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Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2019: Vintage report and 30 wines

The 2019 vintage in Oregon’s Willamette Valley has produced wines of great complexity and texture, with the cooler vintage marking a return to the region’s signature elegance. Clive Pursehouse speaks to some winemakers and picks out 30 wines to try.

By Clive Pursehouse

last updated 25 July 2023

in Tastings

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Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2019 — The harvest at Kalita Vineyard in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA of Oregon's Williamette Valley.

(Image credit: Andrea Johnson / Et Fille Wines)

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After a stretch of warm years from 2014 to 2018, the 2019 vintage was cool and wet in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Many winemakers welcomed a return of conditions more common a decade ago, emblematic of the elegant wines that have buoyed the region’s global reputation.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of 30 Willamette Valley Pinot Noirs from the 2019 vintage

That elegance and balance of fresh fruit character is a signature style of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, as well as sous bois (forest floor) elements.

‘The wines from 2019 have a youthful exuberance that is so exciting,’ says Shane More of Zena Crown. ‘They ring with freshness, vibrancy and vitality. Our 2019 Pinots are exhilaratingly pure and will live for decades.’

‘When I think about the 2019 vintage,’ says Alex Sokol-Blosser, president and winemaker of Sokol Blosser, ‘I think about an Oregon vintage that is more typical. We had a nice growing season, and then it started to rain in September before things were ripe. Rain is part of the deal here in the Willamette Valley, and it’s hard to get out of that deal unless you want to move.’

Alex Sokol, Blosser vineyard — Alex Sokol-Blosser in the estate vineyards.

It was a cold, early spring, and frost brought challenges in colder spots within the Willamette Valley. The wet July – highly unusual in any year here – made managing powdery mildew a challenge early on during ripening. Then there were significant rains in late September which delayed ripening.

‘So patience was the name of the game,’ Sokol-Blosser continues. ‘Several rain events in September really pushed my patience level.’

Jessica Mozeico, owner and winemaker at Et Fille, says it was an ‘absolute relief’ to see a return to a cooler growing season in 2019. ‘After warmer vintages punctuated by heat spikes and dryness, we finally saw cool harvest temperatures and rain.

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‘The rain came in waves at bud break, just after bloom and before harvest,’ she says. ‘This created some disease pressure, but it also moderated brix [the sugar level in the grapes that determines potential alcohol]. It allowed us to let things hang a bit for phenolic and flavour ripeness and retained pH nicely.’

A breath of fresh air

The much-needed respite of these cooler conditions allowed the vines to recover physiologically. The 2019 vintage in the Willamette Valley saw 400 fewer growing degree days than the intensely warm 2018 vintage – 2,101 compared to 2,502.

‘Coming off the hotter previous years, the vines went to bed in autumn relatively stressed,’ explains Cliff Anderson of Anderson Family Vineyards. ‘They yellowed fast, dropped leaves and went dormant right after harvest. In our experience, stress during and after harvest one year can tend to produce thinner skins and lighter, more elegant wines the following year.’

‘We saw this in 2004 after the harvest heat wave in 2003. And I think this phenomenon set the tone for 2019,’ he adds.

The quality of the Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2019 vintage is undeniable for fans its trademark fresh fruit, earthy minerality and bright acidity. Wines capable of ageing and far more comparable to Burgundy than California Pinot Noir.

‘2019 is the highest-toned, lightest-coloured Pinot we’ve made in recent years,’ Anderson remarks. ‘More like the elegant wines that put Oregon on the map back in the 1980s.’

Mozeico agrees: ‘This vintage definitely shows up in the wines. They are livelier, brighter and more energetic than the few preceding vintages, with higher acidity and more moderate alcohol levels. Our goal for Pinot Noir is to display complexity, balance and authenticity to place and time, which I think the 2019 vintage affords.’

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Cristom Vineyards, Jessie Vineyard Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon, 2019

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Cristom's estate Jessie Vineyard was planted in 1994 on steep volcanic soils with substantial vine density. The steep sloping creates natural terracing protecting vines from...

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Cristom VineyardsWillamette Valley

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of 30 Willamette Valley Pinot Noirs from the 2019 vintage

A breath of fresh air

Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2019: 30 top wines to try

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