Lachini Vineyards

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Pinot noir requires a climate warm enough to ripen the grapes yet cool enough to develop its delicacy and firm acidity. Thus, with its hot climate for much of the year, you can pretty much rule out the Columbia Valley’s 11,000,000 acres for growing pinot. The Puget Sound has pockets that show promise for growing pinot noir but so far hasn’t achieved anything approaching the great pinots of Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Consequently, if you have a penchant for pinot noir and a burning desire to grow it, candidate sites include Oregon, France’s Burgundy region, northern California and New Zealand’s south island.

Fortunately for us, Seattle-area residents Ron and Marianne Lachini didn’t travel far to establish their vineyard. They went south on I-5 to the Willamette Valley and established 45-acre Lachini Vineyards outside Newberg, OR. With 30+ acres under production – with vast majority given to Pommard, Dijon and Wadenswil clones, the Lachini’s fulfill their belief that the vineyard makes the wine.

In Oregon, growing grapes requires a big dose of organic principles more so than in Washington. To that end, Lachini Vineyards is L.I.V.E. certified (Low Impact Viticulture & Enology) and with biodynamic farming practices followed to the letter. As a consumer, you know you are ingesting the best ingredients from Mother Nature.

With the launch of their light filled tasting room in the Hollywood Schoolhouse District in 2011, the Lachini’s bring something different to the wine scene in Woodinville. Whereas the vast majority of other wineries serve up wine made from the big reds of the Columbia Valley – mostly Bordeaux and Rhône varieties – Lachini Vineyards gives us luscious, supple, sexy pinot noirs. These are food friendly wines born for Pacific Northwest seafood, chicken and lamb dishes and blue-veined cheeses. As you would expect given the rarity of suitable sites to grow pinot, these wines come with a hefty price tag. Their 2007 Lachini Vineyards Cuvée Giselle Pinot Noir priced at $65 a bottle makes most folks pause to appreciate its deep ruby red color; wonderful bouquet of Bing cherry cobbler and earthy notes on the palate. Complex, silky and oh-so-rewarding this wine forces you to raise your glass and blurt Saluté!