Timothy Malone Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2024
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The Land
The floor of the Willamette Valley is some of the most fertile farmland in North America, built up from Missoula flood sediment, and almost nobody plants serious Pinot Noir on it. The vines are all up on the hills, generally between 200 and 1,000 feet, above the fog and the frost pocket, where the soil is thin enough to keep a vine from running to leaf. That is the geography of Oregon Pinot Noir in one sentence. A valley-level bottling draws across several of those hill ranges, usually mixing red volcanic Jory soil from the Dundee Hills with the uplifted marine sedimentary soils of the Coast Range foothills. The Coast Range blocks Pacific storms, gaps in it push cool air inland on summer afternoons, and nights fall fast enough to protect acidity through a long ripening season.
The Wine
Timothy Malone Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2024 is a Pinot Noir built for drinking rather than cellaring, which in Oregon at this price is harder to pull off than it sounds. The 2024 season opened cool and slow, and then rain arrived at exactly the right moment, in the middle of bloom, trimming yield potential without damaging the crop. Heat came in late June and again in a weeklong July heat wave, pushing growing degree days above average and leaving some sunburn later. October saved the vintage: mild to warm, with almost no rain until late in the month, so fruit hung until genuinely ripe. Yields finished average to down, and powdery mildew pressure ran slightly above normal, which rewarded careful farmers. Bright and dark red fruit together, violet, a pinch of baking spice, and a smooth, unforced texture through the finish.
The People
Tim Malone trained at Berklee as a bass player before he trained in wine. He landed in the cellar at Cameron in 2007, one of the Willamette Valley's most stubbornly old-world addresses, then joined J. Christopher, worked up to assistant winemaker, and is now the winemaker there. The namesake label is what he does on the side and on his own terms: small lots, a short list, no winery of his own to justify. That list runs to this Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, a Dundee Hills Pinot Noir, a Chardonnay and a Syrah from The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater, a lot of range for one person working in small volume. The musician's instinct shows up in how these wines are put together, which is to say nothing is overplayed.
Food Pairing
Roast a chicken with lemon and a lot of garlic, pull the pan juices over it, and this wine does the rest. Grilled pork chops with a mustard and sage rub meet the baking spice directly. A plate of charcuterie, saucisson sec and a good country pate with cornichons, works on the acidity and the red fruit. For something vegetarian, lentils braised with carrots and bacon-free smoked paprika, finished with a spoonful of creme fraiche. This is the Oregon Pinot Noir you keep four of, so that opening one on a Thursday never feels like a decision.
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The Willamette Valley, nestled in Oregon, is a region renowned for its cool-climate wines, particularly its Pinot Noir. While Pinot Noir is its most celebrated variety, the valley is also home to other cool climate varieties like Chardonnay and Riesling. The region's unique terroir, characterized by rolling hills, volcanic and sedimentary soils, and a maritime climate influence, contributes to the elegance and complexity of its wines. The wines of the Willamette Valley offer a delicate balance between fruit, acidity, and earthiness. Its increasingly growing reputation places it among the world’s top regions for Pinot Noir.
Oregon - Willamette Valley
Pinot Noir is a thin-skinned, notoriously difficult-to-grow, low-yielding grape that finds its ancestral home in Burgundy, France, where it produces some of the world's most elegant and nuanced wines. While Burgundy remains its spiritual heartland, Pinot Noir has since traveled the globe, finding success in other cooler climates, notably in California, Oregon, New Zealand, and Germany. This grape is a challenge for any grower, as it requires specific conditions to show its best, and yet the wines it produces are capable of such a captivating and singular character.
