Intense and fruit forward, offering bold and unbridled wafts of black currant, ripe Bing cherry and black raspberry accented with luxurious cigar box notes. An audaciously juicy mouthful of mixed berries, pomegranate, vanilla and a whisper of graham entertains the palate through the dauntless finish.

Vineyard Overview

Prince Hill Vineyard offers ideal growing conditions for producing world class Pinot Noir. Planted in 1983, this premium site encompasses 34 acres, 27 of which are dedicated to top quality Pinot Noir. Benefiting from southern, south eastern and eastern exposures, Prince Hill gently slopes from 760 to 510 foot elevations. The vineyard is divided into eight separate blocks of Pinot Noir that are selectively harvested at peak ripeness. The various Pinot Noir clones that comprise the vineyard offer the maximum opportunity each vintage to blend a one-of-a-kind single vineyard Pinot Noir.

Prince Hill Vineyard is characterized by its Jory soil, a soil which covers the mid and upper elevations of the Dundee Hills. Typically four to six feet in depth, Jory soils consist of a brick-colored silty clay loam. The depth and richness of the soils lend themselves ideally to viticulture. The vine’s roots are encouraged to grow deep into the earth as the rich soils nourish the vines. These exceptional growing conditions help produce consistently excellent wines from this site.

Vintage Overview

The 2014 vintage was the hottest on record in the Willamette Valley to-date. In fact, it broke our previous record for heat accumulation, set in 2003. Daytime highs were certainly warm, but the average overnight temperature was also higher. Those two combined elements set the stage for an early harvest which occurred three to four weeks ahead of schedule. The season delivered a record amount of balanced fruit with dry, warm weather throughout the spring, summer and early fall. What little precipitation occurred did so in late September, serving to provide water relief and temper rapidly rising sugar concentrations. During this harvest we saw larger than normal clusters form, which also resulted in higher than normal yields. The harvested fruit and resulting wines exhibit fresh fruit qualities, balance in acidity, and moderate alcohol.

Cooking Suggestions

A superb match with salmon, rosemary glazed duck, foie gras, suckling pork chop, or Boeuf Bourginon.