The Prince of Pinot
The McKinley clan has a long history of farming in Oregon, dating to the early 1900s when George Angus McKinlay dry farmed cherries, apples, prunes and nuts on his farm in the Eola Hills region of Oregon's Willamette Valley. Great-grandson Matt Kinne worked as an assistant winemaker to Bob Sessions at Hanzell in Sonoma County, California before returning to his family's farming roots in Oregon. He has farmed grapes on the slopes of Parrett Mountain in the Chehalem Mountain AVA since 1990.
Pinot Noir is the sole wine produced with the Estate Vineyard supplying half of the fruit with the remainder sourced from neighboring Chehalem Mountain vineyards. New plantings will provide more estate fruit in the coming years. Pinot Noir is crafted using native yeasts, 25% new oak, no additives, and bottled unfined and unfiltered. 20 vintages have been crafted in the cellar of the Kinne's home. Production is about 1,000 cases per year.
Kinne shuns fancy labels and marketing but his Burgundian-styled wines have a loyal following in Oregon.
