Trisaetum winery is closely intertwined with the family history of its owners, as many wineries of Willamette Valley. Still, each story is unique.
Trisaetum Story
It all started with a dream of James Frey and Andrea Lassa when they met at university. They began their life together with college debt and hoped to own a piece of land one day to raise a family and make a living.
In 2003, the dream started to come through when James and Andrea purchased a steep and rocky site just outside the town of McMinnville in Willamette Valley and moved to Oregon with their young children.
That's where they planted a vineyard and founded Trisaetum (tris-say-tum). Two years later, they added another plot in Ribbon Ridge AVA, established a second vineyard, and eventually built a winery here. The winery's name is an amalgam of the owner's children - Tristen and Tatum.
Although James Frey didn't have a formal winemaking education, he became the help of mentors like Oregon's Josh Bergström and Burgundy's Jacques Lardiere.
Since the start, Trisaetum has farmed with sustainability and a diverse ecosystem in mind. Their agricultural practices include the preservation of the natural habitat and bee-friendly viticulture, dry-farming, extensive composting, and hand-harvesting.
Today, Trisaetum produces wines under three labels: Trisaetum and Pashey (sparkling) with Willamette Valley grapes, and 18401 Cellars red blend with Walla Walla Valley sourced grapes. Trisaetum remains a boutique winery with an annual production of around 6,000 cases despite common industry trends and commercial pressure to expand production.
Trisaetum Tasting Flight 2022
On our trip to Trisaetum, we tasted seven wines: Estate Reserve Chardonnay 2020, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2019, Wichmann Dundee Estate Pinot Noir 2019, Ribbon Ridge Estate Pinot Noir 2019, Family Reserve Pinot Noir 2015, 1841 Cellars Proprietary Red 2017, and Ribbon Ridge Estate Riesling 2020.
We were impressed by the complexity of Trisaetum's entry-level Willamette Valley Pinot 2019 because of its fruit-forward character with raspberry, black, and sour cherry flavors and a touch of vanilla.
Wichmann Dundee Pinot 2019 charmed us with aromas and flavors of dry rose, Kirsch, sweet tea, and jammy black cherry.
1841 Cellars blend is a must-try if you're a fan of bold reds and Walla Walla wines, in particular. The winemaker trades some Trisaetum Pinot Noir grapes with the infamous Figgins winery from Walla Walla Valley from the Eastern part of the state. Each vintage blend is slightly different and may include Syrah and Bordeaux reds.
James approaches these bold grape varietals with Pinot Noir winemaking techniques, and the results are quite different from those of typical Walla Walla wines. The expected dark chocolate, jammy cherry, black currant, and plum came through in a much more gentle way, making for a powerful yet balanced wine. Hardly a typical Walla Walla red, for sure.
Overall, we liked all the wines, but these three were our favorite.
Trisaetum is always part of our recommendations when people ask us about wineries to visit in the Willamette Valley of Oregon.
What are your favorite Oregon wineries?