Audeant

Willamette Valley, Oregon | 2021

Audeant is one of the more quietly exciting small producers in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. The winery was founded in 2016 by proprietor Teal Walker and winemaker Andrew Riechers, after Walker and her husband, Dan Murphy, fell in love with Oregon Pinot Noir and decided to build a project around the region’s most compelling vineyard sites. The name Audeant comes from Latin — “may they dare, may they venture, may they risk” — and that spirit runs through the wines: ambitious, precise, and made in very small quantities.

Production had started at just a few hundred cases and now sitting at a little over 1,600 cases annually across Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and rosé. Audeant is based high on Parrett Mountain in Newberg, but the wines are built from a thoughtful collection of Willamette Valley vineyards, especially older own-rooted vines, high-elevation parcels, and sites farmed organically or with a long-term focus on vine health and biodiversity. Riechers brings an impressive résumé to the cellar, with experience at Antica Terra in Oregon, Burn Cottage in New Zealand, Domaine Naudin-Ferrand in Burgundy, and other serious Pinot Noir addresses.

The 2021 Audeant Pinot Noir is their Willamette Valley bottling, a blend meant to capture the region through the lens of the sites they work with rather than one single vineyard. Fruit comes from top vineyards including Nysa, Luminous Hills, and Cherry Grove, with each lot contributing a different piece of the wine’s character: Dundee Hills red fruit and spice, Yamhill-Carlton depth, and the freshness and tension that come from higher, wind-cooled sites.

The wine is polished but not heavy, showing raspberry, black cherry, rose petal, pine, fresh herbs, and a subtle earthy note. The 2021 vintage gives it concentration and silk, while Audeant’s style keeps the wine lifted, detailed, and beautifully balanced. A great example of Oregon Pinot Noir.