Shea Wine Cellars Shea Vineyard Estate Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2016

Shea Wine Cellars and Dick Shea’s iconic Shea Vineyard, which sit high in the Yamhill Foothills of Oregon’s Willamette Valley, are the source of many of Oregon’s greatest Pinot Noirs. Planted in 1989 and 1990, the estate’s Shea Vineyard sprawls over 140 acres, commanding a bird’s eye view of Willamette Valley. Nearly the entire vineyard is dedicated to Pinot Noir, Oregon’s signature varietal. A remaining few acres planted to Chardonnay and Pinot Gris also produce award winning wines.

Well drained and completely dry farmed, Shea Vineyard is not only the source of Dick Shea’s award winning, highly acclaimed Pinot Noirs, it is also the origin of many of the finest wines made by Oregon’s top dozen winemakers. To be allocated grapes from Shea Vineyard, only winemakers with a proven track record for making the highest quality Pinot Noir are permitted to source grapes from Shea Vineyard, Oregon’s undisputed “grand cru.” Archery Summit, Beaux Freres, Bergström, Ken Wright, Panther Creek, and St. Innocent are just some of Willamette Valley’s stars who have sought Dick Shea’s magical Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir. California’s Sin Qua Non has also been a happy recipient. A little more than a decade after planting, Wine Enthusiast proclaimed in its annual review of Oregon’s wines, “It is no coincidence that our top two top rated wines… were made from fruit from Richard Shea’s perennially superb Willamette Valley vineyard.” Moreover, the list of award winning Pinot Noirs from Dick Shea’s iconic vineyard continue to multiply.

Oregon’s Willamette Valley was the destination and the dream of thousands of 19th century pioneers as they migrated west across the Great American Desert to “the promised land,” a green oasis where crops and orchards bore fruit aplenty. Today, the Willamette Valley retains its original allure. It is the center of the Oregon wine and fruit industries and it has become a haven for many environmental and high tech industries.

Today, the Willamette Valley is home to more than two thirds of the wineries and vineyards in Oregon. At last count there were more than two hundred wineries in this broad and varied valley that follows the Willamette River from north to south for a hundred miles from the Columbia River to just south of Eugene. The Willamette Valley is one of the premier places on Earth for the cultivation of Pinot Noir, one of the finest, yet most difficult grape varieties to grow. So favorable is this land for Pinot Noir that Willamette Valley is mentioned in the same breath as Burgundy and a few select cool weather locations in California as one of the privileged places on Earth for growing the often magical, yet mercurial Pinot Noir grape. Willamette Valley, also, provides ideal terroir for Pinot Gris and other premium white varietals.