AVA: Ribbon Ridge        LOCATION: North Valley Rd.  

AVA: Willamette Valley           LOCATION: Burnell Rd.  

ELEVATION: 500’                    SOIL TYPE: Bellpine

YEAR PLANTED: 2000           CLONAL MATERIAL: Dijon Clone 115, Pommard, Coury Clone & Wadensvil

VINEYARD SIZE: 85-acre vineyard, ~11-acre PGC block

VINIFICATION: Various: fermentations ranging from 0-100% in both 1.75- and 2.5-top open-top fermenters

PICKING DATE: 9/27-10/06/17          TONS/ACRE: Approx. 3.50

OWNERS: Dan and Helen Dusschee           PRODUCTION: 710 cases bottled

This bottling is comprised of 80% Dijon 115 across all three blocks with all wines containing 40-50% whole clusters in the fermentation. About 15% comes from the older vine Wadensvil which was fermented with about 60% whole clusters. The Coury and Pommard round out the blend. This wine was in barrel for a little less than a year in around 20% new oak and a combination of once-five times used barrels. It has the deep pigmentation, floral aromatics, intense mid-palate sweetness with structured finishing tannins. It is funny to us that this is our “regular” bottling of Freedom Hill simply due to the existence of our small clonal bottlings. By any measure this is a terrific, site-specific Pinot Noir from one of Oregon’s classic and historical vineyards. This has incredibly well-farmed material that provides the wine with great intensity and balance. This is far from “regular” but nonetheless here at PGC that is what it is although we have taken to calling it “Freedom Hill Classic!”. Bang for the buck/Quality-to-price ratio/however you want to term it, this wine is off the charts. This has so much to it that it will drink well almost immediately, but the upside is that it will drink beautifully a decade from now.

Wine Making and Notes: Coury Clone Pinot Noir has a fascinating background tale that is literally rooted in the earliest history of the Oregon wine industry. The short version is that Charles Coury submitted his master’s thesis for cool climate winegrowing to the University of California at Davis while studying in Alsace, France in 1964. He brought cuttings back to the U.S. when he returned that summer. From these small and straight forward beginnings the plantings and legend of the Coury Clone begins. For a full and detailed account of this very, very interesting agricultural story that was lost to history for some time please go to The Price of Pinot’s website (http://www.princeofpinot.com/article/1214/) and read for yourself.

AVA: Willamette Valley       LOCATION: Burnell Rd.  

Wine Making and Notes: As always this is simply perfect material from one single block of the vineyard (East Liberty Block), all Dijon 115 Clone Pinot Noir planted in 2004. This bottling has always emphasized the ability of whole cluster fermentation to shine with fruit from this vineyard. Nine barrels came from 50% whole cluster ferments, 5 from 100% and 4 from 20% whole cluster ferments. This mix deftly mixes the more fruit forward aspects of lower whole cluster usage with the aromatic and complexity inherent to higher whole cluster ferments.  There are no new barrels on this wine and, in fact, there is only one barrel that was used just once previously. The bulk of the barrels used for this wine were completely neutral so to further enhance the incredible nature of this vineyard-driven bottling. This has a strong, black-fruited tone to it with a range of flavors and spices mingled in for complexity. The tannins are sticky and firm and born entirely of the fruit. This wine will reward with a long life of aging, but will also be appreciated by fans of intense and sinewy Pinots in its youth.

AVA: Willamette Valley       LOCATION: Burnell Rd.

ELEVATION: 500’                SOIL TYPE: Bellpine

YEAR PLANTED: 2001        CLONAL MATERIAL: 100% Pommard

VINEYARD SIZE: 85-acre vineyard, 11-acre PGC block       

OWNERS: Dan & Helen Dusschee      

This trio of wines, where we attempt to show you the nature of Freedom Hill Vineyard through the lens of a single clone, have been exceptionally popular and very well received. The 2015 Dijon 115 was referred to as “sharing the traits of Romanee St. Vivant” while the Pommard “could pass for a New World Richebourg” by Josh Reynolds of Vinous.com. Despite that high praise it was the 2015 Coury Clone that netted the highest score of the three wines with 95 points.

