We aim to produce classic chardonnay, pinot noir, and syrah at the highest level, with vineyards of great terroir and stewardship directing our efforts. These three varietals are perfect mediums for highlighting differences in habitat, technique and seasonal change here in the Willamette Valley, and we aim as producers to maintain those distinctions in character with an effort towards pristine and focused quality.
Along with respect for everyone involved in the process (the list is long and has our full support and gratitude), vintage, vineyard and resulting harvest, our biggest allies in the cellar are our patience, attentiveness and timeliness. A year of production and cellaring wine can go by in a hurry, our goal and effort are to slow it down to ensure we are absolutely in tune with the annual changes and react with gentle touches to preserve the character of every wine in the cellar. We have plenty we can improve on and a lot to learn. Our commitment is to always maintain that sense of curiosity, humility and dedication to effort every step of the way.
We seek growers who attend to the details and are always digging a bit deeper in learning and understanding their terroir. In the vineyard we look towards sustainable and dryland farming, practices we find result in the most powerful fruit we can attain.
Once in the cellar, we dial in vintage specific extraction during fermentation to ensure we create a tether point for all the wines. Cuvaison is approximately 15-25 days for the reds, and primary fermentation usually takes 6-8 months for the Chardonnay and base wines for sparkling. Full MLF is sought on all of the wines except for the Rosé and Sparkling wines where we find a partial malic profile desirable. The still wines remain in élevage for approximately 16-22 months prior to bottling, and rosé is bottled 6-7 months after harvest. Base wines spend up to 24 months in élevage before tirage where the wines will spend an additional 3 years plus prior to disgorgement and release. The wood is tight-grained, well-seasoned (3 - 4 years) and toast is mostly long and light to medium. Wood is sourced from France and Austria and new barrels are kept to at most 5-10% new in a given year. No yeast inoculations (outside of tirage production), or enzymes are used, and additions of tartaric acid, and sugar are kept to a minimum and never prescriptive to keep the character of the vintage in focus. These additions are more akin to a dash of salt to fresh vegetables than a reaction to numbers on analysis. Keeping our adjustments light and thoughtful with the goal of heightening and focusing flavor only when necessary. Sulfur is used for the stability and protection of the wines with finishing doses around 25ppm fSO2 for reds and 35-40ppm fSO2 for Chardonnay. Unfined and Unfiltered is what we aim for, though we will lightly filter wines as needed. We seek typicity, clarity of flavor and refinement, and find in our efforts we can capture wines with terroir at the highest detail intact.
Technical Notes
Upcoming
2027 Releases
2024 Willamette Valley Chardonnay | Label
2024 Way, Willamette Valley Chardonnay | Label
2024 Bracken Vineyard Chardonnay | Label
2024 Johan Vineyards Chardonnay | Label
2024 Vojtilla Vineyard Chardonnay | Label
2024 Stormy Morning Vineyard Chardonnay | Label
2024 The Way, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir | Label
2024 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir | Label
2024 The Way, Willamette Valley Syrah | Label
2024 Stormy Morning Vineyard Syrah | Label
Current
2026 Releases
Brut Rosé of Pinot Noir Vol. 1.1 | Label
2025 Willamette Valley Rosé of Pinot Noir | Label
2024 Eola-Amity Hills Chardonnay | Label
2024 Molly’s Vineyard Chardonnay | Label
2023 The Way, Willamette Valley Chardonnay | Label
2023 The Way, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir | Label
2024 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir | Label
2024 La Sierra Vineyard Pinot Noir | Label
2024 Bracken Vineyard Pinot Noir | Label
2024 Vojtilla Vineyard Pinot Noir | Label
2024 Stormy Morning Vineyard Pinot Noir | Label
MV The Color Red Volume 5 | Label
2024 Willamette Valley Syrah | Label
Past
2025 Releases
Molly’s Vineyard Blanc de Blancs Vol. 1 | Label
2023 Willamette Valley Chardonnay | Label
2023 Bracken Vineyard Chardonnay | Label
2023 Johan Vineyards Chardonnay | Label
2023 Vojtilla Vineyard Chardonnay | Label
2023 Stormy Morning Vineyard Chardonnay | Label
2023 Molly’s Vineyard Chardonnay | Label
2023 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir | Label
2023 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir | Label
2023 Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir | Label
2023 Stormy Morning Vineyard Pinot Noir | Label
2023 Vojtilla Vineyard Pinot Noir | Label
2023 La Sierra Vineyard Pinot Noir | Label
2023 Bracken Vineyard Pinot Noir | Label
2023 Johan Vineyards Pinot Noir | Label
2023 Stormy Morning Vineyard Syrah | Label
2024 Willamette Valley Rosé of Pinot Noir | Label
2024 Releases
2022 Molly’s Vineyard Chardonnay | Label
2022 Vojtilla Vineyard Chardonnay | Label
2022 Stormy Morning Vineyard Chardonnay | Label
2022 Johan Vineyards Chardonnay | Label
2022 Willamette Valley Chardonnay | Label
2022 Vojtilla Vineyard Pinot Noir | Label
2022 Stormy Morning Vineyard Pinot Noir | Label
2022 Johan Vineyards Pinot Noir | Label
2022 Stormy Morning Vineyard Syrah | Label
2022 Johan Vineyards Skin-Contact Chardonnay | Label
2022 Stormy Morning White Pinot Noir | Label
For wholesale and distribution info or previous technical notes, please email Chris - chris@twillcellars.com - Thank you!
Our history
We began Twill as a project to explore some of the more unique terroirs in Oregon while employing the three varietals best suited to express the variations of land and vintages that we are hoping to capture. Twill is in essence durable fabric and something we strive for in our pursuit; through the bonds of amazing growers, cellar work, hospitality and the world in between, we are a gathering of threads and in our collective work we strive to create something so strong.
We are sustainable in the fields and employ thoughtful practices in the winery. We stick to the details and choose learning and curiosity over dogma. All of our wines are sourced from the grape and no procured bulk wine is used in our production. We're a fairly unobtrusive bunch and likely won't attain Instagram fame, though our goal is to keep ahead by crafting serious wines that are vineyard and vintage specific from some of the best terroirs in the Willamette Valley.
Molly and Darrel Roby began as growers of a 2.7-acre vineyard that they planted together in 2000. Darrel sees to the day-to-day work in the vineyards while fixing or innovating new equipment for the cellar. Molly handles hospitality and keeps our immeasurable amount of paperwork humming along. When they have the chance, they can be found traveling to far-flung places and spending time with family, including their two Bernese Mountain dogs, Mica and Saylor.
Chris Dickson was determined to find a way to travel and get away from writing papers for a while after graduating from UNC Chapel Hill following studies in Psychology and Biology. A while is still present tense and following years of work in wine production around the world beginning in 2006 for many excellent winemakers - Matello, Evesham Wood, Penner-Ash, Betz Family, Framingham, Landmark, Lammershoek and Dr. Loosen - he continues to hone the quality of wines he crafts. When he’s not scrubbing a tote or moving something to get to something, he's spending time with his wife Ruth, son Jack and their four cats, a shovel for yardwork and levain for baking.
Jonathan Sundy, our foundational artist, has known Chris since high school in Pittsburgh, PA. When Chris was looking for a designer for this project he happened across Jonathan’s work and discovered he had also settled in Portland. Jonathan's talent and exceptional fine art ability helped bring the essence of Twill to life visually.
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