Cristom Winery: Pursuit of a Dream

Posted on Jul 30, 2015


Shelf at Cristom WineryMost of us wine enthusiasts have harboured, either secretly or not, the dream of some day owning a winery. Cristom Winery, in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, is the story of a man who actually pursued that dream and created one of the top wineries in the state.

Wine label for Mt Jefferson Pinot NoirOur dreamer in this story is Paul Gerrie, an engineer from Pittsburgh with a passion for wine. As Paul explains it on the Cristom website: “After graduating from University of Pittsburgh with a degree in Engineering, I became interested in wine. I started with French bottles (with the occasional California jug tossed in) and can still remember my first exceptional Pinot noir. It was a 1980 Echezeaux and it was astonishing. From that point on I was hooked on Pinot!” In 1990 his thoughts had begun to form about leaving his successful petroleum engineering practice and start up a winery. Those thoughts turned into plans after he attended the International Pinot Noir Celebration (INPC) held in McMinville, OR. It was there that he met Robert parker’s brother-in-law and Beaux Freres winemaker Mike Etzel. He hired Mike to find him some vineyard land in the Willamette Valley. They settled on the abandoned Pellier Winery site in what is now the Eola-Amity Hills AVA, just west of the town of Salem. Only one block was suitable to producing good Pinot Noir so the rest were re-planted between 1993 and 1996.

Welcome to CristomCristom now has 54 acres under vine in 8 separate blocks (they refer to each as a vineyard). The vineyards are named for various matriarchs within the Gerrie family as well as one named for the grandmother of winemaker Steve Doerner. Joining the Pinot Noir are Syrah, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Viognier. About 10,000 case of wine are produced annually, of which about 80% is Pinot Noir.

Cristom Winery tastingSince their first vintage in 1994, the winemaking has been in the hands of Steve Doerner, a UC Davis Biochemistry grad who had been making the wines at Calera for 14 years. Steve can now add 20 vintages of winemaking at Cristom to his winemaking accomplishments. And what wines these are! We have been big fans of Cristom for a decade now. For us, what sets Cristom apart from other wineries is the intensity of the flavours they are able to derive without the wine coming across as extracted or heavy. They manage to deliver powerful aromas and flavours without sacrificing the light silkiness on the palate that is the hallmark of great Pinot Noir.

Tasting at Cristom WineryWe sat down at a long table in the Cristom Tasting Room which has a lovely view looking out over their vineyards. In addition to tasting through their lineup of wines, we enjoyed their charcouterie and cheese plate which was a delicious addition to the experience. Tasting through their wines all together revealed the house style: intensely flavoured, fruit-driven wines that maintain poise and balance with no surrender of one for the other. While their Pinots are clearly the high points, they do a very good job with the other varietals as well, especially their Viognier. More information about tasting at Cristom can be found at http://www.cristomvineyards.com/visit-us/.

2013 Estate Viognier

25% whole clusters are used to make this 100% Viognier, fermented in stainless steel and raised in neutral oak barrels. Lovely apricot aromas are joined with notes of honeysuckle. The body is medium with the medium acidity providing a nice crisp finish. A richness to the mouthfeel gives it a nice new world note and magnifies the intensity of the stone fruit falvours.

Very Good                          US $30

2012 Mt. Jefferson Cuvee Pinot Noir

Mostly Dijon clones from the Eola Amity Hills, this is a restaurant list favourite, and for good reason: it is an early drinker that has broad appeal as well as broad shoulders. This shows full body, big tannins and medium plus acidity. There is plenty of earth to counter balance the dark cherry flavour profile and bring complexity and interest. Cracked pepper on the long finish.

Very Good +                       US $30

2009, 2010 & 2011 Sommers Reserve

We were treated to a 3 year vertical of the wine that is winemaker Steve Dormer’s barrel selection. There are more similarities than differences between these three vintages so we will combine the tasting notes. These are full bodied, robust, and intensely flavoured Pinot Noirs. Medium + acid and some noticeable tannin make Cristom Pinots to be among the most age-worthy in the state. The dark cherry fruit is married to a complex array of forest notes: there is damp earth, mushrooms, and autumn leaves. The 2009 and 2010 were quite similar whereas the 2011 showed a little less fruit emphasis and a bit more accent on the wet stones and earthy notes. Hard to pick a favourite but no question that each of these wines were excellent.

Excellent                             US $50

2012 Louise Pinot Noir

This was the first vineyard planted back in 1992. The blocks within this vineyard are harvested about 2 weeks apart as the shady parts of the vineyard take longer to fully ripen. Some whole clusters are used to make this wine and it shows; this is a very structured wine and definitely will reward cellaring. Full body, medium acidity and big tannin provide the framework that the black cherry and dark red fruit flavours rest upon. Powerful, but managing to retain Pinot’s classic silky mouthfeel. Pepper, baking spices, earth and a floral note bring lots of complexity to this wine. This will only improve with time.

Excellent                             US $58

2012 Matriarch Pinot Noir

The Matriarch Cuvee is a special wine club members only Pinot Noir made from one barrel of each of the four single vineyards. Take the Louise and turn up the dials! This is an intensely flavoured Pinot Noir that was built for the cellar. Its very structured form supports a complex array of black cherry, pepper, baking spices and forest floor. This one needs to rest for a few years to allow things to meld a little but it has all of the goodies to make for an amazing Pinot! This a save-for-a-special-occasion wine!

Excellent/Extraordinary               US $75

2012 Syrah

Didn’t think Oregon made great Syrah? Neither did we! (With the obvious exception of the Rocks region, which everyone thinks of as Washington but is mostly on the Oregon side…) Lots of blackberry and blueberry flavours sit on top full bodied and gently tannic frame. 40% whole clusters used, this gives lots of earth and pepper notes to blend with the fruit and keep things interesting.

Excellent                                             US $40

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