Despite what the name might imply, many Willamette Valley AVA vineyards don’t lie in the valley so much as look down over it. Alloro Vineyard is a prime example. Sitting at 650’ in the nested Chehalem Mountains AVA, the gently sloping, 70-acre site with a western facing is atop a ridge.  This offers gorgeous views and, more importantly for the grapes, excellent exposure to cooling breezes coming from the Pacific Ocean, about 55 miles away. 

Proprietor and Vineyard Manager David Nemarnik planted 34 acres of vines in 1999. Low-altitude portions of the vineyard of the vineyard are Riesling, while the rest is mostly Pinot Noir (777, 114, Pommard, 667, Wadenswill, and 115) with some Chardonnay and a bit of Muscat. The vineyard is sustainably farmed and LIVE-Certified. 

David Nemarnik and Tom Fitzpatrick

The soil at Alloro is deep and well-drained, but fairly vigorous. Nemarnik maintains a full cover crop of mixed rye to keep that in check. The resulting, high-quality yield allows Alloro to sell half the fruit, yet still produce 3,000 cases of their own, 100% estate wines.

Alloro is preparing to expand on that. They recently purchased an adjacent 40 acre plot. Vines to be planted there could be contributing to wine production within four years or so.

Winemaker and General Manager Tom Fitzpatrick produces seven different Alloro wines in a typical year: rosé, off-dry Riesling, Chardonnay, three Pinot Noir and a sweet blend of Muscat and Riesling. The winery is essentially gravity flow and the techniques traditional. The only barrels used are French oak, mostly Cadus with a few others, all made from Allier forest wood.

Visiting Alloro

Alloro is nestled in a quiet, rural, residential area of large homes on vast lots well-separated from their neighbors. The attractive, Alloro estate buildings are Tuscan in style with stone and stucco walls and roofs of rounded, terra-cotta tiles. It’s a handsome look, fitting for the property and matched by the decorative landscaping.

The onsite tasting room is small, but welcoming and comfortable. The best spot though, is the adjacent patio with numerous chairs, four picnic tables and a fire pit. There’s an overhanging roof and four umbrellas to provide shade as needed and the view is lovely. Tasting is available daily from 11am to 5pm. No appointment is necessary, except for groups of eight or more.

I visited Alloro in late July and tasted through ten wines with Tom and David at a table they’d set up in the tank room. The cool, slightly humid room with gentle aromas wafting in from the adjacent barrel room was atmospheric, but also perfect for serious evaluation of the wines.

More about the Chehalem Mountains AVA and Alloro’s Site

The Willamette Valley AVA is vast, stretching from the Columbia River and Washington State border to well south of Eugene, roughly 150 miles in length. The Chehalem Mountains AVA is the furthest east of the six nested AVAs. It’s large in its own right at 100 square miles, but only 2,680 acres are planted to grapes. That’s 1,400 acres less than Napa Valley’s Rutherford District AVA which is ten times smaller in overall land mass.

Altitude, facing, climate and soils vary quite a bit within the Chehalem Mountains AVA. There’s a proposal to nest an AVA within it to more narrowly define the area where Alloro, Ponzi and a dozen or so other vineyard are located. The name would be Laurelwood, coming from the particular soil series of that zone, Laurelwood loess.

For an overview of the Willamette Valley AVA, please see my JJ Buckley blog article, What You Should Know about Oregon’s Willamette Valley AVA.

Alloro Vineyard Wines

2016 Alloro Chardonnay Chehalem Mountains 91+ 13.7% alc. 750ml $34

This wine was bottled on September 1, 2017 after 11 months in barrel, but is still pre-release. It’s an edgy, savory, barrel-fermented wine of pronounced minerality, along with preserved lemon and green apple skin. The palate is medium-bodied and juicy with good length and an excellent, slippery-graphite texture. I expect the wine to blossom further by release and to age quite well, with fruit gradually surpassing the mineral. Drink 2020-2028.

2014 Alloro Chardonnay, Chehalem Mountains 90+

No longer available for sale, Tom poured this wine to show how Alloro Chardonnay develops. While 2014 and 2016 were different vintages, there was a clear kinship between the two wines. The 2014 was rounder and fuller on the palate, and had picked up intensity and length. Flavors are dried lemon and green apple skin with a touch of oak against a mineral backdrop.

