Aromatic Whites
To put it simply, we are obsessed with the wines of Alsace. Pinot Gris is our flagship white, and we also produce small quantities of the other “noble” varietals (Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Muscat) as well as a traditional Edelzwicker blend (Belle Oiseau). We favor a rich, opulent style carried by fresh fruit flavors and underlying minerality.
Pinot Gris
Our Pinot Gris is a celebration of Oregon’s signature white varietal. In contrast to many of our neighbors, we pick late to achieve enhanced flavor and textural authority, vinify “low and and slow” in foudre, neutral barrels, and stainless steel tanks, and bottle after a full year on the lees. Our Pinot Gris has been 100% estate grown since 2014.
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Riesling
Inspired by world’s “A” regions for Riesling (Alsace, Austria, and Australia), this is textbook example of the modern Oregon style: ripe and rich, but crisp and dry. A bit austere in their youth, the wines really blossom with 6+ years in the bottle.
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Muscat
Dry Muscat is a rare bird even in it’s Alsatian homeland. This wine is made in partnership with our friends at Stag Hollow Vineyard, who grow Early Muscat and Muscat Ottonel in their estate vineyard. We make the wine and bottle it under both the Belle Pente and Stag Hollow labels.
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2017 | 2016 | 2015
Belle Oiseau
This is a traditional Edelzwicker blended exclusively from noble varietals (Riesling, Pinot Gris, Muscat, and sometimes a little Gewurztraminer). Made in collaboration with our friends at Portland’s Canard Wine Bar, each vintage is a unique mosaic that is greater than the sum of the parts!
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Gewurztraminer
Although we don’t have a steady source of Gewurztraminer grapes, we do make small amounts from time to time when opportunities arise!
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2018 | 2006
Chardonnay
Our chardonnay wines are made in a hybrid style, offering the lush fruit of “New World” wines combined with the firm acidity of “Old World” renditions. The grapes are 100% estate grown, and picked in two passes: an early harvest for freshness, and a later pass for more developed tropical flavors and aromas. The wines are fermented in French and Oregon oak barrels (mostly older), aged sur lie for 12 months, and assembled in tanks for bottling 16-18 months after vintage.
Estate Chardonnay
Our Chardonnay wines that bear the single vineyard designation are made in a richer, riper style …think more Mersault than Macon. These generally include a higher proportion of late harvested fruit, and a slightly higher percentage of new barrels.
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Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir grapes are 75-100% de-stemmed and fermented with vineyard indigenous, native ambient, and (occasionally) selected commercial yeasts. Following fermentation, the wine flows directly into barrels (20-35% new French oak) for 10-18 months aging. Wines are assembled and gravity bottled in-house (no contract bottlers) without fining or filtration. Our “house style” emphasizes freshness, complexity, focus, elegance, and balance. Belle Pente Pinot Noirs can be enjoyed young, but will also reward careful cellaring.
Willamette Valley Pinot Noir
Our Willamette Valley bottling includes fruit from our estate vineyard combined with grapes from other selected Yamhill County vineyards. It is made in a light, fresh style, with little if any new oak. Reflective of the vintage, it is intended for early consumption.
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2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir
In most vintages this is 100% estate grown, from higher elevation blocks that we harvest early with the intention of showing the kinder, gentler side of the Yamhill-Carlton appellation. It is the first wine in the “Good, Better, Best” hierarchy from our estate vineyard.
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Murto Vineyard Pinot Noir
Our only non-estate single vineyard Pinot Noir for many years, this hails from Robin and Mike Murto’s terrific high elevation Dundee Hills vineyard planted in 1978. Volcanic Jory soils impart a spice shop aroma hovering over a medley of red fruit. A classic example of this prestigious appellation from the “high rent district” of the Willamette Valley!
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Belle Pente Vineyard Pinot Noir
The flagship single vineyard wine from our estate, with grapes from 3 blocks planted in 1998 along the eastern (morning sun) edge of the property. The 40 million year old sandstone underlying the vineyard imparts a saline, sea breeze aroma wafting through an herb garden, with underlying blue fruit flavors.
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2022 | 2021 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013
Riona’s Block Pinot Noir
This is a new single block estate wine produced for the first time in 2019. The vines were planted in 1999 (the same year our daughter Riona was born), and is distinguished by a vein of volcanic ash running through the block, which imparts a distinctive spicy overlay to the herbal/floral and black fruit flavors and aromas.
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Estate Reserve Pinot Noir
The “best of the best” from our estate vineyard, a southwest facing amphitheater that includes grapes from the first block planted in 1994, and from the steep hillside above the winery (the belle pente!) planted to the Wadensvil selection in 1998. Hints of anise and lavender frame the dark fruit flavors and aromas. This is wine for the cellar, with its prime drinking window 10 to 20 years from vintage.
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