Left Coast Estate

Robert Pfaff and Suzanne Larson lived in France as newlyweds, and it stuck. In 2003 the Colorado family bought roughly 500 acres northwest of Salem and set out to build something that would outlast them. The initial phase of the winery was finished just in time for the inaugural 2004 vintage, its label bearing a Lewis and Clark map.

The name has a simple origin: three of the five Pfaffs are left-handed.

The estate sits on the 45th parallel, 37 miles from the Pacific, with the Van Duzer Corridor running directly through it — which means cool marine air pulls across the vines every afternoon. Soils are largely sedimentary, laid down by the Missoula floods, with some volcanic ground mixed in. Plantings have grown from 30 acres in 2003 to 142 today, and the operation has shifted from selling fruit under long-term contracts to an all-estate commitment.

Joe Wright has made the wine since 2011, working exclusively with estate-grown Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Viognier, and Syrah, plus a sparkling program. The three single-vineyard Pinots are built around single clones — Latitude 45 is all Dijon, Right Bank all Pommard, Truffle Hill all Wädenswil — which makes tasting them together a clean lesson in what clone does to a wine. Cali’s Cuvée is named for the Pfaffs’ daughter.

The second generation runs it now. Taylor Pfaff started working the vineyards at fifteen, spent six harvests in the cellar under Joe Wright, earned an MBA in Wine and Spirits from Kedge Business School in Bordeaux, and became CEO in 2016. Cali, a licensed landscape architect, drew the estate map you’ll see on the label while still in high school and shapes the property’s park-like design. Bob is co-founder, chef, and estate gardener; Suzanne is co-founder and brand ambassador.

The conservation work is the distinguishing feature. Forty acres of old-growth Oregon white oak savanna sit at the center of the estate, with another 60 restored — significant given that only 2 to 4 percent of the valley’s original oaks remain. The winery is 90 percent solar powered, from the second largest agricultural solar grant in Oregon. It’s LIVE and Salmon Safe certified, participates in ¡Salud!, and took LIVE’s 2024 Award for Excellence in Sustainability. Wine Press Northwest named it Oregon Winery of the Year in 2020.

There’s a café with a wood-fired oven, hiking trails through the savanna, and a calendar that includes flatbed truck estate tours and the annual Run for the Oaks.