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Witness Tree Wines |
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Witness Tree Vineyard, established in 1982, is a winery and vineyard located north of McMinnville, Oregon in the middle of Oregon wine country. Specializing in Pinot noir, the winery makes all of its Pinot noir from its own Estate Vineyard. Witness Tree gets its name from a beautiful old tree located at the very top of the hill behind the vineyard. The tree has been a surveyor's landmark since 1854 and dominates the skyline with its convoluted, gnarled limbs and chunks of mistletoe tangled in the branches. The vineyard is 52 acres - mostly Pinot noir with two acres of Chardonnay and tiny plantings of Viognier, Pinot blank, Pinot gris, and Dolcetto. They also make an icewine-styled dessert wine, Sweet Signe. Steven Westby is the winemaker at Witness Tree, and has been with the winery for seventeen years. He also manages the vineyard and can often be found on a tractor or out walking the vineyard, checking on the crop. Witness Tree is one of those very low key Oregon wineries that has a strong following and very little PR. The wines have sold themselves for decades. With a total production of about 6000 cases, Steven has a craftsman's style approach to production. Each barrel is monitored closely and the wines have a defined style that comes from careful, personal attention. We at Avalon highly recommend the Witness Tree wines and their PInot noirs in particular. Winemaker Steven Westby makes his own label as well, Elemental Cellars. it's tiny, with wines offered in occasional vintages when time allows. Witness the Wines
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