Last: Is Oregon the new Burgundy?

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Burgundy aficionados may balk at the notion of Oregon being the “new” Burgundy, mainly because the old Burgundy is still making highly sought-after benchmark wines, but based on what I have been tasting from Oregon of late, I think it’s safe to say that the state is on track to producing pinot noir that can challenge the French wine throne.

If magazine scores are your thing, then the numbers back up this notion, with most of Oregon’s best producers racking up numbers in the high 90s, alongside their Burgundian counterparts. It’s important to remember that scores are typically one person’s opinion, and no two palates are alike. In any event, it’s worth looking at the progress being made in Oregon, and what you can expect to find these days.

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Winemaking in Oregon dates back to 1847, and it went through the same trials and tribulations as all American wineries did with the onset of prohibition which ended in 1933. Hillcrest Vineyard was established by UC Davis graduate Richard Sommer in 1965, followed closely by David Lett of Eyrie Vineyards in 1966. Pinot noir seemed a logical choice despite the grape’s reputation for being notoriously difficult to get right.

Oregon and Burgundy sit on the same latitude but from the perspective of terroir, the regions differ in that Burgundy is predominately limestone soils while Oregon is mainly volcanic and basalt. Oregon sees a significant maritime influence as well and, as such, the similarities are related more to the clonal material, being primarily Burgundian clones across most of the state’s wine regions. Most winemakers will tell you they are not trying to make Burgundy, which is fair, but as the wines have gotten better and better over the years, the comparisons are hard to avoid. A great deal of the improvements can be attributed to vine age and simply a better understanding of terroir and pinot noir’s fickle nature.

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The Willamette Valley is pinot noir central with 23 AVAs (American Viticultural Areas) within the state. There are over 700 wineries in the Willamette within their 11 AVAs, which is a lot considering the region is only 150 kilometres long. From a wine tourism perspective, the region is much lower-key than Napa Valley and Sonoma, and one might say it’s decidedly sleepy. There are exceptions, such as the International Pinot Noir Conference (IPNC) held every July, a weekend-long outdoor event that is a world-class showcase for pinot noir. I’ve been to this event twice and it ranks among the great wine festivals of the world with exceptional food and a wide swath of top-notch pinot noir from Oregon, Burgundy and beyond.

For the longest time, Oregon had embraced pinot gris as its white grape calling card. There were, and are, some very good examples but with a few exceptions they weren’t very exciting and rarely achieved the depth of the best examples from Alsace, for example. Of late, Oregon chardonnay has been coming on strong, and, dare I say it, quite Burgundian in style. If you come across Ken Wright’s (one of Oregon’s oldest and most respected pinot noir producers) chardonnay, it’s well worth trying; it’s a beautifully balanced, mineral-driven white wine. Another French connection between the two regions comes courtesy of Domaine’s Drouhin and Louis Jadot (Jadot’s project is called Résonance), two of Burgundy’s largest and most respected wineries. Then there is Evening Land, a winery that was started in 1980 but made waves in 2005 when they enlisted Burgundian superstar Dominique Lafon as their consulting winemaker. Lafon retired from winemaking in 2021, handing over his winery to his daughter Léa and nephew, Pierre, and Evening Land now has Rajat Parr and Sashi Moorman at the helm, a vigneron tag team known for their work in California at Domaine de la Côte (in Santa Rita) and Sandhi Wines in Sonoma.

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If you’re prepared to jump into the Oregon pinot pool, be warned that like almost all good pinot noirs, they don’t come cheap, typically between $35 to $200 a bottle. Still, that’s a bargain compared to what you can spend on Burgundy these days. My favourite producers include Ken Wright, Cristom, John Thomas (expensive and hard to find), Illahe, Bergstrom, Suzor, Antica Terra (also hard to find), and Domaine Drouhin. There are plenty that I haven’t had time to get around to yet, but I fully intend to, maybe at the next IPNC. Cheers!

Geoff Last is a long-time Calgary wine merchant writer, instructor, and broadcaster. He can be heard every Friday on CJSW’s Road Pops program between 4 -6 p.m. He was awarded a fellowship at Napa Valley’s Symposium of Professional Wine Writers for articles that have appeared in this column. 

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