Planted in 1976, Never Irrigated
2022 Cameron Winery Pinot Noir Dundee Hills Willamette Valley
Cameron makes about 4,000 cases a year and most of it gets drunk in Portland. That is why you have never seen this wine on a shelf, and it is not an accident. John Paul has been making Pinot Noir in the Dundee Hills since 1984 and has never had much interest in shipping it anywhere. He is a founding member of the Deep Roots Coalition, a group of Oregon growers who refuse to irrigate their vineyards. Their argument is simple. A vine that gets watered stays lazy near the surface. A vine that does…
Read the full story →
Dry-farmed Dundee vineyards
John Paul cult winemaking
Best Online
$40.00
$35.00
Our Price
$5 off
Free shipping on orders over $85
✅ Verified Provenance
📦 Fully Insured Shipping
🌡️ Temperature Controlled Delivery
Tasting notes
Aroma
Wild strawberry, tart red cherry, damp forest floor, dried thyme, and subtle orange peel
Palate
Lean, vibrant, and energetic. Crisp red fruit gives way to fine-grained tannins, earthy spice, and a long, stone-tinged finish.
Red Wine Body Profile
Light
Bold
Body Profile
Delicate
29/100 Intensity
Light
Bold
29.0/100
Feather-light
Delicate
Lifted
Structured
Deep
Grapes
100% Pinot Noir
ABV
13.0%
Serving
55–60°F
Window
2025–2052
In Detail
A rare allocation from Oregon’s benchmark non-conformist estate
Cameron makes about 4,000 cases a year and most of it gets drunk in Portland. That is why you have never seen this wine on a shelf, and it is not an accident. John Paul has been making Pinot Noir in the Dundee Hills since 1984 and has never had much interest in shipping it anywhere.
He is a founding member of the Deep Roots Coalition, a group of Oregon growers who refuse to irrigate their vineyards. Their argument is simple. A vine that gets watered stays lazy near the surface. A vine that does not has to send roots down through the soil to find water, and what it brings back is the taste of the ground it grew in. Every Cameron vineyard is dry-farmed and organically tended, with chickens and geese fertilizing the soil and cover crops between the rows.
The 2022 blends fruit from Abbey Ridge and La Colina. Abbey Ridge went into the ground in 1976, which makes it one of the oldest vineyards in the state.
Everything ferments on wild yeast in open-top tanks. The wine spends close to two years in French oak ranging from new to completely neutral, then goes into bottle unfiltered.
