Willamette Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in the vast Willamette Valley landform of Oregon. The appellation is the wine growing region which encompasses the drainage basin of the Willamette River. It stretches on a north-south axis from the Columbia River to just south of Eugene where the Willamette Valley ends; and from the Oregon Coast Range due east to the Cascade Mountains. This region grew to fame after Eyrie Vineyard, the first vineyard in Willamette, received international recognition at the Wine Olympics of 1979. This competition featured 330 different wines. The 1975 Eyrie Pinot Noir Reserve attracted attention by placing 10th among Pinots bringing attention to the previously unknown region. With 4 years later being established as the nation's 55th and Oregon’s initial wine appellation on December 1, 1983 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Treasury, after reviewing the petition submitted by Mr. David B. Adelsheim, chairman, Appellation Committee, Oregon Winegrowers Association, and owner of Adelsheim Vineyard, proposing a viticultural area in northwest Oregon, as part of the Willamette River Basin, to be known as "Willamette Valley."
From the Wikipedia article Willamette Valley AVA, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Willamette Valley is an appellation in Oregon, United States. We track 121 of its wines in stock at 35 shops, from 26 wine houses, from € 14.72; mostly red, white.
| Vintage | Wines | From | Median / 75 cl | Critics' score | Growing season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | – | – | – | – | warmso far +0.5 °C · 901 GDD · 84 % rain |
| 2025 | – | – | – | – | warmdry +0.7 °C · 1,023 GDD · 68 % rain |
| 2024 | 5 | € 22.61 | € 34.70 | – | warm +0.5 °C · 995 GDD · 89 % rain |
| 2023 | 16 | € 19.94 | € 53.52 | 93.5 (2 wines) | warm +0.8 °C · 1,105 GDD · 84 % rain |
| 2022 | 19 | € 29.43 | € 50.00 | 93.3 (3 wines) |
Growing season (April–October; October–April south of the equator): mean temperature against Willamette Valley's 1991–2020 normal (hot: 1 °C or more above, warm: 0.5 °C, cool/cold below), growing degree days (warmth for the vines, base 10 °C) and rain against normal, with the harvest month (September/March) flagged when very wet or dry. Monthly data from NASA POWER (MERRA-2) at one point in the appellation. The current year is compared with the same months of a normal year (“so far”); its latest months are preliminary and revised by NASA later.
Critics' score: the average of the best 100-point score quoted for each wine of that vintage, as the shops quote them. A few quoted wines make a thin average; the number of wines is in brackets.
Elk Cove Vineyards 10 · Domaine Drouhin 9 · Morgen Long Wine 7 · Domaine Drouhin Oregon 6 · Beaux Frères Vineyard 6 · Winderlea 4 · Stoller Family Estate 3 · Pike Road Wines 3 · Gran Moraine 3 · Ken Wright Cellars 3 · Roco Winery 3 · Adelsheim 2 · Arterberry Maresh 2 · Domaine Divio 2 · Domaine Roy & Fils 2 · Evening Land 2
| 2021 | 27 | € 14.72 | € 45.36 | 93.5 (2 wines) | warmdrywet harvest +0.7 °C · 1,022 GDD · 66 % rain |
| 2020 | 3 | € 24.00 | € 35.99 | – | average +0.4 °C · 949 GDD · 86 % rain |
| 2019 | 14 | € 22.00 | € 86.36 | – | averagewet harvest +0.1 °C · 918 GDD · 107 % rain |
| 2018 | 9 | € 19.00 | € 50.00 | 93.0 (1 wine) | warmdrydry harvest +0.6 °C · 1,001 GDD · 69 % rain |
| 2017 | 6 | € 40.01 | € 77.21 | 92.5 (2 wines) | average +0.4 °C · 988 GDD · 114 % rain |
| 2016 | 3 | € 84.16 | € 106.91 | 96.0 (1 wine) | warm +0.7 °C · 1,006 GDD · 121 % rain |
| 2015 | 3 | € 29.00 | € 106.91 | – | hotdry +1.3 °C · 1,164 GDD · 61 % rain |
| 2014 | – | – | – | – | hot +1.2 °C · 1,129 GDD · 107 % rain |
| 2013 | 1 | € 668.89 | € 334.45 | – | averagewet harvest −0.2 °C · 860 GDD · 120 % rain |
| 2012 | – | – | – | – | cooldry harvest −0.5 °C · 775 GDD · 117 % rain |
| 2011 | – | – | – | – | colddry harvest −1.1 °C · 747 GDD · 100 % rain |
| 2010 | – | – | – | – | coldwet −1.1 °C · 697 GDD · 136 % rain |
| 2009 | – | – | – | – | average ±0.0 °C · 916 GDD · 92 % rain |
| 2008 | – | – | – | – | cooldrydry harvest −0.9 °C · 777 GDD · 70 % rain |
| 2007 | – | – | – | – | cool −0.5 °C · 794 GDD · 88 % rain |
| 2006 | – | – | – | – | averagedry ±0.0 °C · 889 GDD · 58 % rain |
| 2005 | – | – | – | – | average +0.1 °C · 904 GDD · 100 % rain |
| 2004 | – | – | – | – | warm +0.6 °C · 987 GDD · 96 % rain |
| 2003 | – | – | – | – | warm +0.5 °C · 1,015 GDD · 78 % rain |
| 2002 | – | – | – | – | averagedry −0.2 °C · 849 GDD · 58 % rain |
| 2001 | – | – | – | – | cool −0.5 °C · 819 GDD · 91 % rain |
| 2000 | – | – | – | – | average −0.3 °C · 785 GDD · 83 % rain |
| 1999 | – | – | – | – | colddry harvest −1.0 °C · 717 GDD · 76 % rain |
| 1998 | – | – | – | – | average −0.3 °C · 828 GDD · 103 % rain |
| 1997 | – | – | – | – | averagewetwet harvest +0.1 °C · 917 GDD · 148 % rain |
| 1996 | – | – | – | – | coolwetwet harvest −0.5 °C · 753 GDD · 153 % rain |
| 1995 | – | – | – | – | average −0.3 °C · 852 GDD · 127 % rain |
| 1994 | – | – | – | – | average +0.1 °C · 883 GDD · 107 % rain |
| 1993 | – | – | – | – | averagewetdry harvest −0.3 °C · 830 GDD · 131 % rain |
| 1992 | – | – | – | – | warm +0.9 °C · 1,059 GDD · 102 % rain |
| 1991 | – | – | – | – | cooldry harvest −0.5 °C · 810 GDD · 102 % rain |
| 1990 | – | – | – | – | averagedry harvest +0.1 °C · 880 GDD · 124 % rain |
| 1989 | – | – | – | – | average −0.1 °C · 828 GDD · 80 % rain |
| 1988 | – | – | – | – | average −0.2 °C · 829 GDD · 95 % rain |
| 1987 | – | – | – | – | warmdrydry harvest +0.7 °C · 1,003 GDD · 55 % rain |
| 1986 | – | – | – | – | averagewet harvest −0.4 °C · 832 GDD · 97 % rain |
| 1985 | – | – | – | – | coolwet harvest −0.6 °C · 758 GDD · 99 % rain |
| 1984 | – | – | – | – | coldwet −1.5 °C · 643 GDD · 146 % rain |
| 1983 | – | – | – | – | cooldry harvest −0.9 °C · 700 GDD · 106 % rain |
| 1982 | – | – | – | – | coolwet harvest −0.8 °C · 769 GDD · 114 % rain |