Jessie James

The Terroir:

Jessie James Vineyard - Pinot Noir

The Eola-Amity Hills is situated to the immediate east of the Van Duzer Corridor, where cool, salty marine air from the Pacific Ocean blows through the Coast Range mountains into the western Willamette Valley. The marine air lowers the growing season temperatures in this neighborhood and elevates the presence of acidity and salinity in the wines. The vineyard takes its name from Jessica and James Lee, now deceased but whose legacy lives on in the vines. The four-acre planting of high-density spacing (2,400 vines/acre) at Jessie James goes back to 1996, with the wine now exhibiting the extra complexity that comes with maturity of vine age. The vineyard sits at an upper elevation in the far north of the AVA and faces east towards the rising morning sun. Harvest is usually the first or second week of October when the early Fall weather has cooled off significantly and perfect ripeness is achieved patiently, with full flavor development occurring at lower potential alcohol levels. The Nekia soil (shallow, rocky volcanic basalt) provides balanced stress to the plants, resulting in sparser canopies and looser clusters with small berries and thick skins, and consequently the wines show exceptional depth and complexity of aroma and structure. We have leased the vineyard for ten years and our farming accords to organic principles, always with an eye towards the future.