Legacy

For the art of boutique, world-renowned winemaking.

Legacy

Walking up the sloping hill of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines at Witness Tree Vineyard brings you to the namesake Witness Tree itself – much like pioneering surveyors found it in 1854, with its branches reaching up towards the sky at the vineyard’s northeast corner.

So deeply rooted in the vineyard, we see the Witness Tree as a unique symbol for Oregon winemaking, since both existed even before Oregon statehood.

More than that, the Witness Tree is a symbol of our own mission to bear witness to the vineyard’s incomparable design and meticulous farming, allowing it to produce grapes of rare quality and concentration.

Who are we?

We are Oregonians, entrepreneurs, farmers, winemakers.

Most of all, we are the devoted stewards of the singular experience that is Witness Tree Vineyard terroir and viticulture.

Our stewardship is the fruit of an enduring passion for the art of boutique, world-renowned winemaking, especially terroir-driven Willamette Valley Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

This is our mission, passion, and art – to bear witness to world-class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the powerfully distinct hillside that is Witness Tree Vineyard.

Region

The Willamette Valley is historically an ideal region for cool-climate grapes sensitive to terroir expression. It stretches roughly from Portland to Eugene, with a temperate climate featuring cool, wet winters, and warm, dry summers.

As one of the coolest growing regions in North America, it is well-suited to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, which are both highly expressive of microclimate, soil variations, and farming practices.

The vines benefit from extended daylight hours, a large diurnal temperature shift, and the cooling effects of coastal marine influence in the valley.

These ideal conditions support many high-quality, small producers (75% make less than 5,000 cases/year) that garner a high percentage of national acclaim.

Evidence of this is found by the ever increasing investment from Burgundian, Californian, and other overseas Pinot Noir and Chardonnay-focused winemakers, viticulturalists, and investors.

These out-of-town groups include Joseph-Drouhin, Louis Jadot, Meo-Camuzet, Dominique Lafon, Bollinger, Dr. Loosen, The Coppolas, Jackson Family, and Silver Oak – all interested in the region as the Willamette Valley offers the ability to grow and source cool-climate, high-quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

AVA

Eola-Amity Hills Terroir

Witness Tree Vineyard fits in the scene of the Willamette Valley as a rising star of the Eola-Amity Hills AVA, which displays a prized variation on classic Willamette Valley terroir.

Terroir, in a nutshell, is a wine’s sense of distinct “somewhereness.” At the first scent, first sip, the wine could be from nowhere else, and is utterly of that specific climate, town, vineyard, block, soil type, year, winemaker.

It’s all about location, but is also tinged with a mysterious, transcendent quality – the wine transports you, just like a work of great visual art transports you.

To us, “Amity Terroir” includes the combined influence of:

  • Varying alluvial, marine sedimentary, and volcanic soil types of shallow to moderate depth, that drain well
    • Increasing grape concentration and unique grape expression – even between different blocks in the same vineyard
  • The ocean winds funneled from the Van Duzer Corridor, a break in the Oregon Coast mountain range that brings cooling marine influence to the area
    • Helping grapes retain and slowly mature their acidity, as well as develop vibrant aromatics
  • Meticulous site selection, farming, and organic practices
    • Transmitting the pure expression of the grapes as shaped by their environment
  • An unrepeatable, alluring sense of place imparted to the wines made from these grapes.
    • Wines from Witness Tree smell, taste, and feel like they could be from nowhere else

We passionately safeguard the land and vines that comprise this terroir – both painstakingly designed and cared for unlike any other Willamette Valley Vineyard.

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