2023 vintage
Salmon Creek Vineyard
Willamette Valley, USA · Winemaker: Hannah Reyes · 22 members
What happened
The vintage, in five moments.
- Dry-farmed year four — vines showed stress by mid-July, but roots held.
- Smoke drift from an east-county fire on August 21. Hannah paused the livestream and ran lab tests before continuing.
- Pick pulled forward to September 5 to beat a second smoke event forecast for the weekend.
- Blend trial in April 2024 — Pommard versus 777, Crew chose a 60/40 split over Hannah's initial 50/50.
- Bottled by hand over three days in August 2024. 142 cases.
The final wine
What we bottled.
The 2023 Salmon Creek Estate Pinot is small-framed and concentrated — the kind of wine dry farming gives you in a stressful year. Red plum, forest floor, a stony finish. Hannah held it six months longer in bottle than usual to let the tannin integrate. The Crew got six bottles at Vintner, twelve at Cellarmaster. Two Vineyard Partners received a single-barrel selection with their name on the back label.
From the Crew
“The smoke week was stressful. Hannah was transparent about the risk, the tests, what she'd do if the numbers came back bad. That honesty is why I'll renew for 2026.”