Built into the side of a hill within the Savannah Ridge, Abbott Claim winery is full of history and magic.
The name of the vineyard pays homage to John Abbott, a stagecoach during the Oregon Trail days, as this was his original land claim in 1855.
Though plans for building out the winery only began in 2017 with the hiring of winemaker Alban Debeaulieu, Abbott Claim was previously well-known as a premium fruit provider for other wineries. One of the most noteworthy is Ken Wright who makes a popular Abbott Claim pinot noir.
Abbott Claim hospitality director Andrew Dirks shares, “Over time the ownership was really interested in having a namesake winery for the vineyard.”
Dirks began his tenure with the winery in August 2020, just after construction of the building was completed. Two months later, they hosted a soft opening.
Due to COVID-19, the opening was limited to industry insiders, family, and friends.
“The wine world, in terms of tasting rooms, had been shut down since the 2nd week of March 2020,” Dirks noted.
The opening was short-lived as a spike in cases over the holidays caused another shutdown. Mid-February 2021, Abbott Claim was finally able to reopen for public tastings by reservation only.
Though limiting for most wineries, the restrictions of the pandemic actually fell in alignment with Dirks’ vision for the customer experience.
“I always wanted to do private, single table style tastings of parties of 6 or under to begin with.”
When asked what makes Abbott Claim such a standout winery, he says it’s a combination of the unique experience created in their tastings and the quality of the wine itself.
“The quality of the wine is unbelievable. And I can only hope that in my role, I present it in a way that makes memories for people that will attach them to us going forward.”
Abbott Claim’s introductory lineup features 5 wines— 3 pinot noirs and 2 chardonnays.
The most notable of which is customer favorite Due North, a pinot noir made from one specific block of the vineyard. Dirks advises that this specific block was the first one planted back in 2001 and is surrounded by an oak tree line on three sides.
“At the very top of our hillside, it’s almost perfectly flat but it does actually slope downwards towards the north ever so slightly which is a pretty unique aspect for a vineyard.”
The adjacent fir forest keeps this part of the vineyard about 15-20 degrees cooler than the rest of the vineyard, which contributes to the unique flavor of Due North.
“One of the things I really wanted to do when we were starting this project was to rethink how tastings are done,” says Dirks.
Upon parking outside the building, visitors can expect a personal greeting from Dirks that he likes to call the “champagne handshake”— a champagne pour to replace a greeting we all took for granted prior to the pandemic.
Once inside, the tasting begins in the conference room, with Dirks sharing some history while guests enjoy the first two wines.
Instead of moving through all the wines in one area, as is typical, he adds an element of surprise by adding a tour midway through.
Guests enjoy a visit to the cellar, then are guided through beautiful wooden Spanish doors into the barrel room. There, they are met with the ‘secret’ second half of the tasting— a table staged with candles and the next wines on the agenda.
The three words Dirks says describe customers’ experience are: Memory, Place, and Authenticity.
Creating moments of memory is at the top of Abbott Claim’s wish list when it comes to customer experience.
“Going forward when they open a bottle of our wine, I always envision that they’d have flashbacks of the experience they had,” shares Dirks.
Beyond creating unmatched memories, he emphasizes “we always want place to trump people and process.”
Debeaulieu, Abbott Claim’s winemaker, is very specific in making the vineyard the star of the show as opposed to focusing on his own process and ideas. “These are wines of places and wines that should taste like Abbott Claim vineyard and nothing else,” says Dirks.
When asked to elaborate on what authenticity means for Abbott Claim, Dirks reiterates that they don’t glorify their winemaker. The focus is on the history of the location and remaining open and truthful in describing the wines and the wine-making process.
So what’s next for Abbott Claim? Plenty, according to Dirks.
The next lineup of wines, 3 pinot noirs and 3 chardonnays, is slate for a March 2022 release.
Dirks advised that we can also look forward to a brand new touring experience this summer. The new tour will explore parts of the property previously unavailable to visitors to develop an appreciation for everything that works together harmoniously to create Abbott Claim wines.
“While it’s great to be amongst the vines and kind of get to see the whole property, we’re also going to take people into the depths of the forest areas of our vineyard as well and show these other influences on the vineyard itself.”
Comments are closed.