Belle Vallée Cellars

Belle Vallée Cellars
P.O. Box 1930
Corvallis, Oregon
USA 97333
Phone: 541-757-9463
http://www.bellevallee.com

Contact: Mike Magee
Email: [email protected]

Belle Vallée (Beautiful Valley) Cellars is located in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Nestled between two mountain ranges, the cool climate and terrain of this western Oregon valley is a prime growing area for the Pinot Noir Grape. In the 1980's Oregon's wineries put the world on notice that great Pinot can come from the Willamette Valley appellation. Our decision to create Belle Vallée Cellars and to focus on Oregon Pinot Noir was based on the desire to be part of the ongoing story of the wonderful wines from Oregon.

Two of the founders, Steve Allen and Mike Magee, were born and raised in Oregon. With pioneering spirits and deep roots in the land and the community, both felt compelled to become part of Oregon's new wine heritage. With 325 bonded wineries, Oregon is second only to California in total wineries per state, yet total production is still small by national and international standards. With individualistic style and ruggedness, small Oregon wineries stand shoulder-to-shoulder in their quest to produce the best Pinot possible. Ten years ago, our winemaker and co-founder, Joe Wright, came to Oregon.

An avid fisherman and outdoorsman, Joe was lured by the towering volcanic mountains and rugged rivers of the Pacific Northwest. His winemaking career began at Willamette Valley Vineyards, where he tutored under Joe Dobbs for seven years. With a straight forward and earthy style, Joe is totally immersed in all aspects of creating his dream Pinot from the facility he personally designed for just this purpose.

Our 18,000 sq ft. winery is located in downtown Corvallis, which is considered to be the heart of the Willamette Valley. Joe designed the facility to produce twenty thousand (20,000) cases of quality Pinot Noir wine per year. Our harvests in 2002 and 2003 were limited to 5,500 cases,8000 cases in 2004, 14,000 cases in 2005, and 18,000 cases in 2006. With the exception of the Whole Cluster Pinot Noir, Joe ages his Pinot Noir in French oak barrels, using from sixty to one hundred percent new oak each year for the different blends. All of our premium red wines are unfined and unfiltered.

Belle Vallée Cellars has multi-year contracts with eighteen quality vineyards in the Willamette and Rogue Valleys. These well managed Oregon vineyards, such as Temperance Hill, Freedom Hill, Alpine Vineyards, Winters Hill, and Vitae Springs, crop their yields to less than two tons per acre, thus producing the premium grapes used in our award-winning wines. In the following pages you will learn about the people, the vineyards, the winery, and the wines.

Winemaker: Joe Wright

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