Winemaker Notes
Situated just above the 45th parallel and just between the protective rain shadow of Oregon’s Coast Range to the west and the majestic Cascade Mountain Range to the east, the Willamette Valley enjoys a long, late growing season, perfectly suited for world class Pinot Noir.
Food Pairing Notes
All Argyle Pinot Noirs are hand picked and fermented in small batch open-top bins - a rare, time-consuming and labor-intensive process for a winery of any size. This gives our winemaking team ultimate flexibilty in blending - literally to the vineyard block.
Vineyard Notes
The 2019 growing season began with a cold and wet winter followed by wet and warm spring, leading to a late April bud break. A few frost scares in April gave way to a warmer than average spring. The early June bloom was dry and sunny, with a touch of rain affecting the later ripening Spirit Hill Vineyard in the cool, windy Eola-Amity Hills. Some late June and early July precipitation created a small amount of disease pressure, while the rest of the summer was quite moderate, with fewer heat spikes than we've seen the last number of summers. September brought with it a significant cool down and a series of scattered rain showers, making harvest much more old-school Oregon, dancing with the whims of Mother Nature. A more classically spread out harvest, we started with Pinot Noir in the Dundee Hills on September 4th and finished with Pinot Noir in the upper elevations of the Eola-Amity Hills at Spirit Hill Vineyard on October 16th.
