Winemaker’s Journal

Spring 2025

Spring is when we focus on our Heritage Series wines. Our 2023 single vineyard Pinot Noirs, Chardonnay, and Syrah were bottled in April. Bottling is always stressful, but at the same time a joy to see these wines hit the finish line. The 2023 vintage is marked with elevated structure and weight from the warm growing season, and wines will benefit from a decant in their first few years.

It was also time to taste the 2024 Heritage Series wines for the first time since harvest. These wines have been in barrel for 5-6 months now and are starting to show some maturity. The 2024 vintage was really one to remember. I can’t wait to see how these wines develop over the next nine months in oak.

Spring is also the best opportunity to taste throughout the Willamette Valley. Between the Willamette Valley Wine Auction, Willamette Valley Technical Tasting, and the Dundee Hills Technical Tasting, there’s a lot of good connection and storytelling between winemakers. I have been taking some to reflect on the past vintages while thinking of experiments for harvest 2025. It’s never too soon to think about harvest!

What Leah’s Pouring This Season

2024 Erath Oregon Pinot Noir Rosé

It’s rosé season! I’m loving the fresh acid and bright flavors of the 2024 Erath Oregon Pinot Noir Rosé. There’s an herbal lift that pairs perfectly with spring salads, but also enough acid and pop to cut through anything the grill master throws on the barbeque. The perfect wine for the summer garden party!

Harvest 2024

What an incredible vintage the 2024 season turned out to be. It was truly a vintage for the ages! I will remember the 2024 harvest as one with perfect fruit and perfect timing: excellent quality with clean, fresh flavors and exquisite chemistry. Mother Nature was most accommodating during harvest — she gave us gentle ripening that allowed us to bring in fruit exactly when needed and threw in a few rain days along the way to cool temperatures down. Rain days can be a blessing in the winery as a chance to clean tanks and get ready for the next vineyard pick. I can’t wait to see how these wines develop in barrel over the next year.

While the Pinot Noir goes to rest in barrel, the Pinot Gris and Rosé are already getting ready for bottling! These two wines are bright and crisp and serve as a nice reminder that winter only lasts so long, and springtime is soon around the corner. Tasting these wines makes me think about what I’ll plant in the garden this spring. Each sip is full of fresh acid, light florals, and sweet citrus notes.

What Leah’s Pouring This Season

2021 Erath Luminous Hills Pinot Noir

Right now, I’m really enjoying Erath Luminous Hills Pinot Noir. It’s a medium-bodied Pinot Noir with an intense pepper spice that I absolutely adore. A great wine to pass cold winter days and perfect with roasted meats, hearty soups, and evenings by the fireplace..

Summer 2024

It’s been a beautiful summer in the Willamette Valley. The growing season has been perfectly average – not too cold, not too hot; just the way Pinot Noir likes it. Our viticulture team is busy moving wires, leafing, and hedging. We are on track for a mid-September start to harvest.

In the winery, we’ve gotten through bottling for the year and I’m starting to put together the 2023 single vineyard wines. I start by tasting each barrel individually, I’m looking for freshness, balance, intensity, and quality of aromas and flavors. Then I start putting trial blends together – combinations of different barrels to add complexity, texture, and richness. Sometimes a 2% change can make all the difference. Blending is a wonderfully fun part of winemaking; I really enjoy seeing these wines develop in barrel and start to take on their final form.

What Leah’s Pouring This Season

2022 Erath Knight’s Gambit Pinot Noir

Right now, I’m loving the 2022 Knight’s Gambit Pinot Noir. This vineyard is classic Dundee Hills, bright red cherry fruit and silky texture. The freshness and acidity make this the perfect summer red wine..

Cellar 2024

It’s been a cool, snowy winter in the cellar, and I am loving all the snow days. The wines are enjoying some rest after an intense harvest season. I’m enchanted with how impressionable and rich the 2023 barrels taste already. Lees contact and maybe even barrel stirring will be beneficial to develop some luxurious texture to match the rich fruit. Pinot Gris, on the other hand, is already pushing for spring! We bottled the new vintage in January. It’s so fresh, lively, and full of bright fruit. It makes me think of Oregon tulip fields. A few changes in the cellar last year helped preserve delicate peach and pear aromas. This wine is ready for Easter dinner, boat rides, and spring skiing.

What Leah’s Pouring This Season

2022 Resplendent Pinot Noir

Right now, I’m enjoying our 2022 Resplendent Pinot Noir. A fresh 91-point score from Wine Enthusiast made me pull one out from the cellar for dinner. Typically, only available to restaurants, this Pinot is designed for the dining table. The fruit is from warmer sites and “winemaker clones” that ensures small, concentrated berries. The result is an intense, rich, yet wonderfully balanced wine to match any recipe.

