Vibrant with mineral spice and tropical fruits. This wine will turn any occasion into the right one.
Grapevines are survivors. They were first discovered by humans over 5,000 years ago climbing trees searching for sunlight in Mediterranean Forests. Pinot Noir is just like any other wine grape. It will take sunlight and warm weather from the summer months to produce sugar making it’s fruit attractive enough for others to spread its seeds.
However, when Pinot Noir is paired with the right terroir it becomes transcendental in the glass. The Willamette Valley’s northerly latitude at the 45th parallel extends the hours of crucial sunlight during the growing season, the large swings between day and night temperatures help to retain acidity in the fruit, and the eclectic soil composition yields distinct structure and flavors.
With Kudos, our goal is to bring the best representation of this unique varietal grown in this one-of-a-kind place. We work with a wide range of soils (basalt, sedimentary, alluvial), elevations ranging from sea level all the way up to 750 ft above and vineyard sites across the valley. We age our wine in dozens of barrels, mixing Stainless steel with New French Oak, Neutral barrels, and everything in between.
-Laurent Montalieu | Owner & Vigneron
90 Points | Wine Enthusiast | Paul Greggut
The Kudos Pinot Gris, bursting with fresh citrus and stone fruit flavors is anything but your average Willamette Valley Pinot Gris. Six different vineyards spanning three different AVAs contribute to this one wine– one with tremendous fragrance, mouthfeel and complexity to spare.
The elevation and steep slopes of the Dundee Hills and Yamhill-Carlton regions give the wine it’s acidic and mineral traits. The southern AVA sites at close to 200 ft above sea level on southward facing slopes allow for ample sunlight in the summer months. This gives the fruit a nice long growing season, producing Pinot Gris that on the onset of fall is ready to be picked, destemmed and sent straight to the press, allowing it to keep all the aromatics that make this Pinot Gris so unique.
The ultimate goal in our winemaking is to get out of the way of our vineyards and the fruit that they produce. This means to trust the work that we put into the vineyard during the growing season. In the winery, we treat each vineyard and block differently. We want to build depth and breath while still representing the terroir of our vineyards.
We’re working off a wide range of soils (basalt, sedimentary, alluvial), elevations ranging from sea level all the way up to 750 ft above and vineyard sites across the valley. With Pinot Gris, once the fruit is picked it goes straight into the press. We find that with whole-cluster pressing allow us to extract subtle tannins from the skins that will help to build body in the wine later. We ferment under cool conditions over 10-21 days, stressing our yeast slightly, which leads to body in the wines.
Kudos to you for choosing a wine to pair with your journey.
We farm over 500 acres across Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Our goal every day is to make our land better than the day before. We believe that for wines to truly shine, your vineyards must be in balance. All of our vineyards are dry-farmed and herbicide- free.