Domaine Drouhin Oregon

Joseph Drouhin moved from Chablis to Beaune and founded Maison Joseph Drouhin in 1880; he was succeeded by his son Maurice Drouhin. Robert Drouhin took control of the family business in 1957 and retired as president in 2003. He first visited Oregon's Willamette Valley in 1961, on a tour of the firm's US markets. In 1979 The Eyrie Vineyards Pinot Noir Reserve 1975 placed in the top 10 of the Gault Millau Wine Olympics in France; a year later Robert Drouhin organised a rematch in Beaune, where the Eyrie 1975 came second, one-fifth of a point behind Drouhin's 1959 Chambolle-Musigny. In 1986 Véronique Drouhin, fresh out of Dijon University, interned with Eyrie Vineyards, Adelsheim Vineyards and Bethel Heights. David Adelsheim, who had been scouting land at Robert Drouhin's request, showed him the Dundee Hills property in 1987, during the first International Pinot Noir Celebration, and in July 1987 Robert and Véronique decided to buy it. A gravity-flow winery rose on the hilltop in 1989. The first wine, 96 barrels of Pinot Noir from bought-in fruit, was made in 1988, and 1990 was the first vintage from estate grapes. Philippe Drouhin insisted on planting grafted rather than own-rooted vines, and phylloxera arrived in Oregon in 1991. In 2013 the family bought Roserock, a property in the Eola-Amity Hills that had been owned by Premier Pacific Vineyards and had no winery; the purchase doubled the family's vineyard land in Oregon. Domaine Drouhin Oregon is owned by the Drouhin family of Burgundy.

• 1880: Joseph Drouhin founded Maison Joseph Drouhin in Beaune; 1957: Robert Drouhin took control of the family business.
• 1979 and 1980: The Eyrie Vineyards Pinot Noir Reserve 1975 placed in the top 10 of the Gault Millau Wine Olympics, then came second to Drouhin's 1959 Chambolle-Musigny at Robert Drouhin's rematch in Beaune.
• July 1987: Robert and Véronique Drouhin decided to buy land in the Dundee Hills; 1988: first wine from bought-in fruit; 1989: gravity-flow winery built; 1990: first estate vintage.
• 2013: Roserock, in the Eola-Amity Hills, purchased from Premier Pacific Vineyards.

Véronique Drouhin is head winemaker. She grew up in Beaune, continues to make every wine for Domaine Drouhin Oregon, and in Burgundy holds the title 'Guardian of the Drouhin Palate', responsible for the Drouhin style in every wine the family produces. Her brother Philippe Drouhin, estates manager, is responsible for the Drouhin vineyards in Burgundy, Chablis and Oregon; he officially entered the family business in 1988 and selects the grape stocks and clones. David Millman, who joined in 2004, is President and CEO of Domaine Drouhin Oregon, overseeing the family's work at both DDO and Roserock. Isabelle Dutartre, who trained at Maison Joseph Drouhin and spent seven years at Domaine Drouhin Oregon, returned in 2024 to help launch the new Roserock winery and is winemaker at Roserock. Ryan Harvey is assistant winemaker and operations manager, Aurélien Labrosse is assistant winemaker at Roserock, and Kateland Harvey, at the winery since 2019, is director of sales and marketing. In 2022 Véronique was managing the Burgundy business with her brothers Philippe, Laurent and Frédéric.

• Head winemaker: Véronique Drouhin, also known as Véronique Boss-Drouhin, winemaker in Oregon since 1988.
• Estates manager: Philippe Drouhin, in the family business since 1988. President and CEO: David Millman, since joining in 2004.
• Roserock: Isabelle Dutartre, winemaker, returned in 2024; Aurélien Labrosse, assistant winemaker.

The Dundee Hills estate covers 235 acres atop the hills, overlooking the Willamette Valley, with 130 acres of hillside vineyards. Thirteen acres of Chardonnay are interspersed with the Pinot Noir, planted at various elevations and alongside rows of Pinot Noir, as in Burgundy. The estate grows its own rootstock in two large blocks so that cuttings can be grafted onto rootstock raised on the property. The densely planted vines are farmed sustainably and are L.I.V.E. certified, and they are tended by hand when leaves and fruit are thinned. The site was selected for its similarity in climate, latitude and aspect to Burgundy. The vineyards are on the deep, well-drained Jory soils or the shallower Nekia soils, both volcanic and derived from basalt; they face east at 200m to 350m. Roserock, in the Eola-Amity Hills, is marked by volcanic soils and cooler temperatures; it covers 112 hectares, 54 of them under vine, mostly planted to Pinot Noir.

• Dundee Hills: 235 acres, 130 acres of vines, 13 acres of them Chardonnay; L.I.V.E. certified.
• Soils: volcanic, basalt-derived Jory and Nekia; east-facing vineyards at 200m to 350m.
• Rootstock is grown on the estate in two large blocks for grafting.
• Roserock (Eola-Amity Hills): purchased in 2013; volcanic soils and cooler temperatures.

