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Stephen Goff Wines 2023 Pinot Noir
From Books to Barrels
Little did I know that when I quit my day job working for a Bay Area book publisher and took a harvest position for a Carneros-based Pinot Noir producer back in 1998 that there would be no turning back. What followed was a post-graduate degree in enology and viticulture from Fresno State University and upon its completion in the Spring of 2001 an unlikely–but fortuitous–move to Portland, Oregon and the northern Willamette Valley. I was offered the job of Assistant Winemaker at venerable, Oregon grower-producer Beaux Frères Vineyards.
After six years at Beaux Frères working in both the cellar and vineyard, I moved into my current role as the full-time Winemaker and Vineyard Manager of Colene Clemens Vineyards, a project dedicated to the production of estate-grown Pinot Noir. While tending the vineyards and cellars of Colene Clemens occupies the majority of my time, this label is my opportunity to explore making Pinot Noir from different sites, soils and AVA’s from other Willamette Valley vineyards of pedigree. I hope you enjoy tasting the journey with me.
Cellar 503 Tasting Notes
Stephen Goff Wines, Dundee, Oregon
2023 Pinot Noir
Balance, harmony, nuance and transparency are the qualities we strive to cultivate in our wines. Minimal intervention is the guiding principle and the only way to bring out a true expression of both time and place. Winemaking is a craft that is both an art and a science. Following one’s own intuition and aesthetic while being mindful of certain underlying principles and past experiences. I’ve been growing and making wine in the Willamette Valley for over 25 years. For the past 18 years as the Winemaker and Vineyard Manager at Colene Clemens Vineyards and previously to that as the Assistant Winemaker at Beaux Frères Vineyards. I approach all wine from a vineyard first perspective.
The Specifics
Composed of 66% Cherry Grove Vineyard with the balance evenly split between Weber and Shea Vineyards. 100% destemmed and fermented with native yeast in small 1.5-ton vessels. Punched down twice a day by hand, all vineyards spent between 19-24 days on skins before being pressed directly to a combination of New, 1yr, 2yr and 3yr old French oak barrels. Resting on lees for 11-months before being racked to tank and bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Vineyards
Cherry Grove Vineyard, our newest vineyard, is located in the Tualatin Hills AVA just west of Gaston at the base of the coastal foothills. Composed of marine sediments of the Melbourne series, we source 1.65 acres of 115 clone Pinot Noir located at the top of the vineyard at approximately 550ft of elevation.
Shea Vineyard, considered a Bonafide Oregon Grand Cru, is located in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA of the Northern Willamette Valley, Encompassing over 140 planted acres the fruit for our wine comes from a 1.57- acre portion of block 25. Located on the far western edge of Shea’s west hill at an elevation of 500 feet. This 100% Wadensvil clone planting is one of the earliest ripening blocks of the vineyard.
Weber Vineyard, located in the Dundee Hills, is a true Willamette Valley original. Our section of own-rooted (no rootstock) Pommard clone Pinot Noir was planted in 1985. Approaching 40 years in age, this remains one of the last pre-phylloxera plantings surviving in the valley.
92 pts James Suckling
91 pts Jeb Dunnuck
A Cellar 503 selection in September 2026, Say Cheese! Willamette Valley | Pinot Noir
