Gran Moraine Winery

The name comes from the ice age. When the Missoula Floods tore through the northern Willamette Valley, they left behind moraines — masses of glacier-deposited rock and sediment. The estate sits on some of the oldest marine sedimentary soils in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA, on its western edge, where afternoon breezes roll in off the Pacific.

The vineyard was planted in 2005 by Premier Pacific Vineyards to Dijon clones — 667, 777, and 115 for Pinot Noir, 76, 75, and 95 for Chardonnay. Jackson Family Wines acquired it in 2013, and it’s become one of their four major Oregon properties.

Shane Moore is the winemaker, and his approach explains the house style. An Idaho native with a degree in enology and viticulture from Washington State, he worked thirteen harvests across Canada, Western Australia, and Israel’s Golan Heights before joining Jackson Family in 2011 as an enologist working Sonoma Coast Pinot. He came to Gran Moraine in 2013 and was named winemaker in 2016.

He picks early — on the cusp of ripeness — which by American standards looks reckless. His first Oregon vineyard manager asked whether he really thought the fruit was ready. Thirteen harvests in, nobody had ever asked him that. A few vintages and a trip to Burgundy later, he was certain: picking early at this site was how he’d get the tension and energy he wanted, across the rosé, the sparkling, and the Chardonnay alike.

The results are deliberately restrained — balance over opulence, with a clean line of acidity running through everything. The sparkling program spends a minimum of 24 months on the lees and has become one of the most respected in Oregon.

The cellar itself is unusual. The team follows stringent processes Shane adopted from Israeli military-run wineries, while music plays 24 hours a day through the open-air facility.

The barn-inspired building echoes the farm structures scattered across the region, and a 300,000-gallon pond collects rainwater. The tasting room adjoins the working winery, surrounded by the Winery Estate Vineyard.