Argyle Winery

Argyle was founded in 1987 by American winemaker Rollin Soles and Australian wine entrepreneur Brian Croser. Soles had spent the early 1980s working with Croser at Petaluma in the Adelaide Hills, where Croser had built one of Australia's defining cool-climate sparkling and Chardonnay operations. The two identified the Willamette Valley as a cool-climate site capable of supporting world-class traditional-method sparkling wine and established the project in a repurposed hazelnut processing plant in downtown Dundee. The first vintages focused on sparkling wine built around the high-elevation Knudsen Vineyard, then already in its mid-teens, and the early Argyle releases proved that Oregon could deliver méthode champenoise at internationally serious levels. Soles led winemaking from founding through the 2013 transition to Nate Klostermann, who in turn handed the role to Kate Payne Brown in March 2025.

• Founded 1987 by Rollin Soles (American winemaker) and Brian Croser (Australian, founder of Petaluma in the Adelaide Hills)
• Located in a repurposed hazelnut processing plant in downtown Dundee, Oregon
• First vintages focused on traditional-method sparkling wine from the Knudsen Vineyard
• Established the Willamette Valley as a credible source for world-class méthode champenoise sparkling wine

Argyle's three primary vineyard sources each play a distinct role in the portfolio. The Knudsen Vineyard, planted by Cal Knudsen starting in the early 1970s in the Dundee Hills, is one of the oldest Pinot Noir and Chardonnay sites in Oregon and is now used as the source of the Spirithouse Pinot Noir (100% Knudsen) and the Knudsen Vineyard Brut single-vineyard sparkling. The Lone Star Vineyard, planted to Dijon clones in the Eola-Amity Hills, is Argyle's warmest and sunniest source and forms the backbone of the Nuthouse Pinot Noir; its rocky soils retain heat and give the Nuthouse its characteristic depth and structure. Spirit Hill Vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills rounds out the sourcing, with cooler exposures that contribute to several of Argyle's sparkling and still bottlings.

• Knudsen Vineyard: Dundee Hills, planted in the early 1970s by Cal Knudsen; source of Spirithouse Pinot Noir (100% Knudsen) and Knudsen Vineyard Brut
• Lone Star Vineyard: Eola-Amity Hills, Dijon clones, warmest Argyle site; backbone of the Nuthouse Pinot Noir
• Spirit Hill Vineyard: Eola-Amity Hills source contributing to additional sparkling and still bottlings
• Knudsen Chardonnay block is among the oldest Chardonnay plantings in Oregon

The sparkling program is what defined Argyle from the start and remains the most distinctive part of the portfolio. All sparkling wines are produced in the traditional method with secondary bottle fermentation and extended lees aging before disgorgement. The core lineup includes the multi-vintage Brut (the gateway bottle), the Brut Rosé, the Blanc de Blancs, and the Vintage Brut. The Knudsen Vineyard Brut, a single-vineyard sparkling drawn primarily from the 1974 Pommard-clone Pinot Noir at Knudsen, sits at the top of the regular range. The Extended Tirage Brut, aged approximately ten years on the lees before disgorgement, is Argyle's most decorated sparkling wine and has appeared on Wine Spectator's Top 100 multiple times. The combination of long lees aging, cool-climate acidity, and the historic Knudsen fruit gives the program its consistent house signature of biscuit, toasted brioche, and bright orchard fruit.

• Core sparkling lineup: Brut, Brut Rosé, Blanc de Blancs, Vintage Brut
• Knudsen Vineyard Brut: single-vineyard sparkling drawn primarily from 1974 Pommard-clone Pinot Noir at Knudsen
• Extended Tirage Brut: approximately ten years on the lees before disgorgement; multiple Wine Spectator Top 100 placements
• All sparkling wines produced in the traditional method with extended lees aging

The Nuthouse and Spirithouse Pinot Noirs are Argyle's two flagship still wines and represent two distinct expressions of the estate's vineyard portfolio. The Nuthouse, named for the hazelnut processing plant the winery occupies, has been produced since 1992 and is now core-sourced from the Lone Star Vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills. Lone Star is Argyle's warmest site, and the wine carries the depth, dark fruit intensity, and firm tannic structure characteristic of those rocky, sun-exposed soils. The Spirithouse Pinot Noir, by contrast, is 100% Knudsen Vineyard from the high-elevation Dundee Hills site planted starting in 1971. Spirithouse is aged in French oak and is only bottled in vintages when the team feels it reaches the appropriate level; the wine shows the delicacy, red-fruited aromatics, and high-elevation tension that the Dundee Hills produce at their best. The name is a reference to the historic 1906 Imus building (the former Dundee City Hall) that anchors Argyle's downtown Dundee campus, and to Lena Imus, the spirit said to reside within.

• Nuthouse Pinot Noir: first produced 1992, now core-sourced from Lone Star Vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills; bigger, darker-fruited, structured style from the warmer site
• Spirithouse Pinot Noir: 100% Knudsen Vineyard, Dundee Hills; high-elevation, red-fruited, only bottled in vintages that meet the standard
• Nuthouse takes its name from the hazelnut processing plant the winery occupies
• Spirithouse is named for the historic 1906 Imus building (former Dundee City Hall) on Argyle's downtown Dundee campus, and for Lena Imus, the spirit said to reside within

Argyle is the foundational Willamette Valley sparkling wine producer and one of the few US sparkling specialists outside California's Carneros and Anderson Valley. The 1987 founding proved the appellation could make traditional-method sparkling at internationally serious levels, and the Brut and Vintage Brut have served as the gateway bottles for tens of thousands of consumers exploring Oregon's cool-climate sparkling. The Knudsen Vineyard's age, the depth of the Lonestar plantings, and the consistency of the sparkling program across nearly four decades give Argyle a position in the Willamette Valley conversation that few peers can match. Continuity has been a defining feature: Kate Payne Brown, named head winemaker in March 2025, is only the third winemaker in the estate's history after Rollin Soles (1987-2013) and Nate Klostermann (2013-2024).

• Foundational Willamette Valley sparkling wine producer; one of few US sparkling specialists outside California
• Knudsen Vineyard plantings from 1971-1974 are among Oregon's oldest Pinot Noir and Chardonnay sites
• Extended Tirage Brut has earned multiple Wine Spectator Top 100 placements
• Only three winemakers since founding: Rollin Soles (1987-2013), Nate Klostermann (2013-2024), Kate Payne Brown (2025-present)