Is there any difference between an “ideal” site for Pinot Noir and an “ideal” site for Riesling? In Burgundy, of course, Chardonnay is Pinot’s principal white bedfellow. But in many corners of the wine world, Riesling and Pinot are now grown side-by-side. A panel of vintners representing Alsace, Austria, California, Oregon and Baden (Germany) illustrated their experience with Pinots, Rieslings and vineyard togetherness at the 2019 edition of the International Pinot Noir Celebration,  held at Linfield College in McMinnille (OR) 26-28 July.   The panelists were John Haeger as moderator; Ross Cobb of Cobb Wines (Occidental, CA); Michael Malat of Weingut Malat (Kremstal Austria); Claire Jarreau of Brooks Winery (Amity, OR), Joachim Heger of Weingut Dr. Heger (Ihrigen, Baden, Germany) and Marie Zusslin of Domaine Valentin Zusslin (Orschwihr, Alsace, France).

If the discussion about “ideal” sites was inconclusive, the wines were all excellent!

The tech sheets for both wines from each estate are found here:

For Brooks  IPNC Tech Sheet-Brooks

For Cobb  IPNC Tech Sheet-Cobb

For Dr.Heger   IPNC Tech Sheet-Dr. Heger

For Malat  IPNC Tech Sheet-Malat

For Zusslin  IPNC Tech Sheet-Zusslin