#73 on Wine Spectator's "Top 100 Wines of the Year!" 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 famed Marjorie Vineyard boasts Cristom’s oldest estate plantings, predating the company back to 1982. Named in honor of winegrower-owner Tom Gerrie’s grandmother, Marjorie is distinctive at Cristom both for being own-rooted, and for its lower-density plantings, (605 vines/acre; 1,495 vines/hectacre), with 6 feet between vines and 12 feet between rows.
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. 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.
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. 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.
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.
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.
The Carter Vineyard wines can be structured in their youth with firm tannins, densely packed fruit and a rich and expressive palate. The wines of Carter typically possess a complex fruit profile of black and blue fruits, black cherry, plum and cassis, with naturally high acidity levels contributing to the frame and the ability to age.
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.
This collection includes 18 distinct single-vineyard Pinot Noir bottlings produced by six wineries: Beaux Frères Wine, Ken Wright Cellars, Bethel Heights Vineyard, Solena Estate, Penner-Ash Wine Cellars, and Cristom Vineyards. Working in two groups, wineries took on identical allotments of fruit from three of each other’s vineyard sources. Our 2014 Cellar Crawl Collection showcases our members' six individual winemaking approaches as a lens into the landscape of these six unique sites. Only 35 sets available!
The ultime gift for your favorite wine connoisseur. The Cristom Collection offers a sampling of our classic cuvées, estate-grown white wines, and sought-after single vineyard Pinot Noirs.