Harvest 2023

We enjoyed a beautiful, warm spring and summer. In contrast to a chilly 2022 season, 2023 gave us months of sunshine with no rainfall. I certainly took advantage of these days on my paddleboard on the Willamette River, while many other winemakers in the valley were on their gravel bikes or hiking in the Coastal mountains: pizza ovens and Pinot Noir on the back deck. As August approached, the grapes ripened quickly. We tasted great flavor development with each vineyard walk. The anticipation of harvest never goes away.

Harvest came and went in the blink of an eye. One of the shortest I’ve experienced, we picked all our fruit in 27 days, starting September 11 and ending October 8. The summer sun allowed every vineyard to achieve full ripeness, and the expression of fruit during fermentation was remarkable and very distinct. We used a couple of new yeasts on the Pinot Gris and continued refining the whole cluster and extended maceration on the Pinot Noir. The team was great this year; it really took the village to make it all happen in such a short time.

As exciting as that first truck of fruit is, we are equally excited when the last truck arrives, and harvest quickly winds down. We’re thankful to catch up on sleep, laundry, and meals with friends outside the winery.

What Leah’s Pouring This Season

2022 Oregon Pinot Noir Rosé

I’ve been enjoying our Pinot Noir Rosé through the end of the year, and it’s perfect with cheese and charcuterie boards. I’m also bringing Willakia Pinot Noir to holiday parties and dinners. It’s a complex wine of forest floor, mushroom, and cedar yet tethered to its core with energetic cherry and boysenberry fruit flavors. It’s excellent with turkey, duck, and prime rib.

Summer 2023

The arrival of May’s warm weather was a welcome surprise for all of us. After what felt like a decade’s worth of cold, wet spring, the clouds finally broke into the warmest May we have seen in 15 years. The vines quickly compensated for lost time and matched, then surpassed long-term GDD averages. Long-time Willamette residents say they have never seen so much healthy growth so quickly. In mid-June, we are setting up for a perfect Pinot Noir harvest.

And while we’re already starting to prepare for the 2023 vintage, the shining sun and long days bring an extra moment to reflect on the last harvest. 2022 wines are classic Oregon. Pinot Gris is edgy, crisp, and full of melon; Rosé is delicate with hints of floral and peach. Pinot Noir barrels are just starting to mellow and soften after seven months in barrels. The wines were so tight and full of acid after harvest; tasting them now is like seeing a flower blossom open up. They will need time, and I’m happy to give it to them.

This is always an exciting and busy time of year, but one where we try to take a step back and recognize the hard work that has contributed to a successful vintage. To join us in celebrating the gorgeous Pinot Noir, which is taking its time to ripen on the vine – enjoy a glass of the 2019 Knight’s Gambit Pinot Noir.

What Leah’s Pouring This Summer

2021 Willakia Chardonnay, Eola-Amity Hills

​​​​​​​This new release is unbelievably drinkable now – it’s fresh melon, light toast, hints of lemon crème, and the lightest weight that pairs perfectly with crab cakes or a white pizza. I am super impressed with how easily this wine came together; I can’t wait.

Harvest 2022

Greetings from the crush pad.

Harvest is winding down – with our first official 2022 fruit coming in from one of our favorite Pinot Gris sites, Coles Valley, on September 24.

It has been a year full of apprehension due to the late frost this year, which concerned our winemaking and viticultural team about ripeness level and quantity for production. But with all the late warm temperatures and very careful vineyard management, we have been pleasantly surprised with flavor development and sugar ripeness with the fruit that we are bringing in. We are set to have a near record year with Pinot Gris, and the Pinot Noir is showing exceptional character, particularly for our small lot single vineyard offerings.

This is always an exciting and busy time of year, but one where we try to take a step back and recognize the hard work that has contributed to a successful vintage. To join us in celebrating the gorgeous Pinot Noir, which is taking its time to ripen on the vine – enjoy a glass of the 2019 Knight’s Gambit Pinot Noir.

What Leah’s Pouring This Fall​​​​​​​

2019 Knight’s Gambit Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills​​​​​​​

From another vintage that started out a bit cooler than normal, this bottle shows immense range with raspberry, fig and herbaceous notes.

Summer 2022

Get to Know Head Winemaker Leah Adint

1. What made you decide you wanted to be a winemaker?

My dad was in wine sales growing up in Alaska; I saw him go to beautiful winery destinations and it sparked my interest in a career where I could travel. He got me a book on winemaking just before I graduated high school. Once I realized that WSU had a winemaking program, I was set.

