Double gold. The aromatic, Burgundy clone bottling. Nine years old and drinking right now.

Where the Old Vines bottling isolates the Swiss Wädenswil clone, Dijon Blocks isolates the French ones. These are the modern Burgundy selections brought to Oregon for perfume, darker fruit and finer tannin, and Cardwell Hill bottles them on their own rather than folding them into the estate blend. The estate grows four distinct Pinot Noir clones, Pommard, Wädenswil, Dijon 115 and Dijon 777, which are separately managed, then blended to build complexity in the final wine. This one skips the blending step.

Retailer notes on the neighboring vintage capture the house signature exactly: a touch of Willamette earth, macerated red cherry, and a core of vibrant acidity, from vineyards planted with Dijon clones.

The hardware

GOLD, 2022 Great Northwest Platinum Wine Competition. GOLD, 2022 SIP! McMinnville Wine & Food Classic.

The label has a long record. The 2016 Dijon Blocks earned 92 points, and the estate has collected 645 awards since 2003, including 21 Platinum awards, among them the 2014 and 2015 Dijon Blocks.

Tasting notes, 2017 at nine years

• Colour: medium garnet, brick at the rim
• Nose: macerated black cherry, cranberry, violet and clove, with forest floor and a savory, mushroomy depth from bottle age
• Palate: medium bodied and silky, the Dijon darker and more structured than the Wädenswil, tannins fully resolved
• Finish: long, earthy, lifted by the bright 2017 acidity
• Drink: now through roughly 2029
• Serve: 58 to 62°F, decant 30 minutes, Burgundy glass

2017 was a cooler, classically proportioned Willamette vintage, which is why this still shows freshness at nine years rather than fading fruit.

Farming and cellar

Cardwell Hill farms its own vineyards in the Willamette Valley, using dry farming techniques certified sustainable by both Salmon Safe and LIVE (Low Input Viticulture and Enology). All fruit is estate grown and processed in the winery's gravity flow facility within two hours of harvest. Barrel regime for the single block wines runs over a year in French oak. The wine spends over a year in French oak and the winery is certified sustainable, LIVE and Salmon Safe.

Perfect with

Duck, roast lamb, mushroom risotto, coq au vin, grilled salmon, aged Gruyère, truffled pasta.

The details