Valley top place for Pinot Noir

Earlier this month, Yahoo! Travel editors declared the Willamette Valley “the place for Pinot.” It wasn’t news to Mike McLain at Springhill Cellars. He knew it a long time ago.

McLain’s vineyards, along with others in the mid-valley, have been way ahead of the curve in recognizing the advantages provided for winemakers here.

“It’s all we do anymore,” McLain said. “For the last 10 years, it’s just been Pinot.”

The growth and nation-wide popularity of Oregon’s wine industry has been amazing over the last 20 years. And Pinot in particular has thrived.

Springhill’s seven sloping North Albany acres are strictly Pinot grapes. Two-thirds of the crop is planted in Pinot Noir and one-third in Pinot Gris. Although there are numerous factors for the focus, McLain says the reason for successful Pinot vines in the area is all due to something called terroir.

“It’s a catch-all French term that means everything about the place,” McLain says.

Heat available during the growing season, the soil type and even the direction and slope of the ground all can factor into a successful Pinot crop.

The Willamette Valley also is very similar to the Burgundy region in France, one of that country’s main wine-producing regions, heavily leaning to Pinot and Chardonnay grapes.

“Pinot is a cool-climate grape type very similar to Burgundy,” McLain says.

His decision to concentrate on Pinot also simplified things at the winery. Springhill used to grow a wider variety of grapes and produce a more diverse selection of wine. Making Pinot the grape of choice has proved beneficial.

“It seemed like the right thing to do. It sells more, and the return on the investment is higher,” McLain says.

When he first planted his vineyard in the late 1970s, McLain sold the grapes to other wineries. After 10 years he decided to venture into the business himself. In 1988, with his wife Karen and her father Merv Anthony, he started Springhill Cellars. Since then it has flourished, producing award-winning Pinots, including five “Best-In-Show” titles at various competitions.

He says Springhill’s vines all are clones, genetically related to the original vineyard. And all were hand-planted. More than 10,000 of them.

“When we started with our first planting, there were only 12 wineries in Oregon. By the time we opened our winery, there were 36,” said McLain.

He said there now are more than 400 labels in the state, although a lot of them are strictly marketing firms with no land of their own. McLain’s small vineyards (he also owns 13 acres in Yamhill County) produce between 1,000 and 1,200 cases of Pinot each year.

Recent weather extremes didn’t affect his Pinot crop. He said the grapes are dormant in the winter. The only current attention required is pruning the vines. That’s not to say weather isn’t a factor in a successful harvest.

“It’s farming,” McLain says. “But we haven’t had anything that could be termed a disaster since 1984, when it rained and just didn’t stop.”

Springhill’s ’08 Pinots currently are aging in Hungarian and French white oak barrels before moving on for fermentation.

Keeping Oregon Pinots, and Springhill’s in particular, consistently among the best requires vigilance.

“You can’t make great wine out of mediocre grapes,” McLain says. “The wine won’t get better than the fruit that comes through the door.”

Wineries in Linn and Benton counties are heavily into Pinot production. Below is a list of local wineries all turning out popular varieties of Pinot.

Belle Vallee Cellars

804 N.W. Buchanan Ave., Corvallis

Focus is on Pinot Noir. Contracts with vineyards in the Willamette & Rogue valleys.

Benton-Lane Winery

23924 Territorial Highway, Monroe

Produces mostly Pinot, concentrating on Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc from its 145-acre vineyard.

Broadley Vineyard

25158 Orchard Tract Road, Monroe

Family-owned vineyard exclusively producing Pinot Noir.

Cardwell Hill Cellars

24241 Cardwell Hill Drive, Philomath

Large vineyard with the majority planted in Pinot Noir.

Harris Bridge Vineyard

22937 Harris Road, Philomath

A small vineyard producing Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris.

Lumos Wine Co.

2400 Cardwell Hill Drive, Philomath

Grapes come from vineyards in the Willamette Valley mostly growing Pinots with some white wine varietals.

Marks Ridge Winery

29255 Berlin Road, Sweet Home

New winery bottling three wines, a Pinot Noir, Riesling and a sweet Gewurztraminer.

Spindrift Cellars

810 Applegate St., Philomath

Four Willamette Valley vineyards supply Spindrift for its Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Springhill Cellars

2920 N.W. Scenic View Dr., Albany

Exclusively produces Pinot from vineyards in Albany and McMinnville.

Tyee Wine Cellars

26335 Greenberry Road, Corvallis

Small family winery offering Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer.