Place
White Walnut Estate is an organic & biodynamic vineyard in Oregon’s heralded Dundee Hills. The land was cleared and planted to grapes in 2016 by Chris Mazepink
Dundee Hills
Willamette Valley, Oregon
White Walnut Estate is a USDA Certified Organic & Demeter Certified Biodynamic vineyard rooted in the epicenter of Oregon’s heralded Dundee Hills. Formerly a walnut orchard, the property had been unattended for several generations and was completely overgrown with bramble when Chris Mazepink purchased the site in 2013. Chris sensed the potential of the property to become one of Oregon’s premier vineyard sites—- after all, the site abuts the estate vineyards of legendary Oregon wineries Domaine Drouhin and Archery Summit.
Chris and his sons, Archer and Charles, cleared the land, by hand, in the summer of 2014 and then planted it to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in 2015 and 2016. They preserved the remaining walnut trees on the property that continue to produce fruit and are now well over 70 years old, standing stoic amongst the vines. At 6.3 planted acres of vineyard, the flavors expressed in the first three harvests are remarkably complex in aroma, flavor and texture while also pulsing with energy. It’s this energy, this life force of both vine and land, that winemaker Chris Mazepink strives to cultivate in the farm, the winery and then deliver to your table.
“As you sit back and quietly observe this place… you can see 20 robins bouncing around, a flock of blue jays in the walnut trees, lady bugs throughout the farm, dragonflies overhead, barn owls patrolling the estate and countless selections of Pinot and Chardonnay all growing together in the Dundee Hills Jory soil…. you just feel and see all the forces of life out here”