Grapes are hand-picked into small 25-pound totes and brought to the four-level gravity-flow winery. Active fermentations last 7 to 12 days, using pigeage (punch-down) and remontage (pump-over) for gentle extraction, and the free-run juice moves by gravity to the third level, the barrel cellar. The Pinot Noir matures in new (20%) and neutral French oak barrels custom made in Burgundy; after malolactic fermentation the wines are racked off their lees by gravity and returned to barrel. After 12 to 14 months in oak, Véronique Drouhin selects barrels for each of the three cuvées; the wines are blended, rested for several months, moved by gravity into bottle and matured 6 to 18 months before release.

• Hand harvest into 25-pound totes; four-level gravity-flow winery.
• Fermentations of 7 to 12 days with punch-downs and pump-overs.
• Pinot Noir: 12 to 14 months in French oak, 20% new, then 6 to 18 months in bottle before release.

The Dundee Hills wines are the Dundee Hills Pinot Noir, Laurène, Louise Cuvée and Édition Limitée Pinot Noir, with Arthur and Édition Limitée Chardonnay, plus a rosé and the club-exclusive Origine Pinot Noir. Laurène, a selection of Pinot Noir named for Véronique's eldest daughter, was released three years after the 1989 winery; the estate calls it its flagship. The first Chardonnay came in 1996. Louise, a further Pinot Noir selection named for Véronique's youngest daughter, followed three vintages later, and in 2004 Arthur, a Chardonnay, took the name of her third child. Origine is a limited Dundee Hills cuvée for wine club members and winery guests, first released with the Origine 34. From Roserock come a Pinot Noir, a Chardonnay, the Zéphirine Pinot Noir, the Maigold Chardonnay, a rosé and a Gamay labelled North. Zéphirine is named after Zéphirine Drouhin, no relation to the family, who had a pink, thornless Bourbon rose named for her in 1868. No Dundee Hills or Roserock Pinot Noir was made in 2020.

• Dundee Hills Pinot Noir: Dundee Hills Pinot Noir, Laurène, Louise Cuvée, Édition Limitée Pinot Noir and the club-exclusive Origine.
• Dundee Hills Chardonnay: Arthur and Édition Limitée Chardonnay.
• Roserock: Pinot Noir, Zéphirine Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Maigold Chardonnay, Rosé and North Gamay.
• Laurène and Louise are named for Véronique's daughters and Arthur for her son.

The estate states its goal as crafting wines 'naturally with gentle treatment and minimal manipulation,' hoping its Pinot Noir and Chardonnay will be appreciated 'for their classic finesse, elegance and for the true reflection of their origin; their terroir.' Writing in Decanter in 2020, Anne Krebiehl MW described Véronique as preferring gentle extraction and restrained use of French oak, which results in elegant wines that express these Oregon sites. The family compares the two estates to Chambolle-Musigny and Gevrey-Chambertin: the Dundee Hills style charming and rather silky, the Eola-Amity Hills more structured and energetic.

Wine Spectator's Harvey Steiman wrote in 2003 that the Drouhins built Oregon's first gravity-flow winery, planted its first Burgundy clones and introduced close-spaced vineyards. Decanter's 2020 tasting of the estate scored the Laurène 2014 at 94 points and the Arthur Chardonnay 2016 at 91 points.

• Credited by Wine Spectator's Harvey Steiman (2003) with Oregon's first gravity-flow winery, first Burgundy clones and close-spaced vineyards.
• Decanter (2020): Laurène 2014, 94 points; Arthur Chardonnay 2016, 91 points.

Primary sources (producer's own site and the Drouhin family's Maison Joseph Drouhin site): https://domainedrouhin.com/, https://domainedrouhin.com/our-story/, https://domainedrouhin.com/our-estate/, https://domainedrouhin.com/our-wines/, https://domainedrouhin.com/roserock/, https://domainedrouhin.com/family-properties/, https://domainedrouhin.com/burgundy/, https://domainedrouhin.com/visit/, https://domainedrouhin.com/current_release_wines/, https://domainedrouhin.com/new-release-2022-pinot-noir-origine-35/, https://domainedrouhin.com/new-release-2023-pinot-noir-louise/, https://domainedrouhin.com/january-updates/, https://www.drouhin.com/fr_FR/presentation/pionnier-en-oregon. Secondary sources: Decanter (Anne Krebiehl MW, published 26 February 2020; William Kelley, last updated 13 August 2019; Chris Mercer, last updated 27 May 2015), Wine Spectator (Harvey Steiman, 22 September 2003; Leaders of Wine, 40th Anniversary) and The Drinks Business (Arabella Mileham, 10 August 2022). Last verified 2026-10-18. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.