WILLAMETTE is the leading event to showcase Willamette Valley Pinot noir while helping support the promotion of this exceptional Oregon wine region. At Willamette: The Pinot Noir Auction, influencers of the wine trade get to experience what makes Oregon remarkable, exemplified in unique expressions of Pinot noir and Chardonnay from the region’s top wineries. Learn more.

2024 WINERY REGISTRATION IS OPEN

We are pleased to invite you to register for the 2024 edition of Willamette: The Pinot Noir Auction to be held on August 8, 2024, featuring lots from the 2022 vintage. The purpose of the trade auction is to put on a collaborative community event to raise the profile and prestige of Willamette Valley wines, bring influential wine buyers to the region who might not otherwise travel here, and raise critical funds for the Willamette Valley Wineries Association.

You may choose to submit a Pinot Noir or Chardonnay lot from the 2022 vintage, so we are confirming next year's wineries now in order to get these unique lots onto your blending sheets. Lots are 5, 10, or 20 cases for sale at the auction, plus 2 additional cases for samples. Wineries select their lot size.

Bidders at this auction are wine buyers in the trade who resell these wines to their customers. Participating wineries will benefit from networking with top industry influencers and are asked to engage in inviting and hosting their contacts in the trade.

This event is special because of the wineries who work together to create something amazing on behalf of the region, so we continue to plan this year’s auction and next with an overarching lens of collaboration and community through which we view all elements of the auction. 

We want every single winery to feel proud of the lot(s) they put forward and proud to stand in the room next to their colleagues to showcase our best wines to the country’s top buyers. We invite you to participate with up to two lots from the following, representing your most creative, interesting, and completely unique wine(s):

1. Your individual Pinot noir lot, the heart of this auction and the reason our buyers keep coming back.
2. A collaborative lot, either Pinot noir or Chardonnay, to showcase the camaraderie that makes the Willamette Valley special.
3. An individual Chardonnay lot, if you do not make Pinot noir or decide that a Chardonnay lot is the best wine you can put forward.

More About Collaborative Lots
We invite you to propose a collaboration that illustrates the camaraderie of the Willamette Valley. A collaborative wine would usually be made by two winemakers working together, but it could be more than two, as the spirit moves you. They could be winemakers who have something in common that highlights the collaborative spirit of the Valley, such as:

• Purchasing fruit from the same vineyard
• Neighboring one another, on the same hillside
• Working together as a former intern with mentor, or with former fellow interns
• Being personal friends or relations who ski together, golf together
• Visiting each other’s cellars regularly, tasting together
• Making vastly different styles of wine, mutually appreciated

All eligible lots are from WVWA member wineries, from the 2022 vintage, made with Willamette Valley Pinot noir or Chardonnay, and of course are wines that you are proud to stand behind. 

Please submit your registration by May 26. The Trade Auction Steering Committee will review all submissions and will contact participants to confirm their lots.

We hope you’ll contact the Trade Auction Steering Committee or Morgen and Emily on the WVWA team with any questions and feedback. 

With Appreciation, 
The Trade Auction Steering Committee & WVWA Staff