Description

J Christopher JJ Pinot Noir 2019

THE J. CHRISTOPHER WINERY

Located in the Chehalem Mountains AVA, in Oregon’s Northern Willamette Valley, the J. Christopher winery focuses on Pinot Noir made using the traditional methods of the Old World. Owned by renowned Mosel winegrower, Ernst “Erni” Loosen (owner of the Dr. Loosen estate), the wines are hand-crafted in small lots and are sourced from excellent and well-managed vineyards in the Willamette Valley.
The philosophy at J. Christopher is to produce terroir driven wines in an Old World style that emphasizes focus, length and balance. As Erni puts it, “We want to make wines that have a fine balance of fruit, acidity and texture, while expressing their unique origins.” The key to this is patient winemaking — it is vital not to rush things and allow the wines to develop naturally. We want the wines to evolve at their own pace, with a minimum of intervention.

J.J is the little brother of the J. Christopher wines. It is a fruit-forward, easy-drinking Pinot Noir that’s affordable for everyday enjoyment. This value cuvee is a cellar selection of barrels that have been declassified from the main production, mostly because they didn’t have quite the mineral intensity and textural focus that Jay demands for the J. Christopher wines. The result is an easy-going, fruitier style of wine that works very well as an introduction to Oregon Pinot Noir.

Winemaker Notes

This second-label Willamette Valley wine is a blend of barrels from the three appellations where they have long-standing grower relations. The winemaking and fruit sources are the same for all of the wines they produce, but through their top-down barrel selection process, they choose the barrels that are most suited to the very approachable J.J Pinot Noir style. It’s an appealing, fruit-forward expression of cool-climate Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.

Blend: 100% Pinot Noir