2022 Chehalem Mountain Vineyard, Wadensvil Clone Pinot Noir

95 Points, Jeb Dunnuck

Description: This is where our bread is buttered. I used to say that about our Pommard clone wines and while that is still the lion’s share of the overall cellar volume there is no doubt that Wadensvil is the queen of our cellar. A very high percentage of Wadensvil barrels not only go into single vineyard bottlings, they go into bottlings specifically labeled as Wadensvil. Especially when sourced from Marine soils, (Corrine and the Estate are likewise Marine soils, albeit a different type than Freedom Hill) Wadensvil produces incredibly intriguing and complex wines. Patty and I first noticed this when receiving fruit from Shea Vineyard in 2001 and ever since then we have made it a specific mission to search and obtain this soil/clone combination

We dipped our toe into the water with this nearby vineyard in 2019. This site is the vineyard originally planted by Dick Erath when he moved to Oregon in 1968. The vineyard has been through many new plantings and re-plantings, as well as a variety of ownerships. In late 2021 Cooper Mountain Winery, who also owns Corrine Vineyard, purchased this site. We will continue to get fruit from the multiple blocks we now source from. This bottling is particularly dark, structured and intense while still showing the purity of fruit that we expect from this clone. This is a very special bottling that will last and evolve for ages.