The Vineyards of Cristom

       Cristom cultivates eight distinct vineyards planted to Pinot noir, Chardonnay, Pinot gris, Viognier and Syrah; currently a total of 65 acres are in production. The vineyards are dry farmed with the focus on quality fruit with low yields and high density planting.  Cristom's vineyards are named for family matriarchs.  The six ladies' vineyards each have natural variances in soil and elevation, and the grapes they nurture were selected to highlight each vineyard's distinct attributes.  People often identify a favorite among Cristom's 'ladies,' recognizing that each nurtures a style and flavor all her own.  In the end, each Cristom vintage produces a distinctive expression of the entire growing year, the specific site and the imprint of the winemaker's hand. 

2009 Estate Viognier
Eola-Amity Hills, Willamette Valley
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Until recently, this grape varietal was found almost exclusively in the small Northern Rhone appellation known as Condrieu, where its ancestry could be traced to Roman times. Today it is more widely planted but it’s still rare in the Willamette Valley. We planted 1-1/4 acres of Viognier in 1993 on the warmest site at Cristom. We planted an additional 1-3/4 acres in 2003 that is adjacent to the original planting.

Origin:  100% Estate fruit
Appellation: Willamette Valley - Eola-Amity Hills AVA
 

2008 Estate Pinot Gris
Eola-Amity Hills, Willamette Valley
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The 2008 Pinot Gris is made entirely from our 5-acre estate vineyard Emilia, named after Eileen Gerrie’s grandmother.  It was planted in 1993 and is adjacent to the winery. The vines were planted at a high density with two different clones and two different rootstocks.

WINERY NOTES:
Pale straw in color. The 2008 Pinot Gris is clean and bright, showing pippin apple and lime blossom aromas. On the palate the wine is rich and ripe yet still agile. The finish is clean and mouthwatering. We just paired this wine with Hot Smoked Sockeye Salmon over fresh corn cakes for a lunch at the winery and it was sublime.

Origin: 100% Estate fruit
Fermentation:  Stainless Steel fermented, 100% Malo Lactic fermentation, wine was inoculated with commercial yeast.
Aging:  Aged 11 months on its lees in stainless steel tanks
Bottling:  Bottled in July of 2009
Alcohol:  13.7 %
RS:  0.3%
Production:  1095 cases
 

2008 Sommers Reserve Pinot Noir
Willamette Valley
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The ‘Sommers’ is comprised of grapes from our four estate vineyards along with some purchased fruit.  The Reserve designation indicates a longer aged barrel selection of our favorite lots. The final cuvee contains seven different Pinot Noir clones. Cristom introduced the “Sommers Reserve” with the 2004 vintage, replacing the Cristom Reserve designation and continuing stylistically as the same wine. ‘Sommers’ is Jessie’s (of Jessie Vineyard) maiden name.

NEW RELEASE - Notes and details coming
 

2008  Jessie Vineyard Estate Pinot Noir
Eola-Amity Hills, Willamette Valley
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This 11-acre estate vineyard is on our steepest slope.  It ranges from about 350 feet to 500 feet in elevation.  We began planting Jessie Vineyard in 1994 at the high density of 2300 vines per acre.  The site has an east, southeast exposure and is comprised primarily of Nikia soil that is volcanic in origin.  Jessie Vineyard has a long and varied slope, showing the greatest range of soils and exposures at Cristom. 

NEW RELEASE - Notes and details coming
 

2008 Marjorie Vineyard Estate Pinot Noir
Eola-Amity Hills, Willamette Valley
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Marjorie Vineyard was planted in 1982. It is the only vineyard that Cristom kept when the property was purchased in 1992. It is a distinctive site that has wider spacing (630 vines per acre) than the subsequently planted vineyards. All the vineyards are planted on mineral-rich volcanic soils, but the soils of Marjorie have the highest percentage of the Jory type. Marjorie is also more east-facing than our other vineyard sites.

Origin:  100% Estate fruit
Clones:  Pommard and Wädensvil clones along with Dijon clones (114, 115, 777)

NEW RELEASE - Notes and details coming
 

2008 Eileen Vineyard Pinot Noir
Eola-Amity Hills, Willamette Valley
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Planted in 1997, this 12-acre site is the youngest of our estate Pinot Noir vineyards.  It starts at about 700 feet making it the highest elevation vineyard at Cristom. It consists primarily of volcanic soil (Jury) and is planted at the high density of 2300 vines per acre.

NEW RELEASE - Notes and details coming
 

2008 Estate Syrah
Eola-Amity Hills, Willamette Valley
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This classic Northern Rhone variety was field grafted in 2002 using four different clones of Syrah, 174, 383, 470 , and 877. The four different clones are planted in roughly equal amounts in this 2.5 acre vineyard. They were selected primarily for producing smaller berries in the hopes that it would translate into earlier ripening. To the best of our knowledge this vineyard represents the first estate bottled Syrah in the Willamette Valley.

WINEMAKER NOTES:
The Cristom 2008 Estate Syrah displays the classic white pepper aroma with hints of bacon fat and spice. There are also hints of plums, leather, green peppercorn and tobacco. Although this wine is very rich and generous, at the same time it is well knit together and restrained. On the palate, there is a generous amount of dark fruit with underlying firm but ripe tannins. Further aging should only add more dimensions to this already complex wine.
–Steve Doerner

Origin: 100% Estate fruit
Fermentation:  Approximately 10 percent of the fruit was left as whole clusters while the remaining ninety percent was destemmed into four 1.5 ton fermenters. This wine was fermented exclusively utilizing native yeast.
Aging:  Twenty two months in French cooperage- 31% new
Bottling:  Blended and bottled unfiltered in September 2010
Alcohol:  14.8%
Production:  369 cases