The 2016s are largely by the boards already at this juncture, but the 2017s operate in the same sort of stratosphere as previous vintages. The Dijon 115 will be selected from a wider variety of barrels than ever before and its depth, character and complexity will reflect its larger pool of possible components. The Pommard may well turn out to be the most fascinating of the six bottlings we have made previously of this intense version of Freedom Hill. The Coury Clone will be, as always, the crown jewel of the cellar, combining amazing aromatics, fantastic texture and unique flavors.

AVA: Chehalem Mountains                LOCATION: Kings Grade Rd.

ELEVATION: 325’                        SOIL TYPE: Willakenzie

YEAR PLANTED: 2007                   CLONAL MATERIAL: 100% Pommard

VINEYARD SIZE: 32-acre vineyard, ~1.0-acre PGC Wadensvil block

VINIFICATION: 2 open-top 1.75 ton fermenters, each done with 35% whole cluster fermentation

PICKING DATE: September 26th   TONS/ACRE:

AVA: Ribbon Ridge      LOCATION: North Valley Rd.  

ELEVATION: 450'          SOIL TYPE: Wellsdale

CLONAL MATERIAL: 50% Pommard & 50% Dijon 777      VINEYARD SIZE: 30-acre vineyard

TONS/ACRE: 3.25            VINIFICATION: Pommard fermented in 1.75 open-top fermenters, 100% destemmed, Wadensvil also in 1.75 ton fermenters done 60% whole cluster.

OWNERS: Patricia Green CellarsPICKING DATE:

PRODUCTION: 615 Cases Bottled

Wine Making and Notes:

This bottling has always been the powerful view of this vineyard site and we still have blocks in the vineyard in the 7-20-year-old range that have not made (will not make?) the change to the far more stylish and mineral-driven Estate Old Vine style. That is fine. Our Estate Vineyard is fairly large and incredibly diverse so having two wholly different wines coming off of it is hardly surprising or in any difficult to deal with. To us, this is the exciting part of Pinot Noir and vineyard management, and the marriage of the two in winemaking. The wine is dark in color, dense in earth-tinged dark fruits and relatively thick with tannins. However, as the vineyard has aged, fewer blocks are still producing this style of wine that seems to be indicative of the young vines. This comes from just three blocks: a 1998 southeast-facing planting of Pommard, a 2000 south-southeast facing planting of Pommard at lower elevation and a 1997 planting of Wadensvil that faces northeast and northwest. The wine is mostly Pommard with just a touch of the Wadensvil rounding it out. The composition of this wine changes regularly vintage to vintage. The Pommard was 100% de-stemmed, went through a standard cold soak of about 4-7 days depending on the block, fermented in 1.75-ton open-top fermenters and was pigeaged 1x/day before being pressed and allowed to settle for 3 days. The Wadensvil was done as 60% whole cluster and despite the difference in clone and whole cluster fermentations the fermenters and the handling of the fruit in fermenter were the same. This spent a little less than a year in barrel with 20% being new and the rest that were previously used between two and six times so there is minimal oak influence in this wine. These vines do not have the root depth of the significantly older sections of the vineyard and therefore do not necessarily feed upon and drink the same material. Since we dry farm these younger vines, even at 16-20 years of vine age they are still under a bit of duress. This leads to small, tight clusters and fairly thick skins. This gives the wine its trademark dark, almost purplish color and hefty, dense tannic structure. This is filled in quite easily by liqueur-like dark fruit. This can be a bit savage in nature when youthful but it comes around surprisingly fa

AVA: Ribbon Ridge        LOCATION: North Valley Rd.  

Wine Making and Notes: Coury Clone Pinot Noir has a fascinating background tale that is literally rooted in the earliest history of the Oregon wine industry. The short version is that Charles Coury submitted his master’s thesis for cool climate winegrowing to the University of California at Davis while studying in Alsace, France in 1964. He brought cuttings back to the U.S. when he returned that summer. From these small and straight forward beginnings the plantings and legend of the Coury Clone begins. For a full and detailed account of this very, very interesting agricultural story that was lost to history for some time please go to The Price of Pinot’s website (http://www.princeofpinot.com/article/1214/) and read for yourself.