Domaine Drouhin

Robert Drouhin Honored  by Wine Spectator Magazine

Robert Drouhin is the recipient of Wine Spectator's Distinguished Service Award (DSA) for 2013. As the head of Maison Joseph Drouhin from 1957 to 2003, he developed the company, founded by his grandfather in 1880, into one of Burgundy's most important négociants. He also acquired vineyards in the Côte d'Or and Chablis, increasing the estate portion of Joseph Drouhin to its current 180 acres. The name Drouhin is synonymous with the Burgundy region, and Robert Drouhin is the first Burgundian to be awarded the DSA.

Drouhin was a pioneer in many ways. He recognized the potential of Chablis, purchasing vineyards there from 1967 to 1972. In 1987, he made a major investment in Oregon's fledgling wine industry, validating the nascent Willamette Valley region as a contender for growing world-class Pinot Noir. Domaine Drouhin Oregon celebrated its 25th vintage last year.

Drouhin was on the forefront of eliminating the use of synthetic chemicals in vineyards and, in 1976, hired Laurence Jobard, the first female enologist in Burgundy. From 1985 to 2005, Drouhin was a vice president of the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine and served on the board of Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne. He is also a Chevalier du Mérite Agricole.

The Drouhin Family's winemaking roots run deep, having taken hold in Burgundy's best vineyards more than a century ago. Through the years, there has been a very clear link, a continuum, that inhabits Maison Joseph Drouhin, and now Domaine Drouhin Oregon. 

Our estate winery in the Dundee Hills creates elegant, fine Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines forged from our family's tradition of fine winemaking in France. For more than 25 years, the Drouhin Family has brought a wealth of hard-earned experience to their vineyards in the Willamette Valley, just southwest of Portland, Oregon. 

"Skills get more refined, methods evolve, but what's important is what is transmitted from generation to generation: The search for excellence, the intellectual curiosity, the sense of values, passion, the respect for terroir.” -- Robert J. Drouhin

Our Oregon estate was established in the late 1980s, but our winemaking roots were planted in Burgundy a century earlier, when Joseph Drouhin moved from Chablis to Beaune, and in 1880 founded Maison Joseph Drouhin.  He was succeeded by his son, the brilliant Maurice Drouhin, who dedicated his life to making fine wine.  In 1957, Robert Drouhin became the third generation to run the business. He first "discovered” Oregon on a 1961 visit, and then again during the 1979 and '80 blind tastings in Paris and Burgundy (the latter of which Robert organized) that put Oregon wines on the world map. Robert recognized that it was Oregon, more so than California, whose soils and climate could unlock the complexities and potential of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the United States.

In 1986, Robert's daughter Véronique came to Oregon after achieving a masters diploma in enology.  She worked that harvest with three families, the Letts (Eyrie Vineyard), the Casteels (Bethel Heights) and the Adelsheims (Adelsheim Vineyards).   That first impression was profound, and helped to form the bond between the Drouhins and some of the founding families of Oregon wine.   It can be fairly said that Oregon's deep sense of community was a powerful magnet.

In 1987, Robert Drouhin was invited to participate in the first International Pinot Noir Celebration, and on that trip, he decided to purchase land in the Dundee Hills. Where there had only been Christmas trees and wheat, the Drouhin's began planting their first vineyards in Oregon.  At the same time, Robert nominated Véronique to be the newly christened DDO winemaker, and her brother Philippe Drouhin took responsibility for viticulture.  In 1988, DDO produced its first vintage, from purchased grapes, and in 1989 built the landmark, four-story gravity flow winery.

Situated atop the Dundee Hills, between 400' to 800' in elevation, our site was selected for its remarkable similarity in climate, latitude and aspect to the legendary vineyards of Burgundy. 

Robert Drouhin's vision of an Oregon estate winery that could rival the great vineyards of Burgundy has been realized at DDO. From what started as test plantings of cloned Pinot Noir rootstock, Domaine Drouhin now encompasses 124 acres of hillside vineyards. Interspersed with the Pinot Noir vines are 11 acres of Chardonnay, planted at various elevations and, like in Burgundy, planted right alongside rows of Pinot Noir.

Everything planted at DDO is unique to the estate. We also have two large blocks of rootstock planted on the estate, so we can graft the cuttings onto rootstock that we have grown ourselves. We grow and plant rootstocks that we've learned are well suited to the specifics of our vineyard sites in terms of site elevation, soil depth, and moisture-holding capacity. In this way we can maintain the highest level of quality control over our plant material.

Our densely planted vines are farmed sustainably, L.I.V.E. certified, and tended to by hand when leaves and fruit are thinned; harvesting is also done entirely by hand.

Our winemaking techniques are adapted from what the Drouhin family has learned in Burgundy since 1880. Our goal is to craft wines naturally with gentle treatment and minimal manipulation. It is our hope that our Pinot Noir and Chardonnay will be appreciated for their classic finesse, elegance and for the true reflection of their origin; their terroir.

Once the grapes have reached full maturity with a perfect balance between brix and acid, and fruit and tannin, they are hand-picked into small 25 pound totes, insuring the arrival of pristine, uncrushed fruit at our four-level gravity-flow winery. Everything we do in the winery is intended to preserve the unique qualities that nature provided for us in the vineyards.

Upon arrival at the first level of our winery, the crush pad, all of our Pinot Noir is hand-sorted, then gently de-stemmed into the fermentation tanks and allowed to soak at cooler temperatures for 2 to 5 days prior to the beginning of fermentation. All fermentations use only indigenous yeasts to conduct a long, natural fermentation. 

Active fermentations last 7-12 days, during which time the age-old Burgundian techniques of pigeage (punch-down) and remontage (pump-over) are used as means of gentle extraction. Fermentations are long and careful and once complete, the free-run juice is moved via gravity to the third level of our winery, the barrel cellar.

Our Pinot Noir is aged in both new (20%) and neutral French Oak barrels. Barrels are custom made for us in Burgundy, using oak from France's best forests, which we feel allows the character of the wine and vintage to show through. Once the secondary, malolactic, fermentation is complete, the wines are racked off their lees via gravity and back into barrel. 

After 12-14 months in oak, Véronique selects barrels for each of our three cuvée's and the wines are then blended and allowed to rest for several months before moving to the final level of the winery, our bottle room. At this final stage, the wines again are moved via gravity into bottle and then allowed to mature 6 to 18 months before release.