Winemaker Notes
The 2017 Dundee Hills offers a fragrant nose of bright black cherries, berry bramble, orange peel, golden brown spices and a touch of sweet oak. Layered behind are notes of red berries and rhubarb. Flavors of red plum, boysenberry and cassis mingle with a savory trio of white pepper, forest floor and sassafras. Elusive and elegant, this wine is wonderful now but will be in a perfect place with 5 – 12 years of cellaring.
James Suckling 94 Points
Robert Parker 93 Points
About Domaine Drouhin
Poised atop the Dundee Hills, with gentle slopes that capture the breezes and sunshine, our 235-acre estate overlooking the Willamette Valley produces some of the finest Pinot Noir and Chardonnay fruit in the world. Robert Drouhin’s vision of an Oregon estate winery that could rival the great vineyards of Burgundy has been realized at DDO. From what began as test plantings of cloned Pinot Noir rootstock, Domaine Drouhin now encompasses 124 acres of hillside vineyards. Interspersed with the Pinot Noir vines are 11 acres of Chardonnay, planted at various elevations and, like in Burgundy, planted right alongside rows of Pinot Noir. Everything planted at DDO is unique to the estate. We also have two large blocks of rootstock planted on the estate, so we can graft the cuttings onto rootstock that we have grown ourselves. We grow and plant rootstocks that we’ve learned are well suited to the specifics of our vineyard sites in terms of site elevation, soil depth, and moisture-holding capacity. In this way we can maintain the highest level of quality control over our plant material. Our densely planted vines are farmed sustainably, L.I.V.E. certified, and tended to by hand when leaves and fruit are thinned; harvesting is alsodone entirely by hand.
