Pinot Noir
The relationship between Pinot Noir and the Willamette Valley is not everyday.
Oregon’s Willamette Valley is the gold standard for cool-climate Pinot Noir in the U.S.
Kudos | Pinot Noir Willamette Valley
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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.
“I didn’t get into winegrowing to make Pinot Noir, but after my first vintage in the Willamette Valley in 1988, I knew that wanted to learn as much as I could about this place and this varietal.”
-Laurent Montalieu | Owner & Vigneron
Kudos Willamette Valley Pinot Noir
91 Points | James Suckling Oregon Wine Report
“Some florals and gently reductive aromas here that open up with some air in the glass. The red cherry-fruited palate really delivers attractive, typically pinot, cherry flavor in fleshy style. Drink now.”
The Willamette Valley Pinot Noir is a blend of a number of different vineyard sites from numerous AVAs. It consists of Dundee Hills, McMinnville, Chehalem Mts. and Willamette Valley fruit coming off more than seven different vineyard sites. All of which bring their own elements from the dirt they come from. Some bring richness and depth, others minerality and tannin structure. Red, blue and black fruit all blend together, a lengthy tinkering process spanning weeks to find the right combination of flavors that balance and mesh seamlessly into one converging blend.
Our Winemaking
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. We age our wine in dozens of barrels, mixing Stainless steel with New French Oak, Neutral barrels, and everything in between.
We’ve got a dozen different Heritage and Dijon clones to choose from, a mixture of whole cluster and machine-picked fruit, and four talented winemakers that bring a plethora of knowledge and unique experience into their work daily. The combination? Brilliance, in a sleek, fun package sold to you at an incredible value. But in a sea of choices, with each and every bottle designed with sexy color combinations, different fonts and clever, beckoning names, you reached out and grabbed this particular one. Kudos to you.
Our Farming
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.