2020 Montinore Estate Pinot Gris

The 2020 is a beautifully fresh and vibrant Gris, balancing intense pear, stone fruit and spice flavours with penetrating acidity, ample fleshy weight and a mineral-flecked, linear finish. Fantastic on its own, this will shine all the brighter with the right food—crispy skinned salmon or butter-basted roast chicken spring to mind.

The Willamette’s second most widely planted variety after Pinot Noir is Pinot Gris (although Chardonnay is now on the march). While some are pulling out Gris vines to replant to the more accessible Chardonnay, Montinore is doubling down—and for a good reason. The combination of Tualatin Hills’ cool seasons and Laurelwood soils results in a style unique to the Willamette Valley.

Montinore farms seven blocks of Pinot Gris vines, with an average age of 29 years. The vines are dispersed throughout the property, giving Webber a palette of flavours and structures to work with when piecing together the final blend. It was fermented in stainless steel and raised on its lees, undisturbed, for 10 months.