Cristom Vineyards

Paul Gerrie was an engineer in Pittsburgh with a serious Burgundy habit and a plan to find land in North or South America. After attending the International Pinot Noir Celebration in Oregon in 1991, he was convinced. Through Robert Parker, he connected with Mike Etzel — Parker’s brother-in-law and the founder of Beaux Frères — who introduced him to a small existing winery in the Eola-Amity Hills. Paul and Eileen Gerrie bought it in 1992 and named it Cristom after their children, Chris and Tom.

The winemaking has one clear ancestor. The Gerries were drawn to Domaine Dujac’s single-vineyard wines, and a visit to Jacques Seysses in Morey-Saint-Denis convinced founding winemaker Steve Doerner that whole clusters add complexity to the aromatics, another dimension of tannin, and a clearer expression of site. Doerner came from Calera in California, where he had worked with Josh Jensen, and stayed at Cristom for roughly three decades. Whole-cluster fermentation at around 40 to 50 percent, native yeasts, hand punch-downs, minimal racking, unfined and unfiltered — that has been the house method since day one.

Tom Gerrie joined full-time in 2007 after graduating from the University of Washington, became majority owner in 2012, and now leads winegrowing alongside vineyard manager and co-winemaker Daniel Estrin.

The estate runs across eight distinct vineyard sites on volcanic soils, mostly dry-farmed, planted at high density. Five Pinot Noir vineyards carry family names: Marjorie, the original planting on the property and the only own-rooted site; Louise; Jessie; Eileen; and Emile. Paul Gerrie Vineyard, a parcel Paul spent two decades hoping to acquire, was secured shortly before his 2012 retirement. Each produces a vineyard-designated bottling.

Mount Jefferson Cuvée is the earlier-drinking blend and one of the better values in Pinot Noir anywhere. The Eola-Amity Chardonnay, flinty and saline, is worth ordering even though whites are a small share of production. Sheep and pigs work the property, and guests are sometimes taken up to meet them.