We sell more Oregon Pinot than any other type of Pinot in the shop. Why? For starters, the price to quality ratio just cannot be beat. Gimme a bottle of small grower Oregon Pinot for $40 over any $150 bottle of Burgundy or California Pinot any day of the week, full stop. Stylistically, Oregon Pinot scratches our itch. We like aromatics, elegance, gentle tannins, and freshness in our Pinots that aren't masked with toasty flavors of oak.
Evesham was founded in the mid 1980's with a clear ethos which directly aligns with our philosophy — “small is beautiful.” The late founder Russ Rainey emphasized healthy grapes from dry farmed vineyards and minimal handling in the cellar, following the Burgundian model of "let the wine make itself.” You can feel that in the wines — the fruit, the flavor, the heady Pinot perfume feels untouched, pure, expressive more of place than of process.
If you have a chance to visit the property, you will see that the cellar is built into a hill on the bucolic property and you will feel transported to the old world, which makes sense, as the expression of Evesham Woods' wines are decidedly Euro.
Several years ago the property was sold to a friend and local winemaker, Erin Nuccio, and his wife Jordan. Thankfully this indie property remains indie. The small is beautiful and low-fi approach will thankfully be uninterrupted.
The Evesham entry level Pinot that we sell for $32 has been our top selling work horse from our first week of business. It's a superlative weeknight Pinot made by a thoughtful grower. A rare feat considering 9/10 bottles of Pinot Noir around this price point are commodity wines made by machines and algorithms pushed by large corporate wineries.
This, however, is Evesham's micro batch, single vineyard bottling from the Mahonia Vineyard in the Willamette Valley. I don't use the word micro batch loosely: Only 72 cases or three barrels of this wine was made in 2021. That's totally bananas!
Here is Erin's assessment of this wine:
"2021 is is an especially good vintage. It began with a warmer than average summer (it hit 118f in June!) but ended on a cooler than average harvest, resulting in a vintage with the richness of ‘18 but with ‘19’s pretty side — it’s built on poise rather than broad shoulders. Savory with nori, black sesame, juniper, and medicinal roots, and nicely fruited with plum cordial, cassis, and blood orange zest."
