White Walnut Estate Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills

White Walnut Estate Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills

Grapes — 100% Pinot Noir (multi-clone field blend)

Region — Dundee Hills AVA, Willamette Valley, Oregon

Tasting Notes — Brilliant ruby with a violet shimmer and an aromatic presence that announces itself the moment the cork is pulled. Wilted violets, Swiss chocolate, and raspberry paste on the nose — coalescing with red rose petals and dried baking spices. The palate is layered and dynamic, with blueberry, mineral depth, lavender, and spiced complexity cascading across a plush, silky texture with a finish that sails on long after the glass is empty. This is a wine that rewards both the first sip and the last — young and already beautiful, with everything needed for a long, rewarding life in the bottle.

The Wine — A field blend of dozens of Pinot Noir clonal selections planted together across White Walnut Estate's 6.3 acres in the Dundee Hills — a site nestled between Domaine Drouhin and Archery Summit on Worden Hill Road. The decision to plant dozens of clones together rather than in separate blocks was entirely intentional: Chris Mazepink's conviction is that the blend was already made in the planting, and that harvesting and fermenting everything together produces a wine of greater complexity and honesty than any single-clone bottling ever could. This is polyculture as winemaking philosophy.

Farming — Certified organic and biodynamic across all 6.3 planted acres. When Chris purchased the property in 2013 — then a neglected walnut orchard — he and his sons Archer and Charles cleared the overgrown land entirely by hand, deliberately preserving the ancient walnut trees that still stand among the vines as sentinels of the site's original identity. The estate is farmed as a living ecosystem: biodynamic preparations, cover crops, and a deep commitment to soil vitality and biodiversity throughout.

Winemaking — Native yeast fermentation throughout, with whole cluster inclusion to build aromatic complexity and structural lift. Fermented and aged in a deliberate combination of three vessel types: Italian concrete tanks for freshness and immediacy, Tuscan terracotta amphora for aromatic detail and texture, and Burgundy wooden tanks for depth and complexity — only a tiny portion of which is new oak. Each vessel is itself an expression of natural materials and ancient craft. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The Producer — Chris Mazepink spent the formative years of his winemaking career as head winemaker at some of Oregon's most celebrated estates — Archery Summit, Shea Wine Cellars, Benton Lane — before coming to a clear-eyed realization that winemaking in service of a house style, however excellent, was not the thing he was built for. In 2013, he purchased a neglected walnut orchard on Worden Hill Road in the Dundee Hills and began planting it — by hand, alongside his sons — to the most diverse collection of Pinot Noir clonal selections he had spent 21 years quietly assembling. White Walnut Estate is Chris's departure from parameters and into pure expression: the vineyard decides everything, the winemaker gets out of the way, and the bottle tells the truth. The critical world has noticed — scores in the mid-to-upper 90s from every major publication. But the more meaningful number is the one attached to the vines: zero synthetic inputs, zero fining agents, zero filtration.

Drink It With — Duck confit, mushroom risotto, roasted lamb with herbs, aged Pinot-friendly cheeses like Comté or Époisses, or any occasion that deserves an Oregon Pinot Noir with genuine depth and an extraordinary backstory.