Jessie 2019

Cristom

192,00 €

A Pinot Noir from Eola-Amity Hills combining aromatic depth, freshness, and textural precision.

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UNITED STATES

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Vin Red

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14.5%

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5 to 10 years

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100% Pinot Noir

Roasted duck breast with sweet spices, pork tenderloin with mushrooms, roasted chicken with herbs and root vegetables, wild mushroom risotto, grilled salmon with soy glaze

Let's talk little, let's talk wine

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Located in the Willamette Valley, in northwest Oregon, Cristom's Jessie vineyard spans steep slopes overlooking the Eola-Amity Hills area. Planted on well-drained volcanic and sedimentary soils, the vines benefit from a cool and windy climate, marked by sea breezes coming from the Van Duzer Corridor. This exposure promotes slow grape maturation and preserves high natural acidity, giving birth to a precise, structured Pinot Noir deeply rooted in its native terroir.

Grapes from the Jessie parcel are harvested by hand, carefully sorted, then partially whole-cluster fermented to preserve the fruit's integrity and aromatic complexity. Fermentation takes place in open-top vats, with gentle pump-overs and punch-downs to delicately extract color and tannins. After pressing, the wine is transferred to French oak barrels, with a significant proportion of new wood, where it is aged for a long time on fine lees before bottling at the estate, without excessive filtration.

This wine reveals notes of black cherry, raspberry, and plum, enhanced by floral touches of violet and dried rose, as well as spicy nuances of pepper and clove. Woody accents of cedar and vanilla blend with a subtle mineral framework. The palate offers a silky texture, supported by vibrant acidity, fine but present tannins, and a long, precise finish that gains complexity with aeration.

Where are we traveling?

Willamette Valley


It is located in northwest Oregon, stretching nearly 150 miles from south of Portland to the foothills of the Calapooya Mountains, framed by the Coast Range to the west and the Cascades to the east. The vineyards are mainly concentrated on the slopes and rolling hills bordering the valley, between 200 and 1,000 feet in elevation, in a verdant landscape of fir forests, hazelnut orchards, and small family farms. The viticultural history began in 1965, when David Lett, a young enology graduate from UC Davis, planted the first Pinot Noir vines in Dundee Hills, convinced that this corner of Oregon offered conditions similar to Burgundy — a gamble that everyone considered insane at the time. The recognition came in 1979, during a blind tasting organized by Robert Drouhin in Paris, where Lett's 1975 Pinot Noir ranked among the best, prompting Drouhin himself to come and plant vines in the valley a few years later. The climate is cool and maritime, characterized by mild, rainy winters, dry, bright summers with long days, and cool nights that preserve natural acidity and slow maturation, ideal for Burgundian grape varieties. The soils are remarkably diverse, from the ancient volcanic clays of Dundee Hills to the basalts of Eola-Amity Hills and the marine sediments of McMinnville, with each sub-appellation imparting its distinct signature. Willamette Valley has established itself as Burgundy's great rival for Pinot Noir, producing wines of striking elegance and complexity, with aromas of black cherry, damp earth, sweet spices, and undergrowth, accompanied by increasingly respected taut and mineral Chardonnays, and a handful of refreshing Pinot Gris and Rieslings that bear witness to a valley that has become, in barely sixty years, one of the world's leading wine regions.

The little history of the country

UNITED STATES

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In the United States, 90% of the wine produced comes from California. It was the influx of gold prospectors to California that revitalized the Californian wine industry in the mid-19th century, particularly in the Sonoma and Napa regions. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were 800 wineries. From 1919 to 1933, Prohibition decimated the vast majority of the Californian wine industry, so that by 1933, only 140 wineries remained. It wasn't until 1960 that the wine industry began to recover from Prohibition, and California was primarily known for producing fortified wines (in the style of Port). It was also in the 1960s that some of the most famous wineries were established (Mondavi, Heitz Wine Cellars, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, etc.). In 1976, a landmark event took place: the legendary tasting competition better known as the "Judgment of Paris." It pitted the greatest French wines against the new American upstarts. On May 24th, an unexpected result shook the wine world, as, to everyone's surprise, the United States emerged victorious. This competition, however, remains relatively unknown to the general public. Today, there is no doubt that the United States produces great wines. While California largely dominates the reputation of American wines with its excellent Zinfandels, the state of Oregon produces some of the best Pinot Noir in the world, and Washington State offers excellent Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon.

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