J Christopher JJ Pinot Noir 2022

Oregon became the New World’s Burgundy after David Lett planted Pinot at Eyrie in 1965 and Burgundy’s own Drouhin arrived in 1987, drawn by the Willamette’s cool climate and its volcanic basalt and marine sedimentary soils. Jay Somers founded J. Christopher in 1996; it’s now owned by Ernst Loosen, the same man behind the Villa Wolf you started with, who built a winery in the Chehalem Mountains to chase Pinot in a deliberately restrained, Burgundian style. This J.J bottling is a barrel selection across their Willamette sites, chosen for approachability: darker cherry and blackberry with a note of licorice and spice.