2022 Lange Estate Winery Pinot Noir Freedom Hill Vineyard Willamette Valley 750 ml

In the late 1980s, Willamette Valley pioneer Don Lange took a flier on grapes from a young parcel in the foothills west of Monmouth, Oregon. The site, boasting deep Bellpine soils and the kind of southeast exposure coveted in Burgundy, had been planted to Pinot Noir by its adventurous new owners, the Dusschee family (pronounced du-SHAY), who named it after the feeling it gave them. 

They called it Freedom Hill. And over the last four decades, it has come to be regarded as one of Oregon’s Grand Cru–level vineyards. And Lange Estate’s Freedom Hill Pinot is now more than a key expression of the site. It’s one of the great wines of the Willamette Valley. 

“My parents started sourcing fruit from Freedom Hill in 1989,” Jess Lange told us when we last visited him at the winery. “It was a new area west of Salem, and a new site at the time. At 550 feet going up to 640 feet in elevation, the slopes are east-facing with clear views of Mt. Hood. The soils are marine and Bellpine—a subset of marine sediment that’s 50 million years old.” 

Now, Freedom Hill is as crucial to Lange Estate as any vineyard they work themselves. “Our relationship with this vineyard, it’s generational,” Jesse told us. “Justin Duschee, who manages the property, is a good friend of mine, and I've come to know Freedom Hill vineyard as intimately as our own estate.”

The 2022 vintage was a late one, and it delivered just what winegrowers like Jesse needed—a phenomenal October—to deliver on the promise of the season. “Things started to warm up right when we needed them to, and we were blessed with what I'd call the best October I've ever seen in my career. The fall weather was absolutely spectacular.”

Freedom Hill delivers what Jesse calls “broad-shouldered” Pinots, naturally tending toward opulence and power. His job in ‘22 was to keep the power in check, to find balance to match the intensity, and he did it beautifully. The wine is brooding, but lifted and spiced, with excellent complexity. Like all the Freedom Hill Pinots Jesse makes, this one will age beautifully.