2. How long have you been working in wine?

My first harvest was in 2008 in Russian River Valley, California, as a lab intern. I’ve had 17 harvests around the world since then. I’ve worked in vineyards, in the lab, and in the cellar. I spent a few years in a tasting room while putting myself through school. I spent years working harvests in different regions including Napa, Sonoma, Burgundy, Switzerland, England, and several across Australia. My first harvest as an official winemaker was in 2014 just after I turned 27.

3. What’s your go-to wine when drinking at home?

I mostly drink Pinot Noir or Syrah at home. Both of those red varieties can pair with many different recipes. My time in Washington gave me a love for Riesling as well; I always have a bottle in the fridge.

4. Which Erath wine are you sipping on this summer?

Erath Rosé! It’s so fresh and light, perfect to throw in the cooler.

5. What is your motto for winemaking?

Don’t take it too seriously. Wine is fun, it’s meant to be enjoyed and bring people together. I want my winemaking to reflect that.

6. Do you have a winemaking style?

I want to use winemaking techniques to accentuate what each vineyard and vintage gives us. Things like yeast selection, time on skins, whole cluster, or barrel selections. Adapting to what each season gives you to make the best wine possible.

7. How do you feel Erath differs from other wineries?

Dick Erath had an incredible vision – he moved from sunny California up to the rainy Willamette and believed wine grapes would do well here before any were planted. He wanted to do something different. There is an incredible legacy to uphold and I really want to continue the vision of pushing the envelope and making something different and special.

8. What are you most looking forward to during your first harvest as head winemaker at Erath?

I’m looking forward to seeing what each vineyard has to offer this year. Getting to know the small microclimates, how they ripen differently, and trying some different techniques to make them shine.

9. What’s something about you that might surprise people?

I’m a picky eater, I always have been. I’ve gotten a lot better and will always try new things, wine has definitely helped with that. But the stinky cheeses still get to me!

10. Do you have any hobbies outside of winemaking?

Anything outside! I love to camp, fish, and hike in the summer. I have a paddleboard that I take to as many alpine lakes as possible.

Spring 2022

Behind the Vines with Head Winemaker Leah Adint

Who would you want to have a glass of wine with?
I am a huge Anthony Bourdain fan; his love of travel and food across the world made him a fascinating storyteller, and he seemed pretty approachable despite his level of fame and accomplishments. I imagine he would pick a French wine, maybe a Burgundy. I would also share a glass of wine with my dad if I could. He first introduced me into the wine industry and helped me get started. He passed away before I became a winemaker and never got to see my name on a bottle. I’m sure we would drink Chardonnay; he loved Chardonnay so much he would even have it with a nice steak.

What advice do you have for women looking to get into wine?
My advice to women is the same advice to anyone looking to get into wine: Wine is hard work, so be ready to work hard. Be studious, be adaptable, and give it 110%. When harvest comes, the people who stand out are the people who arrive on time, have good energy throughout the day, and show up with a positive attitude – even when we’re all sleep-deprived. And be professional! The wine industry is so small. You don’t have to be friends with everyone, but make sure you can get along and work alongside everyone.

What do you love most about your job?
I love that winemaking is a seasonal profession and constantly changing. We are focused on different aspects of winemaking each quarter: grape-growing, harvest, blending, and bottling. I love getting excited for harvest as the grapes change color during veraison, and I love the last day of harvest when it’s finally over. Blending season is so much fun – tasting all the wines made that year and creating different styles and new combinations. I can’t imagine having a job where it’s the same every day, all year.

What Leah’s Pouring This Spring

2017 Willakia Vineyard Chardonnay, Eola-Amity Hills

Alluring scents of Asian pear, melon, lemon-lime zest and a hint of bread dough lead to a gentle presentation of ripe pear, lemon, ginger and a touch of hazelnut. The mouth is texturally pleasing without being overbearing and judicious acidity offers a balanced experience.

Harvest 2021

With a summer that included two heat domes across our region, a severe supply chain shortage, and a continued pandemic that has affected our personal and work families, we weren’t quite sure what to expect for the 2021 season. I can’t speak enough to our team’s dedication, hard work, and ultimate achievement this unconventional harvest; I’m incredibly proud of everything we accomplished. The wines must sense it too – they are genuinely spectacular! Early tastes of our 2021 wines showcase marvelous intensity and depth while maintaining the delicate style for which we are known.

What Leah’s Pouring this Season

2017 Estate Selection Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley

Velvety with notes of black cherry, currant and fig.