Evan Martin of Martin Woods may be Oregon’s hottest young winemaker. He has won Decanter’s “Willamette Valley Wine of the Year” from Decanter and a slew of other top awards, but his top Pinot to date (with 98 points from Dunnuck) is his transcendent 2021 Koosah Pinot Noir, from the highest vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills. As Martin explains:
The Eola-Amity Hills is situated to the immediate east of the Van Duzer Corridor, the "air-conditioning" pathway through the Coast Range where marine air enters from the west and cools the Willamette Valley. At the very top elevation of the ava sits Koosah Vineyard‒in the Coast Salish dialect the name "koosah" means "beautiful ceiling of the sky". This "magnum opus" project of grower Kevin Chambers is without question one of the most thoughtfullyplanted (and riskiest) vineyards in the Willamette's history. Ripening here is patiently late and Fall rains will almost always threaten the harvest...yet that risk also offers rewards. The high elevation makes for strong diurnal shifts between cold nights and warm daytime temps with extra uv intensity. This alternation gives concentrated fruit density matched to bright acidity, with aromatics that are highly expressive. The Parrett soil (rocky volcanic basalt with shallow topsoil) provides balanced stress to the plants, resulting in sparse canopies and loose clusters, good wind and sun exposure, and ultimately small berries with thick skins‒all of which combines to give the wines structure, framing and definition. Martin Woods is one of the very few producers who have the privilege to work with these vines and we are quite thankful for the privilege.
