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Véronique Drouhin-Boss
Dreyfus, Ashby & Co. Main Office 630 3rd Ave Adminstration 50 Avon Meadow Lane |
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The first seeds for what would become Domaine Drouhin Oregon were sown in 1961. Robert Drouhin, head of Burgundy 's legendary Maison Joseph Drouhin, was visiting America 's west coast promoting the Drouhin Burgundies. The California wine industry was just starting to receive its first recognition back then, but there was little if anything going on in Oregon . Robert's first visit to the the Northwest and its earliest vineyards left him with the impression that it quite possibly would be Oregon, not California, that would ultimately prove to be the best place to grow the great grape of Burgundy - Pinot noir. In subsequent visits to Oregon over the next two decades, Robert had the opportunity to taste the early wines of many of the area's winemaking pioneers, and thought that the wines showed great promise. These wines confirmed to Robert his belief that Oregon would be home to the best New World Pinot noirs. Robert began a friendship with Oregon vintner David Adelsheim when the two met in Beaune. In 1979 a tasting was held in Paris , where, for the first time, the best new Oregon Pinot noirs were tasted in competition with the finest Burgundies. A wine from Oregon 's Eyrie Vineyards stunned the wine world by winning first place. Then in 1980, Robert sponsored a blind tasting at the Drouhin cellars in France , with several of the best Oregon Pinot noirs going up against the finest Drouhin Grand Crus. It was a Drouhin Grand Cru that took first place this time, but an Oregon wine (the now legendary 1975 Eyrie Vineyards South Block) placed 2nd by a very narrow margin with the French experts. News of this tasting brought the first widespread international attention to Oregon Pinot noir. 1986 - The Creation The 225-acre estate had once been wheat fields and a Christmas-tree farm in its earlier incarnations. Perfectly situated on south-facing slopes, Robert saw the potential for what would soon become some of the finest Pinot noir vineyards in the New World . Robert was happy to have his daughter Véronique become the winemaker for the new estate in Oregon . Clearing and preparing the land for vineyards would take time to do properly, and the Drouhins knew they would not be able to plant vines on the estate until 1988. Nonetheless, they were eager to start making wine in Oregon , and made the decision to purchase grapes from some of Oregon 's top growers. Thus in October 1988, Domaine Drouhin Oregon was truly born, with Véronique making the wine in rented space at the Veritas (now Chehalem) winery outside of Newberg. The Domaine Drouhin winery had already been designed to Robert & Véronique's specifications, but it would not be built and ready until the 1989 harvest. The first eight acres of estate vineyards were planted in 1988, using the local Oregon Pinot Noir clones (Pommard and Wadenswill) planted on the 7-foot wide row spacing that was then the local custom. 1989 saw the real development of the estate, including the planting of the Dijon clones from Burgundy that were brought in to the country by Oregon State University . Domaine Drouhin was the first in Oregon to plant these clones, to plant on a high-density template (1 meter x 1.3 meters), and to graft these vines onto phylloxera-resistant rootstock. Planting of the estate has continued at the rate of 3-7 acres each year, allowing us to gain knowledge about each of the particular sites and micro-climates over time. As the plantings mature, we continue to learn more and continue to fine-tune our viticultural practices. It was then that the DDO tradition of attention to small details began. The fruit is picked into small, perforated plastic boxes that allow the grapes to arrive at the winery in the best possible condition. Special over-the-row tractors from France were imported to cultivate our high-density vineyards. All of DDO's French oak barrels are custom made in France from wood that we have aged ourselves for 3 years, from trees that we have personally selected in the best oak forests. The widely anticipated release of the 1988 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot noir (in 1991) was met with wide acclaim around the world. Those who had been wondering what the Burgundians in Oregon could do now had proof in a bottle. The wine was elegant, silky, and sublime. The prominent UK wine writer Clive Coates reported, "Right from the beginning, one property seemed to be able to produce a wine which was purer, more cleanly fruity, and certainly more Burgundian than the others. It was, of course, Domaine Drouhin." That 1988 wine is still drinking beautifully today, the first of many examples of the DDO wines' ability to improve gracefully and wonderfully with age. 1992 - The Birth of Laurène 1996 - Chardonnay 1999 - The debut vintage of cuvée
Louise Drouhin The Domaine Drouhin wines have received world-wide acclaim from the press and the wine lovers year after year. The Pinot noir bottlings are frequently awarded "Outstanding" scores from the Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate critics, and the Chardonnay was recently named "Best New World White Wine" by the UK 's influential Decanter magazine. Of the future, Robert Drouhin has said, "I would like to think that one day, people will taste Oregon wines, and particularly our wines and will say 'it is really true to the classic Burgundian Pinot Noir. Not a Côte de Beaune, not a Côte de Nuits, but uniquely Oregon ."
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home
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In
early 1987, Robert and Véronique came to the US to explore the
site, and immediately began to research all aspects of the potential Oregon
venture - technical, commercial, and financial. They found that all prospects
were good. They were emotionally attracted to the frontier spirit of the
new Oregon wine community. And they thought it would be a fascinating
intellectual challenge. The decision was made to purchase the land, and
the deal was concluded by the end of 1987. 
The
landmark gravity-flow winery was mostly completed in time for the 1989
crush - all of the equipment was installed and operational, but construction
went on all around them as Véronique and her crew received the
grapes that year. 
