon are worth so much more than just my mental associations to faraway places and tastes, or my feelings while being in the Willamette Valley tasting them. The high quality is in the bottle. The clear Oregon nature of the wines, particularly pinot noir and chardonnay, shines through in the glass with their freshness and brilliance. We rated about 85 percent of the wines 90 points or more. Ten percent received ratings of 95 points or more. Plus, according to the Oregon Wine Board, slightly more than half of all the vineyards in the state are organically farmed, with about 42 percent sustainable.

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Some fantastic wines are clearly coming out of the state at the moment, particularly with the outstanding vintages of 2018 and 2019. This is even more compelling considering the difficulty most producers had making quality wines in 2020, which was impaired by the wildfires on the West Coast. Some producers managed to bottle quality wines, but many wines had smoke taint.

In our tastings, we prefer wines from the drier and hotter growing season of 2018 that produced opulent and structured reds, particularly pinot. They also have a riper fruit character and more tannins and depth. Meanwhile, the cooler and wetter 2019 made more linear and bright wines with a bluer and less red fruit character than the 2018s, at least for the pinot noir. The flower, hibiscus character with firm tannins and a vivid acidity is a hallmark for 2019 pinot.

“It was one of the hardest vintages I have done,” Maggie Harrison, the winemaker of Antica Terra, said of 2019. “You had to really work hard in your vineyards to get the best grapes. But I am so proud of the results.”

Both vintages are going to age well, just like past vintages. We tasted and drank dozens of pinots and chardonnays during our trip, and it was hard to find a bad bottle. And they develop many of the same characters of Burgundy, with spices, earth, mushroom, and forest flower aromas and flavors.

“This is a unique place to make extraordinary wines,” said Chris Hermann, who is a top lawyer in the wine industry and also one of its most impressive winemakers. He makes his small-production wines at 00 Wines with his wife, Kathryn. Their 00 Wines Pinot Noir Willamette Valley Eola-Amity Hills Richard Hermann Cuvée 2019 was our favorite wine of the tasting due to its transparent and real character. “When people taste our wines,” Hermann said, “the quality stops them in their tracks and they say, ‘Who are you and what are you doing?’”

We were certainly impressed with his wines, but we already knew 00 wines, particularly their awesome chardonnays. We also followed for years most of our other top-rated Oregon wineries in our mostly blind tastings. The names included Soter Vineyards, Antica Terra, Domaine Serene, Domaine Drouhin, Bergstrom Wines, Nicolas-Jay, Gran Moraine, Beaux Freres, The Eyrie Vineyards and Ponzi Vineyards. We did come across a few newcomers to the upper echelon of the Oregon wine kingdom such as Coria Estates and Hazelfern Cellars, but we hoped for more.

IDIOSYNCRATIC OREGON

Besides the 00 Wines Richard Hermann Cuveé 2019, the best pinot noirs of our tasting included Soter Pinot Noir Yamhill-Carlton Mineral Springs 2018, Domaine Serene Pinot Noir Dundee Hills Aspect 2018, and Antica Terra Pinot Noir Willamette Valley Botanica 2019.

To be honest, we were a little disappointed not finding more high-scoring wines. Personally, I find the growing regions of Willamette Valley amazing and the potential to make great pinot noir and chardonnay endless. In addition, the vineyards in the northeast of Oregon on the border with Walla Wallla, Washington, are also terrific and produce many fantastic wines, particularly syrah and grenache. I continue to ask myself why more producers don’t make breathtaking wines in the state.

I spoke to a lot of people on our trip about it and concluded that perhaps it’s part of the psyche of Oregonians. They are simply content with their lives and their wines as they are. “Many are happy to work the way they are,” said one winemaker, who was only half joking. “They love what they do and what they make. Oregonians are pretty idiosyncratic.”

Fair enough. And it still means it’s really easy to find outstanding quality bottles of Oregon pinot or chardonnay. And there is a likeliness to so many of the wines, both pinot and chardonnay. For example, most show a brightness and freshness with a subtle and graceful character that I appreciate, especially with my love of outstanding Burgundy. In fact, I think that at the price point of $25 to $40, Oregon generally makes better pinot and chardonnay than Burgundy. The very top of Burgundy is still the pinnacle for pinot and chardonnay, and few reach this in Oregon, yet it’s easy to find outstanding bottles of each in Oregon.

Also, we have written this a number of times, but Oregon chardonnay continues to be an eye-opener. We were still surprised to hear numerous Oregon winemakers on our trip bemoan that the wine trade and consumers in the United States don’t buy their chardonnays even though they have outstanding bottles. Yet, Oregon makes some of the best chardonnays in the United States to compete with the best in the world, including the top level in grand cru Burgundy.

“To convince the public about chardonnay is so hard still,” said Kate Norris, whose urban winery in Portland, Division Wine Co., makes distinctive wines from chardonnay and aligote to pinot and gamay. “They are afraid of the oaky and buttery chardonnays. A lot of people have made their mind up about Oregon chardonnay.”

But she added that younger people are much more open. “The new generation is curious and thirsty,” she said. “We need to give them more tools. Pull the cork and see what happens, People need to pull the cork.”

Our best chardonnays this year in our Oregon tasting included: Antica Terra Chardonnay Willamette Valley Aequorin 2019, Domaine Serene Chardonnay Dundee Hills Récolte Grand Cru 2018, 00 Wines Chardonnay Willamette Valley Eola-Amity Hills Richard Hermann Cuvée 2019, Hazelfern Chardonnay Willamette Valley Rock Block 2019, Ponzi Vineyards Chardonnay Willamette Valley Chehalem Mountains Avellana 2019, Bergström Chardonnay Dundee Hills Bergström Vineyard 2020, 00 Wines Chardonnay Willamette Valley EGW 2019, 00 Wines Chardonnay Chehalem Mountains Kathryn Hermann Cuvée 2019, and Soter Chardonnay Willamette Valley Estates 2019.

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“In 10 years or less, Oregon will be best known for chardonnay at the highest level,” added Hermann. “This little corner of the world in Willamette Valley really is something very special. It makes excellent pinot noir, but chardonnay will be best known for Oregon.”

It’s interesting to note that outsiders certainly see the high quality and potential for even greater wines in Oregon, and perhaps even more than locals. American beverage giant Constellation bought Lingua Franca for an undisclosed amount during our trip. Just a year before, Champagne Bollinger bought Ponzi Vineyards. And many more wine companies, both from Europe and the Unites States, are actively exploring purchases in Oregon’s wine country.

“We see great potential to build the brand of Ponzi in the future,” said Jean Baptiste Rivail, the CEO of Ponzi. “And we believe the quality of wines from our vineyards and in the region will only get better in the future."

– James Sucklling, Editor/Chairman