2015 Winter's Hill Pinot Noir Watershed Dundee Hills Oregon 750 ml

Prized Under-$30 Oregon Pinot—Spectator’s “Most Extraordinary Vintage”

Peter and Emily Gladhart planted their first 20 acres in 1990 when opting for Pinot Noir vines in the Dundee Hills was still a risky choice. But their gamble paid off—big time. Today, the breathtaking estate is surrounded by world-class Blue-chip neighbors who have defined Oregon Pinot, including Archery Summit, White Rose, Domaine Serene, and Domaine Drouhin—all within a 3-mile radius. But unlike their brand-name neighbors the petite, 35-acre Winter's Hill estate has remained small, so small in fact that “Each of our 42,000 plants is touched by a human hand more than 10 times before harvest,” Peter told us.  

As is still so common in Willamette Valley, the Gladharts continue to farm Winter’s Hill themselves, with the help of a small crew of six. Following a meticulous Côte de Nuits script, the crew eschews mechanical harvesters, preferring to clip each bunch by hand, before gently placing each bunch into 5-gallon buckets before the short truck ride to the winery. This painstaking process means no berries are damaged, and no free-run juice is lost from vine to winery. Yields harvested from the vineyard’s breathtaking, highly prized Jory red soils are always kept low, resulting in intensely flavored fruit.

The phenomenal 2015 growing season largely mirrored 2014, with one major exception—above-average temperatures in the spring allowed for early bloom and exceptional fruit-set, which led to an early harvest overall. When we last tasted this wine six months ago, it was an early peek into a showstopping vintage. Today, with additional bottle age, its Bing cherry and baking spice flavors are forming a gorgeous harmony, with accents of crushed flower petals and mouthwatering acidity.

Wine Spectator, who scored the vintage a stellar 95-points reported that “there’s no precedent for a vintage exactly like this in Oregon.” For the Gladharts, it was the picking opportunity of a lifetime. Today, it’s the Pinot Noir opportunity of the year.