2009 was an unusual vintage. Normally, the fruit grown in the northern Willamette Valley is fairly uniform in character over the 40 or so miles from the north end in the Chehalem Mountain AVA to the area just south of the Eola-Amity Hills AVA. This was not true in 2009.
The northern AVA's (Yamhill-Carlton, Dundee, and Ribbon Ridge) experienced significant cluster dehydration and lower acidity yielding intense and very fruit-dominated wines. AVA's to the south (McMinnville and Eola-Amity Hills) harvested 7-10 days later, had no significant dehydration and normal acidities, producing exceptionally balanced wines.
