USA
The Willamette Valley is a vast and varied appellation that includes eleven nested AVA J. Christopher at Chehalem Mountains being one of them.
At its widest point, this long, broad valley spans sixty miles. Protected from cold Pacific Ocean air and rainstorms on the West by the Coast Range Mountains, the Valley follows the Willamette River for more than a hundred miles from the Columbia River near Portland to just south of Eugene. The Cascade Range to the East forms a natural boundary and protects against the opposite extreme: the dry, desert-like climate of eastern Oregon. Overall, the climate boasts a long, gentle growing season: warm summers with cool evenings, a long and lovely autumn with the first rainfalls of winter amid plenty of sunny days, and mild winters followed by long springs. In addition to the flagship Pinot noir grape, J. Christopher also produces the Appasionata Riesling GG and a beautiful Sancerre style Sauvignon blanc.
Jay Somers started the farm in 1996 and became friends with Ernie Loosen owner of the iconic Dr. Loosen and Villa Wolf wineries in Germany. Ernie soon recognised the potential of the terroir for Pinot Noir a grape he started to grow the same year in Germany. The friendship grew into a partnership as Ernie brought his expertise in growing Riesling into the new winery. With the purchase of 40 hectares Ernie cemented his investment and in 2018 he took over the operation and Jay went on to other projects including his musical career as a guitarist in the Portland based band Poncho Luxurio.
Over the last decade, J. Christopher has earned international acclaim and has been named a Wine & Spirits World Top 100 Winery in multiple years. Today, under the experienced hand of winemaker Timothy Malone, their Pinot Noirs, Sauvignon Blancs, Chardonnays, Rosés and Rieslings continue to showcase the Old-World style that first attracted Ernie to J. Christopher – a style that Ernie has always maintained in his German wines. I
Timothy or Tim Malone has a long history with the winery. A native New Yorker, he sold J. Christopher wines for a high-end East Coast distributor before Ernie lured him west in 2006 with an offer of harvest work and learning opportunities. Over the next couple of years, he learned from some of the best, including Cameron Winery in Dundee and Flowers Vineyards & Winery in Sonoma, before joining us full time as our assistant winemaker until 2015, when he left to focus on his own label, Timothy Malone Wines. Happily, we came back as head winemaker in 2020.y. As much as he loves wine, Tim’s first love was music. A graduate of the Berkley College of Music in Boston, he finds that many of the lessons he learned in his pursuit of music also apply to winemaking.
“To make really good wine, you have to use your nose, to listen to the fermentation, to watch the wine’s progression, to hold your hands over the pumice,” says Tim. “The sensory has to take priority over the purely technical.”
Years ago, you might have heard Tim play his bass in the winery or around town. He hopes to find time for that again. Until then, “I still keep a guitar and ukulele around and play for my kids,” he says, “but these days, it’s pretty much wine and kids, and a little exercise when I can get it.”