Division Pinot Noir ‘Deux’ Eola Springs Vineyard, Eola Amity Hills 2017

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Division Pinot Noir ‘Deux’ Eola Springs Vineyard, Eola Amity Hills has many striking aspects, but perhaps most striking is the wine’s complex salinity (the result of terroir) and incredible length on the palate (the result of old vines). Aromatically, this organic red wine will make you think of boysenberries smashed in briny sand and crushed shells. On the palate, we were blown away by its weighty, glycerol mouth-feel. Expect this medium-bodied wine to be a fine aged indeed, while still delivering a very pleasant youthful wine for your glass.

Eola Springs was originally planted in 1972 to Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, as well as Cabernet Sauvignon and Muscat. The Cab Sauv is long gone, while the Farmhouse block planted between 1980 and 1990 on its own roots makes up their 2017 Pinot Noir ‘Deux’ The site features the region’s classic volcanic basalt bedrock, but is overlaid with some of the most dense marine sedimentary (high calcium eroded oyster shells and mollusks) soils in the Eola-Amity Hills – a truly complex mix that gives the wines from this site their distinct briny and mineral character.

The Eola-Springs Farmhouse Blocks of Pommard and Wadensvil clones Pinot Noir were split into three fermentations utilizing a pied de cuve (vineyard native yeast cultivation) build up. The ferments varied between 33%-66% whole cluster and we managed each one either with pigeage (foot pressing), pump- over or punch down. The wine lots were aged for 10 months in French oak barrels and puncheons (500L), with approximately 25% in new oak and the rest in neutral oak. Our job in the cellar is to resist the temptations to do too much and really let our great and varied terroir do the work. Hence, the wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered with only a small sulfur addition made about month before bottling.

Division Winemaking Co. is a Portland, Oregon based winery founded in 2010 by Kate Norris and Thomas Monroe. Inspired by the wineries of the Loire, Beaujolais, Burgundy and the Northern Rhone where they first learned winemaking and viticulture, the urban winery creates Oregon and Washington wines including Pinot Noir, Gamay, Chardonnay, Rosés of multiple varietals , Chenin Blanc, Riesling, Cabernet Franc, Côt, Syrah, and Grenache. Determined to make approachable and balanced wines through minimal manipulation, Kate and Tom have a passion to work with well-farmed terroir expressive vineyards, many of which are organic and/or Biodynamic, celebrating the varietals they as winemakers love to drink.

Division Winemaking Co. includes the flagship Division label, the more approachable Division-Villages label, the Gamine brand inspired by the Rhone Valley and a personal expression of co-founder Kate Norris’ love of the region, as well as the experimental Tripod Project label, a collaboration between co-winemaker Tom Monroe, Barnaby Tuttle of Teutonic Wine and Jesse Skiles of Fausse Piste. Division Winemaking Company is also a member of the PDX Urban Wineries Association. They represent a new generation of winemakers that are looking beyond the status quo to create unique styles of wine, with a purpose, a story and without barriers.
Both Tom and Kate have been passionate about wine for most of their lives, for Tom it was when he started an entry-level sommelier course in college, for Kate is was spending time at her family home in the Loire Valley, France. They both decided to trade cubicles for winery cellars and France proved to be a perfect place for their immersion into viticulture and enology.

Starting with no grape farming or production experience, they crafted Pinot Noir, Gamay and Chardonnay at Domaine Sauvat during the 2009 season and harvest, followed by internships in Beaujolais and Burgundy. They each completed an intensive eight-month private viticulture and oenology program with both classroom and field study in the vineyards and wineries of Burgundy, Beaujolais and the Northern Rhone.

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