For over 20 years, Cristom Vineyards founder Paul Gerrie dreamt of acquiring an especially stunning 100-plus acre parcel of land that laid to the north of the original Cristom estate. Shortly before his retirement in 2012, Paul was able to secure this land - capping his legacy with Cristom Vineyards.
The Mt. Jefferson Cuvée is named after the 2nd-tallest peak in all of Oregon; the mountain itself was named in honor of President Thomas Jefferson. Made with a blend of grapes from each of the estate vineyards, the Mt. Jefferson Cuvée wine conveys a rich diversity of place, deserving its reputation as one of the most expansive yet stylistically consistent Pinot Noirs in the world.
The Mt. Jefferson Cuvée is named after the 2nd-tallest peak in all of Oregon; the mountain itself was named in honor of President Thomas Jefferson. Made with a blend of grapes from each of the estate vineyards, the Mt. Jefferson Cuvée wine conveys a rich diversity of place, deserving its reputation as one of the most expansive yet stylistically consistent Pinot Noirs in the world.
Planted in 1993, Louise Vineyard was named for Cristom winegrower & owner Tom Gerrie’s great-grandmother, Louise Dinkelspiel. The lowest elevation Pinot Noir planting on the Cristom estate, Louise Vineyard can be distinctly separated into an “upper” and “lower” section, divided by a 150 ft. (45.7 m) slope. Because of this unique topography, Louise typically has both some of the earliest and latest fruit harvested each year; in the 2015 vintage, we recorded our earliest-ever pick date, bringing in the first estate fruit of the harvest from the Louise Vineyard on September 1st.
The Jessie Vineyard, named for winegrower-owner Tom Gerrie’s great-grandmother Jessie Summers, was established in 1994 after the Gerrie family saw great potential in planting a steep, east-facing hillside to a variety of Pinot Noir clones. Ranging in elevation from 320 ft to 550 ft (98 m to 168 m), this 11.53 acre (4.67 hectare) site is one of the steepest in Oregon, and the most challenging to farm on the Cristom Estate. Jessie is strategically planted at a
high density of 2,311 vines per acre (5,710 vines/hectare), based on the philosophy that dense planting creates competition amongst neighboring vines, forcing roots deeper into the topsoil to yield smaller clusters with more
concentrated flavors.
The Eileen Vineyard is named for Cristom’s co-founder, Eileen Gerrie, mother of second-generation winegrower-owner Tom Gerrie. Original planting of the Eileen Vineyard began in 1997 and was later expanded in 2006, resulting in a total of 16.61 acres, making Eileen our largest estate vineyard. Perched atop the Cristom estate, Eileen is also our highest-elevation vineyard, with commanding views of Oregon’s Cascade Range to the east, and Coastal Range to the west. Eileen’s maritime climate features moderately warm days with especially cool nights, allowing the vines to retain acidity, and produce intense aromas and flavors.
Cristom began experimenting with Syrah in 2002, by grafting over plantings of Chardonnay on the lower slopes of our estate. We carefully selected which vines to graft over, choosing a low-lying block on our hillside where heat accumulation is at its highest on the estate, giving our Syrah the best opportunity to ripen in a moderate maritime climate.
After more than twenty vintages producing distinctive expressions of our single vineyards, we made the decision in 2013 to create a blend of some of the finest barrels from each of our four unique estate vineyards. This wine combines barrels from all four of our estate Pinot Noir Vineyards — Eileen Vineyard, Jessie Vineyard, Louise Vineyard and Marjorie Vineyard —blended together to create our finest blend of Pinot Noir sites that we can produce as a winery in any year.
