Oregon & Washington Wine Specialists Since 1988
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Van Duzer Winery
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Van Duzer Vineyards is tucked away between Monmouth and McMinnville along Oregon's 99W (the wine route of the WIllamette Valley). East of the cluster of wineries Bethel Heights, Cristom, St Innocent, and Witness Tree, Van Duzer has a unique climate and soil type. The wines are different than most of the mid-Willamette. More and hotter sun exposure provides optimal conditions for ripening. Van Duzer makes balanced Pinots, an Estate, a good value "Vintner's Cuvee" and several from particular blocks of the vineyard. Th read more
MORE INFORMATIONVan Duzer Vineyards is tucked away between Monmouth and McMinnville along Oregon's 99W (the wine route of the WIllamette Valley). East of the cluster of wineries Bethel Heights, Cristom, St Innocent, and Witness Tree, Van Duzer has a unique climate and soil type. The wines are different than most of the mid-Willamette. More and hotter sun exposure provides optimal conditions for ripening. Van Duzer makes balanced Pinots, an Estate, a good value "Vintner's Cuvee" and several from particular blocks of the vineyard. The vineyard is unusual - it has many different declinations and vine types, providing the winemaker with several different styles of fruit to work with. The Flagpole and Homestead blocks have their own microclimates. The Dijon Blocks are located in different parts of the vineyard, but all of the vines are Dijon clones, a particular type of Pino noir.
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It took ten years to turn around the Estate Vineyard from which Van Duzer gets all its grapes. After years of hard work and patience, the wines are showing delightfully delicious results. Leading Avalon to award a very hearty " Most Improved Winery" award to Van Duzer, and especially to its dedicated winemaker, Jim Kalacek. The unique microclimate around Van Duzer's vineyard creates colder nights and hotter days, stressing the grapes and adding complexity to the wines. The Pinot noirs are rich with black berry and stone fruit flavors, with tobacco and chocolate flavors and scents emerging as the terroir expresses its nature. When Carl Thoma purchased the winery and vineyards that would become Van Duzer in 1990, the grapes needed a huge amount of work. Essentially replanting from scratch, he hired Jim Kalacek (pictured below) to be winemaker in 1994 and Jim has worked with Vineyard Manager Norbert Fiebig to develop the best possible grapes for the Van Duzer Estate's unique terroir. Different clones of Pinot noir have been added, trellising and spacing has been shifted to increase sun exposure and to induce moderate stress in the vines. Crop yields per acre have been greatly reduced from the pre-Van Duzer days, and careful hand sorting and processing helped to increase the quality of the wines.
Winemaker Jim Kakacek came to Oregon from California after making several wines that made the Wine Spectator "Top 100 Wines of the World" list. He was the youngest vintner to be named a winemaker in Napa Valley when he made those wines. A graduate of the University of California, Davis in enology, Kakacek (pronouced "Kuh-kay-sic") received his practical training at Monticello Cellars in Napa Valley. Starting as an intern working harvest, he rose rapidly to become winemaker. He was part of the team that created the 1998 Corley Reserve Chardonnay and, while winemaker, crafted the 1988 Corley Reserve Chardonnay. While he cut his teeth on Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, Kakacek developed a passion for Pinot Noir. This challenging, delicate varietal first led Jim to Oregon winemaking.
It took ten years to turn around the Estate Vineyard from which Van Duzer gets all its grapes. After years of hard work and patience, the wines are showing delightfully delicious results. Leading Avalon to award a very hearty " Most Improved Winery" award to Van Duzer, and especially to its dedicated winemaker, Jim Kalacek. The unique microclimate around Van Duzer's vineyard creates colder nights and hotter days, stressing the grapes and adding complexity to the wines. The Pinot noirs are rich with black berry and stone fruit flavors, with tobacco and chocolate flavors and scents emerging as the terroir expresses its nature. Jim had a tough job to accomplish, practically starting from scratch with the vineyards, working over the last fifteen years to rebuild the vineyard to optimize fruit quality and allow the terroir of the site to shine. After years of hard work and patience, the wines are showing the results of his labors. Leading Avalon to award a very hearty " Most Improved Winery" award to Van Duzer, and especially to its dedicated winemaker, Jim Kalacek (below).
Van Duzer Vineyards has been certified by LIVE (Low Input Viticulture and Enology), the Oregon organization which developed and evaluates vineyards and wineries against a rigorous set of international standards, as well as Salmon Safe and IOBC. In the vineyards and in the production of our wines Van Duzer Vineyards uses absolutely no GMO (genetically modified organisms). |
