Ten Best Oregon Pinot Noirs

This is new this year. The Washington lists are coming. I know you might expect the most famous names from the Willamette Valley, but in my opinion these are some of the best Oregon Pinot Noir producers. We have tasted numerous wines from these wineries with Bob and Kathy Tovey this past year. This is not a list to be set in stone. Wineries have varying success in different vintages, winemakers change, etc. All I can tell you is that we had fabulous wines from the wineries on this list and some not so fabulous wines from some others. These are listed in no particular order and not ranked.

1) Lachini - Ron Lachini produces big wonderful Pinots comparable to the best Nuits St. Georges and Vosne Romanee wines.

2) Tori Mor - Frenchman Jacques Tardy hails from a prominent Burgundian winemaking family and makes wines of character very similar to French Burgundy

3) Eyrie - With the passing of pioneer David Lett the torch is passed to his very able son Jason, who will continue the tradition of experimentation started by his father. Jason's Black Cap is a big, inky wine reminiscent of old style Burgundy from the 1950s and 1960s

4) De Ponte - French winemaker, Isabelle Dutarte hails from Provence, and makes delightful , elegant, nuanced wines.

5) Drouhin - The Burgundian Drouhin family chose some of the best south facing land for their Oregon wines. The regular Pinot Noir is a delightfully elegant, lighter-styled wine that could easily come from the Cotes de Beaune. The 1992 was still going strong in 2002. The Chardonnay tastes like the real thing, like a Meursault or Chassagne Montrachet.

6) Panther Creek - Winemaker Micheal Stevenson produces excellent vineyard designate Pinots. Our favorites are the Bednarick and Freedom Hill.

7) Stevenson Barie - Michael also produces wine under his own label. Watch for this up and comer.

8) Winderlea - "I.T.", or was it finance types, from the East Coast escaped just in the nick of time to the Willamette Valley where they purchased the Goldschmitt vineyard and started producing outstanding wine right from the get go in their new, modernistic winery.

9) Maresh - Oregon pioneer grapegrower Jim Maresh, now makes his own Pinot. Check out this well kept secret.

10) Ken Wright - Last but not least, Ken Wright is as close as you can come to a "cult wine" in Oregon. If you get on his mailing list you can taste great vineyard designate wines from about a dozen different Willamette vineyards. Whright also makes an outstanding Chard from Celilo Vineyrad in Washington. Who says there is no such thing as Terroir?