Arterberry Maresh Dundee Hills Pinot Noir 2024
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The Land
The Dundee Hills are the heart of Oregon Pinot Noir, and the Maresh family was farming here before almost anyone else planted wine grapes. The AVA is a compact range of hills rising above the Willamette Valley floor, protected from Pacific storms by the Coast Range to the west. What sets it apart is the red Jory soil, ancient volcanic basalt weathered into deep, iron-rich, well-drained clay loam that keeps vigor in check. The Arterberry Maresh Dundee Hills Pinot Noir draws on the family's Maresh Vineyard on Worden Hill Road, along with neighboring sites that have included Weber Vineyard and an older, higher-elevation parcel nearby. Jory soils tend to give Dundee Hills Pinot Noir red fruit, floral lift and a fine, dusty tannin.
The Wine
Jim Maresh works with a light touch. In past vintages, fruit for the Dundee Hills bottling has been destemmed into small lots of about 1.25 tons and fermented spontaneously, with gentle extraction and low peak temperatures. The wine then spends a long élevage in French oak with only a small share of new barrels, so fruit and site stay in front. The 2024 is deep magenta, lifted and floral, with raspberry, wild berries, dusty rose and spice, supple texture, juicy acidity and a long, fresh finish with a trace of licorice. The 2024 season started cool, brought heat spikes above 100°F in late June and July, then August rain and a September that let the fruit ripen evenly. Jim has called it classic Dundee Hills, pretty red fruit, deep and complete.
The People
In 1959 Jim and Loie Maresh bought a 27-acre hilltop farm in the Red Hills of Dundee because the owner refused to sell them just a view lot. In 1970, at Dick Erath's urging, they planted Pinot Noir, making Maresh Vineyard the fifth oldest vineyard in Oregon and the first on Worden Hill Road. Their daughter Martha married Fred Arterberry Jr., one of Oregon's first winemakers with a UC Davis degree in fermentation science, who ran the Arterberry label until his death in 1990. Their son Jim grew up on the farm, went to work at Carlton Winemakers Studio in 2003 and founded Arterberry Maresh in 2005. Three generations have now farmed this hill, and few Oregon labels have a deeper claim to Dundee Hills Pinot Noir.
Food Pairing
Red-fruited Dundee Hills Pinot Noir is at its best with dishes that have some savor. Roast a duck breast and serve it with a sauce of Oregon cherries and port. Grilled salmon with a mustard-dill glaze meets the wine's acid and fine tannin without fighting it. A wild mushroom ragout over creamy polenta brings out the earth under the fruit. And a roast chicken stuffed with lemon, garlic and thyme is a safe bet any night. This is Oregon Pinot Noir with more than six decades of family farming behind it, at a price that lets you open it on an ordinary weeknight.
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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.
Pinot Noir
Practicing Organic vineyard farming involves growing grapes using organic methods—avoiding synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides—but without formal certification. Wineries adopting this approach prioritize environmental health, soil vitality, and biodiversity, using natural practices such as composting, cover cropping, and manual pest control. Many small wineries opt for practicing organic methods rather than pursuing official organic certification, primarily due to the significant cost, paperwork, and time commitment involved in certification processes. As a result, practicing organic is a popular choice among boutique and artisanal producers who remain committed to sustainable agriculture while managing budgetary constraints.
