Pinot vines in autumn turn
— — the week the rows go gold and rust.
Not only on a wall.
“Pinot Noir country, the long valley between the Coast Range and the Cascades. In late October the canopy turns — gold, copper, a rust that looks lit from inside. Growers walk the rows at dawn checking brix, the fog lifting off the Willamette below. Harvest has usually ended by then; what's left is the colour the leaves give back before they drop. The tasting rooms quiet down. The hills hold the light a little longer each evening, the way they do this far north. from the studio
Pinot vines in autumn turn, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
The Willamette Valley AVA runs about 150 miles from the Columbia River south to Eugene, bracketed by the Coast Range to the west and the Cascades to the east. It was designated in 1983 and is Oregon's largest wine region, with more than 700 wineries clustered in sub-AVAs like Dundee Hills, Ribbon Ridge, and Yamhill-Carlton. Pinot Noir dominates the plantings, drawn to the marine-cooled climate and volcanic Jory soils. The valley sits at the same latitude band as Burgundy, which is the comparison growers like to draw and customers like to make for themselves.
The colour turn is short. Pinot Noir leaves move from green through yellow to copper and red across about two weeks, usually mid-October to early November depending on elevation and the year's heat units. Harvest typically runs September into early October, so the brightest canopy lines a valley already finished with its work. Mornings start in fog off the Willamette River; by midday the rows light up against the dark fir of the Coast Range. The Dundee Hills, at roughly 200 to 1,000 feet, hold the colour a few days longer than the valley floor.
Most tasting rooms cluster along Highway 99W between Newberg and McMinnville, about 30 to 45 miles southwest of Portland. Reservations are the norm at the smaller estates and walk-ins are common at the larger ones; many close one or two weekdays in winter. The International Pinot Noir Celebration has been held in McMinnville since 1987 and remains the calendar anchor for the region. Designated drivers and shuttle services run from Portland and from Dundee on weekends. The colour weeks draw crowds, but late afternoons quiet down as light starts to fail.