WINEMAKING

At Belle Pente we are dedicated to producing high quality artisanal wines in partnership with nature and with respect for the environment. In the winery, our processing philosophy reflects the inspiration we draw from “old world” winegrowing traditions: that great wine is made in the vineyard and merely nurtured in the winery. Grapes are hand harvested and meticulously sorted upon arrival at the winery. Our 3 level gravity-flow facility is designed for gentle, natural winemaking in small lots, with minimal handling and manipulation, to preserve varietal integrity and the unique attributes of the time and place in which the wines were grown.

Aromatic Whites
Chardonnay
Pinot Noir

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.

Tech Sheets

2015 | 2014

Purchase 2018

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.

Tech Sheets

2015 | 2014 | 2011

Purchase 2016

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.

Tech Sheets

2017 | 2016 | 2015

Purchase 2017

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!

Tech Sheets

2018 | 2017

Purchase 2019

Gewurztraminer

Although we don’t have a steady source of Gewurztraminer grapes, we do make small amounts from time to time when opportunities arise!

Tech Sheets

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.

Tech Sheets

2019 | 2016 | 2014

Purchase 2019

Willamette Valley Chardonnay

Although the grapes for this wine are 100% estate grown, we use the more generic designation for wines make in a lighter, fresher, more Macon-style, typically from mostly early pick grapes and little if any new oak.

Tech Sheets

2018 | 2017 | 2014

Purchase 2020

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.

Tech Sheets

2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

Purchase 2020

WV Pinot Noir Cuvee Classe

This is a “Reserve” level Willamette Valley bottling exclusively from our Belle Pente estate and Murto vineyards.  Produced for the first time in 2018, it was born from the desire to produce a very high quality bottling with pandemic-friendly pricing!

Tech Sheets

2019 |  2018

Sold Out

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.

Tech Sheets

2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

Purchase 2020

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!

Tech Sheets

2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013

Purchase 2018
Purchase 2017

Belle Pente Vineyard Pinot Noir

The flagship single vineyard wine from our estate, with grapes primarily from 3 blocks planted in 1998 along the eastern 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.

Tech Sheets

2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013

Purchase 2018
Purchase 2014 (375ml)

Estate Reserve Pinot Noir

The “best of the best” from our estate vineyard, this includes grapes from the first block planted in 1994, and from the steep hillside between the winery and the house 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.

Tech Sheets

2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013

Purchase 2018
Purchase 2017 (1.5L)
Purchase 2016 (1.5L)
Purchase 2015 (1.5L)
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