Thomas Bachelder

Although Thomas and his wife Mary make wine in Oregon and Niagara as well, Burgundy is Thomas’ spiritual home – the sacred ground where the Chardonnay and Pinot noir grapes first evolved, then happily grew and acclimatized. There Thomas works, where possible, with organic vignerons to ensure that the local sense of place is best expressed. The same is true for Niagara and Oregon. The Bachelder vineyards stretch from Nuits-Saint Georges in the north, through Beaune, heading south to Puligny-Montrachet. Bachelder has rented very modest cellars just outside of Beaune and leads a Garagiste-like existence. In Niagara, they work with growers all along the “Bench” from St. David’s through Vineland to Beamsville (where they rent cellars), and in Oregon, they work mostly with fruit from the Yamhill-Carlton Appellation, and can be found making their wine at the Carlton Winemaker’s Studio. Wherever he works, Thomas crafts wines that sing of their origins with as little “make-up” as possible – wines that are finely-perfumed and tightly-wound, offering the classic refined fruit and textured minerality of the best terroirs, whether grown in the Limestone-laced Burgundian earth, with the silty calcerous Espcarpment soils in Niagara, or the complex sedimentary and volcanic-derived soils of Oregon. The Three Terroirs series is now making nearly 15 different Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays made by Thomas in Burgundy, Niagara and Oregon!

E08 | Growing & Making Quality Pinot Noir