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Real Conversations. Extraordinary People.

Join us for conversations with winemakers, sommeliers, industry leaders, and passionate voices shaping the future of wine.

2025 Aspen food and wine. Cheers #goodjuice

The McCollum Family Vineyard spans 318 acres in Oregon's Yamhill-Carlton AVA, transformed from a former Christmas tree farm into a dedicated estate property with 56 acres under vine. Founded by CJ and his wife Elise, the site focuses on estate-grown Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Rosé, managed under LIVE Certified and Salmon-Safe sustainable farming practices in partnership with winemaker Gina Hennen.

Interview with @cjmccollum8772 Family Winery. Cheers #goodjuice 🍷

This is @rarechampagne2784 . Cheers #goodbubbles

Outstanding summer #Rose. cheers #goodjuice #wine #winelover

Ken Wright is a pioneering Oregon winemaker best known for establishing Ken Wright Cellars in Carlton, Oregon.
* Background: Wright fell in love with fine wine while waiting tables in Lexington, Kentucky. He studied viticulture and enology at UC Davis and spent eight years winemaking in California (including at Ventana, Chalone, and Talbott Vineyards) before moving to Oregon in 1986.
* Oregon Wineries: He founded Panther Creek Cellars in McMinnville in 1986, where he began focusing on vineyard-designated wines. In 1994, he sold Panther Creek to launch Ken Wright Cellars, centering his production on single-vineyard Pinot Noirs.
* Industry Impact: Wright was instrumental in mapping Oregon's terroir, personally authoring the petition for the Yamhill-Carlton AVA and helping establish six sub-appellations in the northern Willamette Valley.

This is the OG of The Willamett Valley @kwcellars .cheers #goodjuice

2024 Vintage Context - Why everything tasted so bright
2024 was a winemaker's vintage. Cool spring, slow sugar accumulation, extended hang time. That means pristine fruit, lower alcohol than the warm years, and crunchy acidity preserved in both Pinot and Chardonnay. Think classic, not ripe - exactly what sommeliers mean by "Burgundian" Willamette. Quality is universally high, farmers were calling it spectacular. 6602410d47d9

1. Cristom Vineyards - Eola-Amity Hills - The Whole-Cluster OG
Cristom is 25+ years in, farming 25ha around the winery, famous for Pinot but serious about Chardonnay too. e0db

Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2024:
Appearance: Pale to medium ruby, bright, clear.
Nose: Clean, medium+ intensity. Cranberry, raspberry, pure red fruit with pineapple-like acidity lift noted on the new 2024 release, plus estate signature of forest floor and stem spice. 8c3ce0db
Palate: Dry, high acidity, medium fine tannins, medium alcohol ∼13%, medium body. Flavour intensity medium+. Red cherry, cranberry, orange zest, tea leaf, crushed mineral. Whole-cluster (up to 43% on their Pinots) gives that spiced cherry, clove finish. Long, perfumed, mineral finish.
Conclusion: Very good to outstanding, can drink now but will develop 5-8 years. Classic Eola-Amity wind-driven freshness.

Chardonnay Eola-Amity Hills 2024:
Appearance: Pale lemon.
Nose: Medium intensity, Asian pear, Meyer lemon zest, white flower.
Palate: Dry, high acidity, medium alcohol 13%, medium body, citrus core, saline length. No heavy oak - Burgundian restraint.

2. Ken Wright Cellars - Carlton - The Single-Vineyard Geologist
13 single-vineyard Pinots, all about site expression over house style. Ken's thesis: Pinot is a vehicle for place.

Willamette Valley Pinot Noir Blend + Single Vineyard (e.g. Shea, Savoya, Canary Hill):
Appearance: Medium ruby to garnet.
Nose: Medium+ intensity. Ripe Rainier cherry, red plum, blackberry layered with rose petal, cedar, turned earth. Single sites add: Shea = cherry syrup, kirsch, sandalwood, Canary Hill = bright red fruit + minerality. 3c1ac7733b7e
Palate: Dry, high acidity, medium tannin (silky), medium+ flavour intensity. Cherry, raspberry, plum, cola, leather, clove. Magnolia, cinnamon, vanilla cream in warmer ferment notes.
Conclusion: Outstanding quality, precision. The blend is your "geology tour" bottle - shows how 13 sites combine. 903f
Podcast angle: "If Burgundy had a USGS map, it would be Ken Wright. He doesn't make Pinot, he makes Shea Vineyard, Savoya Vineyard."

3. Résonance - Yamhill-Carlton / Dundee - Louis Jadot's Burgundy transplant
Founded in 2013 by Jacques Lardière of Maison Louis Jadot, first winery outside Burgundy since 1859. Estate vineyards: Résonance and Découverte. 2bcb

Willamette Valley Pinot Noir:
Appearance: Medium ruby.
Nose: Medium intensity, young Beaune-like - red cherry, wild strawberry, violet, subtle forest floor. d633
Palate: Dry, high acidity, medium tannin, medium body, elegant blend of Jadot winemaking and Willamette terroir. Pure, fine-boned, not extracted. bae3
Conclusion: Very good+ quality, built for 4-5 year cellar. d633

Willamette Valley Chardonnay:
Appearance: Pale lemon-gold.
Nose: Medium+ intensity. Apple, pear, honey blossom - Boss-Drouhin comparison shows Dundee Hills Jory soil signature. Flint, citrus oil. 49f2
Palate: Dry, high acidity, medium alcohol, lees texture. Inner sweetness giving way to tart green apple and lime mineral. 93 points typicity from Advocate/Vinous recently. 1f44660281a106e9
Podcast angle: "What happens when 165 years of Burgundy meets Jory volcanic soil? Jadot didn't buy land for marketing - they bought it because Eola-Amity chills like Côte d'Or."

4. McCollum Heritage 91 - Yamhill-Carlton Estate Project - The Athlete Vigneron Story
CJ McCollum's label, name homage to family. Started 2020 with Adelsheim partnership making Chehalem Mountains Pinot from Boulder Bluff, Quarter Mile Lane, now 56 acres estate planted in Yamhill-Carlton in 2021 to Pinot and Chardonnay.

Pinot Noir Chehalem Mountains / Yamhill-Carlton Estate:
Appearance: Medium ruby, vibrant.
Nose: Medium+ intensity. Cedar spice, fresh cherries, dusty violets, freshly turned soil.
Palate: Dry, high acidity, medium soft tannin (10 months mostly used French oak), medium body. Cherry, cranberry, earth, orange peel. Approachable, modern Willamette style - fruit forward but site-driven.
Conclusion: Good to very good, drink now to 5 years. Story wine with serious winemaking behind it - Adelsheim winemaker Gina Hennen co-pilot.
The 2021 estate planting means we're about to taste his terroir, not just sourced fruit. That's legacy talk."

My visit to Willamett Valley 2026 #goodjuice #wine

#buggs #seafoodboil .cheers #goodbubbles #goodjuice #wine #champagne #whisky

Great day tasting really #goodjuice #goodbubbles @thecarltonwinemakersstudio7274 with Nick, a well educated man on the valley wines. cheers

#willamettevalley at #carltonwinestudio. cheers #goodjuice ##goodbubbles

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