Ayoub, Pinot Noir Meredith Mitchell Vineyard, 2011

Mo Ayoub searched Oregon for years before finding his site—four acres of south-facing volcanic Jory soil in the Dundee Hills, planted in 2001 and farmed by hand using organic methods. But this bottling comes from a different, equally compelling source: Meredith Mitchell Vineyard in the McMinnville AVA, planted in 1988 on a mix of marine sedimentary and basalt soils. The vineyard earned Demeter biodynamic certification in 2018, though biodynamic practices began in 2014. Its own-rooted, mature vines and shallow, rocky soils consistently produce Pinot Noir of intense complexity. The 2011 Willamette Valley vintage was the coolest on record—115 days of hang time from bloom to harvest, the longest ever—a "miracle vintage" that delivered extraordinary aromatic complexity and bright acidity beneath a challenging growing season of frost, clouds, and cool temperatures. This is Oregon Pinot at its most transparent: structure, freshness, and quiet depth. For the patient collector.