2015 Alloro Pinot Noir Estate, Chehalem Mountains 92 14.1% alc. 750ml $40

With the estate Pinot, Fitzpatrick aims to provide an unadorned, “low oak-footprint” look at the site. The nose is engaging and zesty with savory accents: spice, wild cherry, cherry skin, blood orange, dark mineral and dry tree bark. Flavors are much the same on the long, medium-bodied palate. There’s plenty of intensity and good tension between the acidity and fine, firm tannins. Drink now through 2029. About 1,500 cases were made.

2015 Alloro Pinot Noir Riservata, Chehalem Mountains 93 14.0% alc. 750ml $50

This 300 case wine is a special selection, but includes fruit from each of Alloro’s Pinot Noir blocks. It’s intended to reflect the site as well, but with more weight, persistence and texture. Indeed, it does have more density, weight and intensity than the 2015 Estate Pinot Noir, along with a more masculine demeanor. The nose offers clove, red cherry, pomegranate, darkly toasted wood and dewy forest floor. The palate is medium-plus in body with brown sugar complementing the flavors above. Tannins are fine-grained and firm. Hold it a couple of years then drink it over a decade.

2015 Alloro Pinot Noir Justina Estate, Chehalem Mountains 93 14.1% alc. 750ml $95

Justina kicks things up yet another notch in body, palate intensity and oak-influence (80% new barrels), but has the most cheerful spirit of the Pinot trio. Ripe red cherry and strawberry blend with vanilla and caramel on the nose. The palate is rich in body with fine, slightly chewy tannins balanced by generous acidity. The fruit tastes a little more tart than it smells and there’s an attractive blood orange note as well. Drink now through 2030.

Willamette Valley experience much greater weather variability from one vintage to the next than do Californian Pinot regions. To illustrated this, I was tasted on the 2011 and 2012 vintages of Riservata.

2011 Alloro Pinot Noir Riservata, Chehalem Mountains 93

2011 was a cool, slow-ripening year with a late harvest. The nose on this wine has a great, savory character with drying tobacco, pretty earth and poached red cherries. Body is medium, but lighter than any of the other Pinot Noir tasted, and the tannins remain fine, but a bit chewy.  The fruit flavors are bright, led by tart raspberry.

2012 Alloro Pinot Noir Riservata, Chehalem Mountains 92

Fitzpatrick characterized 2012 as a very ripe year, but not a particularly early harvest. In the wine, the difference shows primarily in the fruit and tannins. This is still a savory Pinot Noir, showing notes of drying meadow, tea, and tobacco with poached cherry. But the fruit is richer and riper on both the nose and palate, while the tannins are weightier, but less chewy.

Given its high acid and sweetness, we tasted the Rieslings after the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

2015 Alloro Riesling, Chehalem Mountains 93 ~12.0%

Nearly dry on the palate with brisk acidity and intense, very long flavors of underripe stone fruit with hints of mineral and kerosene that match the slightly more reserved nose. Very tasty and also very typical in character for Willamette Valley Riesling.

2017 Alloro Riesling, Chehalem Mountains 90 12.0% alc. 750ml $30

The current release of Riesling is off-dry on the palate which gives the perception of slightly lower acidity, though the numbers would probably tell a different story. The fruit is less concentrated and less ripe, emphasizing green apple and lemon-lime. Minerality hasn’t yet emerged. A solid Riesling, ready for sake-steamed cod in a lemongrass broth.

2015 Alloro Vino Nettare Dessert, Chehalem Mountains 94+ 10.0% alc. 375ml $40

The name is apt, translating to “wine nectar.” The grapes (65% Muscat and 35% Riesling) were pressed and then the juice frozen to lock up some of the water content. This simulates “ice wine” and results in a very sweet, full-bodied drink with super intense aromas and flavors that include sweet-tarts, tropical fruits such as mango and pineapple, crushed mint and basil, and a touch of orange marmalade. The finish is remarkably long and, due to the high acidity, actually seems dry. Lovely.

Copyright Fred Swan 2018. Photos 1 & 4 courtesy Alloro Vineyard. All rights reserved. 

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