Highlight: AD Beckham Pinot Gris Amphora 2018 Chehalem Mountains, Oregon

Andrew and Annedria Beckham make some really lovely wines from their vineyard in Parrett Mountain (in the Chehalem Mountains AVA). They farm organically and take a low-intervention approach with winemaking. They are best known, though, for the use of clay amphorae. Andrew was a high-school ceramics teacher and spent several years years perfecting the art of producing amphorae suitable for wine. He now makes them commercially, using a shuttle kiln and a jigger. Recently, he’s also been working with spirits companies to make amphorae suitable for their products. This wine, bought off the list at the Jory restaurant in the Allison Inn and Spa in Newburg.

AD Beckham Pinot Gris Amphora 2018 Chehalem Mountains, Oregon
This spends 11 months on skins in amphora. Bright pink/red in colour with a hint of orange. There’s a lovely aromatic edge to this wine, which is pure and fruit driven. In the mouth this is bright and vibrant with some nice structure (quite firm tannins, actually, but they work, and make this a gastronomic wine) and vivid cherry and plum fruit. Finishes dry and expressive with some clay and earth in the background, and with good acidity. So lovely: not a beginner’s wine, but a really lovely expression of Pinot Gris. 95/100

UK agent: Les Caves de Pyrene

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