Oregon

United States · Wine Auction Prices

Oregon's wine identity is almost entirely synonymous with the Willamette Valley, the cool, fog-influenced trough running 150 kilometres south of Portland between the Coast Range and Cascades. Pinot Noir accounts for roughly 60% of Oregon's plantings and virtually all of its auction-collected wine, with quality firmly anchored in the Willamette's six distinct AVAs: Dundee Hills (volcanic Jory soil, most famous), Eola-Amity Hills (maritime-influenced, Meredith Mitchell clone), Yamhill-Carlton (sandstone and marine sedimentary soils), Ribbon Ridge (100% Pinot, compact volcanic formation), Chehalem Mountains (mix of Jory, loess, and Laurelwood sedimentary), and McMinnville. Oregon Pinot Noir entered the auction world following the Gault-Millau 'Wine Olympics' of 1979, where Eyrie Vineyards' 1975 South Block Reserve finished second to Drouhin's 1959 Chambolle-Musigny — a result that prompted Robert Drouhin to purchase land in the Dundee Hills in 1988, establishing Domaine Drouhin Oregon. Beaux Frères, established by Robert Parker's brother-in-law Michael Etzel in Ribbon Ridge (1990), achieved instant collector status through Parker's enthusiasm. Today the auction market is led by Antica Terra's Eola-Amity Hills single-vineyard cuvées (Botanica, Antikythera, Ceras) at $200–300 per bottle, Beaux Frères' The Beaux Frères Vineyard at $100–130, and Ken Wright's single-vineyard Pinot Noirs. The 2002, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018 vintages are benchmarks.