Lemelson Vineyards Pinot Noir Thea’s Selection 2021

Lemelson Vineyards is one of the most interesting wineries in Oregon by far, and if you’re ever in the Willamette Valley, a tour of the facility followed by a tasting of their whole lineup is a must. Eric Lemelson founded the winery in the 1990’s– largely funded by his billionaire father and one of America’s largest patent holders, Jerome Lemelson.

Eric who started as an environmental lawyer, traded his love for arguing over safe and natural practices for actually executing his own. The winery they built is absolutely outrageous– unlike anything else you’ll see in Oregon that’s for sure (almost like money didn’t matter).

When I was there a few years ago, they walked me through their one-of-a-kind gravity flow production which has their winemaking team walking up and down three flights of stairs regularly to check on the state of things. It made me think that no winery can boast the kind of calves that Eric Lemelson and his team can.

It does make a difference in the wine though– no pumps, no machines, no additives — just the purest expression of Willamette Valley Pinot possible with virtually no human intervention. It’ll never pay off what it cost, but I’m pretty sure the Lemelson’s aren’t worried– the payout is in the finished product.