James Suckling 94
"Pretty notes of mulberries, spiced cherries, cloves and tea leaves. Some mushroom. Its so silky, supple and delicious with very fine tannins. I like the savory tightness and minerality. Some rusty hints, too. Tight finish. 43% whole cluster. Drink from 2024."

Decanter 93
"Made from 62% estate fruit and spending 11 months in barrel, this is Cristom's appellation wine, and it more than delivers, as they take the same approach they do with their single-vineyard bottlings. Bright and open aromatics of red berries, spearmint and savoury herbs. The palate is light and fresh with ample structure owing to the Eola-Amity spice and Cristom's whole structure approachflavours of blue and red berries, savoury thyme and crushed basalt minerality."

The Wine
Mt. Jefferson Cuvee is a blend of the Cristom estate Pinot Noir vineyards along with fruit we source from neighboring vineyards in the Willamette Valley. The vineyard sites we have thoughtfully selected over the years are planted on a variety of soil types, elevations and aspects and represent the Willamette Valley Appellation as a broader whole. The vineyards are farmed by committed winegrowers we are proud to partner with, some for more than two decades, each and every one making a contribution to the Mt. Jeff. Each vineyard site adds to the character, fruit and structure of the wine, giving Mt. Jeff its deserved reputation as one of the most stylistically consistent Pinot Noirs in the world.

After tasting multiple times through every lot of the vintage, it is the Mt. Jeff blend that their original winemaker crafts first. Whole-cluster fermentations by native yeast followed by extended aging in French oak are the hallmarks of the Cristom winemaking style. This wine ages in barrel for twelve months and can stylistically be the most fresh and approachable of the Cristom Pinot Noirs in its youth. You can call it your school-night Pinot.

Hand harvested and hand sorted
31 whole clusters
No cold soak before primary fermentation
Minimum effective additions of sulfur and tartaric acid
Native yeast fermentations
1-3 punch-downs daily in 1-7 ton open-top fermenters
Gently pressed in a pneumatic bladder press and moved to barrel by gravity, and never racked, unless necessary
Undergoes a full malolactic fermentation in barrel
Fined with egg whites, unfiltered

Aged 12 months in French cooperage, 18 new oak

The Estate
It was the promise of great wines that first drew Paul and Eileen Gerrie, owners of Cristom Vineyards, to Oregon. They conceived of a place where the succulent Pinot Noir grape could achieve its fullest expression complex, hand crafted wines that are bold yet balanced: both powerful and elegant. Their wines evolve as they age, revealing ever greater richness and complexity with time. The abundance of soils and slopes in the hills of Oregon defined the Gerries vision of world class Pinot Noir. The warm winds of summer held the promise of rich Chardonnay, the cool sunny autumn yielded tart Pinot Gris. Since the inaugural vintage in 1992, the Gerries, along with winemaker Steve Doerner, have been producing wines that are considered the benchmark in Oregon and have made Cristom, named after their children, Christine and Tom, a veritable household name.

Farming Practice:Practicing Organic