United States · Oregon

Cristom

Cristom Vineyards is an Eola-Amity Hills Willamette Valley estate established in 1992 by Paul and Eileen Gerrie, farming approximately 65 acres of estate vineyards and producing Pinot Noir from named blocks: Jessie, Louise, Marjorie, and Eileen. The estate was one of the first to establish the Eola-Amity Hills as a distinct terroir, where cold afternoon winds from the Van Duzer Corridor and marine influence from the Pacific Ocean create notably lower temperatures than the Dundee Hills to the north. The Signature Cuvée Pinot Noir leads at 19 lots averaging $51 per bottle with the 2016 vintage most traded; the Jessie Vineyard averages $44 across 21 lots. The Estate Pinot Noir achieves $175 average across 6 lots — the highest-value wine, likely representing rare older vertical lots. Reserve Pinot Noir averages $55 across 11 lots. Auction prices range from $1 to $300. Cristom's wines are consistently elegant and food-friendly rather than ostentatious: lower alcohol than many Oregon peers, with a restrained, savory profile that reflects Eola-Amity's cool microclimate. Steve Doerner, who joined as winemaker from Calera in 1992, has applied a minimalist cellar approach — native yeasts, whole-cluster fermentation — that has defined the estate's house style for three decades.