The Wine
Black Oak Ridge Ranch makes premier, small batch, hand-crafted, single vineyards designate wines that carry a distinct sense of place. We seek the finest grapes from exceptional, sustainably farmed, biodynamic vineyards in the premier Pinot Noir AVAs of California & Oregon. Using a winemaking style guided by a belief in minimal intervention, our aim is to bring out the unique qualities and flavors of the fruit as delivered by the terroir of the place, and the stewardship of the vineyards by our partner farmers.
Pinot Noir is our exclusive focus. Our current releases from J. Wrigley Vineyard in the McMinnville AVA of the Willamette Valley, Golden Fleece Vineyard from Anderson Valley AVA of California, and Roma’s Vineyard, also from Anderson Valley, are delicious celebrations of the Black Oak Ridge Winemaking approach.
Our partner vineyards are small and sustainably farmed using viticulture methods only possible in low production vineyard operations. The result is exceptional fruit quality and flavor profiles only possible in intimately farmed vineyards. Our wines are crafted to be delicious upon release and to age gracefully. Exceptional examples of Burgundian style Pinot Noir, the wine is aged in Eric Millard French oak barrels for 18 months in mixed new and neutral oak followed by another 6-12 months in the bottle. The result produces 50-200 cases of award winning, limited availability, Pinot Noir per vineyard.
The vineyard is the hero of this story. Each of our single vineyard designate Pinot Noirs are named after their source vineyards in the hills of Oregon’s Willamette Valley and the rich and varied high elevation vineyards surrounding the rural town of Boonville in Northern California’s Anderson Valley. Simplicity, transparency, exceptional quality, and relentless attention to detail are our guiding principles.
In the coming years, Black Oak Ridge Ranch will produce estate wine from fruit grown in the vineyards currently being developed on the ranch’s hillsides. A 5-7 acre vineyard of Pinot Noir is currently being laid out and will be planted to a variety of Burgundy clones to produce a wine of un paralleled depth and character. The process from planning to bottling the first vintage is expected to take about 10 years. It’s exciting and rewarding to be working towards crafting something over such a long time horizon. This project feels like the romance of a long courtship that will, with the blessing and grace of the gods, produce a Burgundian Pinot Noir love child worthy of the adventure.
Vintner: Ludovic Alain Lacourte
Winemaker: G.W. Lussier