Yamhill-Carlton

Oregon · United States · Wine Auction Prices

Yamhill-Carlton, in the Coast Range foothills northwest of Carlton, is the Willamette's most structurally complex AVA, with diverse marine sedimentary and volcanic soils producing Pinot Noir of considerable range and character. The AVA is protected from rain by the Coast Range and experiences less fog influence than Eola-Amity Hills, producing warmer days with greater diurnal variation. The predominant Willakenzie soil — ancient marine sedimentary from Eocene sea deposits — produces Pinot Noir with firmer tannin and more herbal complexity than the volcanic Jory soils of Dundee Hills. Ken Wright's Guadalupe and Winfield vineyards, Andrew Rich's Temperance Hill, Elk Cove's Five Mountain, and Soter Vineyards (Tony Soter, formerly of Napa's Araujo and Etude) produce the district's finest wines. Soter's Mineral Springs Ranch single-vineyard from biodynamic farming has become a Yamhill-Carlton benchmark. The AVA's marine sedimentary geology connects it directly to Ribbon Ridge, which shares the same Willakenzie soils in a more compressed, sea-floor formation.