2022 Chef's Table Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 750 ml

Laurent Montalieu is one of the most accomplished winemakers in the Willamette Valley. Over 30 years in Oregon, he has built an estate portfolio that includes Soléna—our all-time best-selling Pinot Noir—and Hyland Estates, one of the valley’s most historically significant vineyards. Through his co-op winemaking operation, he and his clients have produced a staggering 400 wines of 90 points or more. When Laurent puts his name on something, it means something.

Chef’s Table is a different kind of project. Made in partnership with Salt Wine Co., it was crafted specifically for restaurant wine programs—poured by the glass at acclaimed dining rooms across the country, from celebrated steakhouses to chef-driven spots with serious wine lists. It is, in every sense, a restaurant wine: designed to show beautifully alongside food, built for the table, and essentially unavailable outside one. Until now.

The fruit comes from two Dundee Hills vineyards: Niederberger and Dundee Cove. The Dundee Hills are where Willamette Valley Pinot Noir began—the most densely planted sub-appellation in Oregon, its celebrated Jory basaltic soils producing wines of distinctive mineral depth, aromatic lift, and the kind of silky structure that has made this corner of the valley a benchmark for New World Pinot Noir.

The 2022 vintage tested everyone’s patience before it delivered. A late April frost arrived post-bud-break, and an unusually cool May and June deepened the worry. Then July turned warm, and the growing season found its footing. By early October, the fruit had enjoyed weeks of extended hang time rarely seen in recent years—producing a ripeness and depth that the difficult spring had given no indication of.

In the cellar, nine months in 25% new and 75% neutral French oak gave the wine just enough polish without crowding the fruit. The result is a Pinot Noir that shows exactly why restaurant sommeliers have kept this wine to themselves. Aromatic and lifted, with fresh red fruit, exotic spice, and a floral thread running through the nose, the palate is juicy and layered, resolving into a long, mineral finish with silky tannins. It is a wine that earns a second glass every time.