The Carters have been growing Pinot Noir grapes and supplying Oregon wineries like Ken Wright Cellars since the 1980‘s. They produce small batches of their Hillblock pinot noir with the help of Mark Gould.
Located in the Eola Hills of the Willamette Valley, the vineyard sits on volcanic Nekia soil and basalt that give the wine a pronounced mineral quality.
Aside from meeting all of our qualifications for being an indy wine, this winery deliberately keeps itself small with controlled yields and hands-on perfection. They are LIVE certified which discourages the use of pesticides and chemicals in the vineyard and promotes sustainable farming practices that maintain biological diversity in the whole farm.

Review of the 2006 Carter Vineyard
Hillblock Pinot Noir

The Wine Spectator: 93 Points

"The 2006 Pinot Noir Hillblock was made by Ken Wright from a vineyard planted in 1983. Wright also makes a Carter Vineyard designate under his own label which I found to be equally uplifting. The Hillblock was aged in 70% new French oak and bottled without fining or filtration. Cherry red in color, it has a superb perfume of pain grille, spice box, red and black cherry and black raspberry. This is followed by a layered, velvety-textured, succulent wine with great depth, concentration and structure for this vintage. It will evolve for 2-3 years and offer prime drinking from 2010 to 2018." — Jay Miller, The Wine Advocate #179, October 2008