Cardwell Hill Cellars

Cardwell Hill Cellars entered the wine world with a splash when Wine Spectator put their 2006 Pinot on the "Top 100" list. The winery makes wines from their 38 acre estate vineyard, located west of Corvallis, Oregon (where Avalon Wine is located.) A handful of wineries and vineyards are located in this little-known area, a small area of south facing slopes at the base of Mary's Peak, the highest mountain in Oregon's coastal range.

Cardwell Hill Cellars is located in the Willamette Valley near Corvallis, Oregon. The vineyards are planted on the south slope of Cardwell Hill where subterranean water provides a natural irrigation system.. The Manet vineyard was originally planted in l984 with the Wadensvil clone. To this we have added the newer Pommard, Dijon 115 and Dijon 777 clones. In 2003 we purchased additional acreage which we have christened the Degas vineyard. There we have planted Dijon 115 and will add Pinot Gris in the coming year."

Read More...

More About Cardwell Hill Cellars

"The vineyards are maintained by our full time vineyard staff. Quality is the key as we use sustainable agriculture techniques and meticulous care. Dry farming is achieved as subterranean moisture moves slowly down the large hillsides thereby providing just the right amount of moisture during the key summer months."

"The hand picked harvest is monitored to assure that only the quality clusters are used. Leaf control is also achieved in the field. A second layer of control is achieved prior to destemming as workers examine all clusters on a slow moving conveyor belt. The destemmer is set to maximize the yield of whole berries that fall into the fermentation tanks. Fermentation is achieved in 2-2.5 ton open top stainless steel tank. A cold soak precedes the fermentation step to assure that the maximum transfer of color is achieved thereby assuring a rich deep color to the final product. The cap is manually punched down twice each day to enhance the extraction of juices and color. Both free run and press wines flow via gravity from the fermentation deck to the barrel room, which is located below. The press wine is carefully controlled to extract the valuable wine without compression of the seeds."

"The wines are aged for approximately 10 months in a combination of new and slightly used French Oak barrels. The new barrels are Seguin Moreau and the used barrels are a combination of Seguin Moreau and Francois Freres. The wine is racked part way through the aging process to control the amount of oak flavors transferred to the wine."