With its diverse topography and rich terroir, Oregon provides the perfect palette from which to compose wines of elegance and balance. Primarius is a wine made for the people, by the hearts and hands of the people who know Oregon Pinot best.
With each release, winemaker Sarah Cabot hand-selects the very best fruit to masterfully make wines that are complex in structure, true to origin and always distinctive in style. Diverse vineyard sources from across Oregon’s excellent growing areas provide Sarah the finest nuances of varietal character from vintage to vintage. Primarius wines have risen to the world’s stage with its regional pedigree and high acclaim, while at the same time remaining priced within everyday reach.
Primarius is the Latin word meaning “top rank,” “excellent” and “remarkable;” the same descriptors have been used time and again in critical reviews for our wine from this exceptional region. Enjoy our best in every glass.
Distinguished Oregon Pinot.
The Winemaker
Winemaker Sarah Cabot is tour de force, and her intensity and optimism show in all she pursues.
Sarah’s ultra-premium Pinot Noir-making expertise and time spent traversing vineyards as a self-professed “soil nerd” underscore her all-around passion for Oregon wine. No harvest is exactly like the last, and in Sarah’s more than 12 years of Willamette Valley winemaking, she enjoys uncovering the story of each vintage, as it comes to her, finding the beauty and poise in Oregon’s diversity.
A familiar name in the region, prior to joining Primarius Sarah was the principal winemaker for Omero Cellars from its founding in 2008 until early 2014. She was an assistant winemaker for Willakenzie Estate and started in Oregon as a harvest intern and then assistant winemaker for Belle Pente Vineyard in Carlton. Although best known for her Pinot Noir, she also enjoys creating its varietal rosé and Pinot Gris.
Today, Sarah is one of few Oregon winemakers — and one of the few women nationwide — to crush more than 1,000 tons of Pinot Noir each harvest and earn top critical acclaim each vintage. In fact, she’s responsible for more Oregon wine production that any other woman winemaker in the state for several consecutive years. Wine author and journalist Katherine Cole perfectly characterized Sarah as “arguably the most original and intellectual oenologist to be producing wine…an Oregon winemaker through and through.”
When she isn’t busy working in the vineyards or in the cellar, Sarah plays full contact football (Wide Receiver and Defensive Back) for the Oregon Ravens team and can often be seen with her beloved German Shepherds at her side.
About Oregon
West of the Cascade Mountain Range and east of the Coast Range, Oregon’s valleys offer prime sites for Pinot Noir, producing wine so compelling it has outpaced 90+ point acclaim from other Pinot-growing regions around the world. Oregon's famed Willamette Valley American Viticultural Area and sub-appellations, Ribbon Ridge and Yamhill-Carlton, produce our uncompromising, thin-skinned Pinot Noir grapes. Southern Oregon, with its sub-appellations such as the Umpqua Valley (and within that, Red Hill Douglas County AVA), is proving how both warm and cool climate varieties can thrive and result in world class wine.
An overall cool-climate growing region, Oregon boasts warm sunny days during the peak growing season, with mild winters, and long – often rainy – spring and fall seasons, ideal conditions for fully ripened Pinot Noir grapes.
The Willamette Valley's old, volcanic and sedimentary seabed, overlaid with gravel, silt, rock and boulders was brought by the Missoula Floods. Red Jory soil, the most common type found above 300 feet, provides excellent drainage for vines, resulting in superior quality wine grapes. There are numerous soil types (100+) within the Willamette Valley alone, each imparting character on Oregon Pinot Noir.
Our Vineyards
Willamette Valley AVA
Battle Creek, Howell Prairie, Waldo Hills, Kraemer Farms
Ribbon Ridge AVA
Roe Vineyard
Yamhill-Carlton AVA
Yamhela Vineyard
Umpqua Valley
Melrose Vineyard
Red Hill Douglas County AVA
Red Hill Vineyard
Our Wines
Pinot Noir
A true representation of the state of Oregon, lush bramble fruit and bright bing cherries aromas accented by subtle notes of cinnamon and clove.
Pinot Gris
Aromatics of gardenia, Piña colada, papaya, and honeysuckle introduce a palate full and juicy with notes melon and a lingering finish.
Rosé of pinot noir
Pale salmon pink in color, aromatics of rose petals, ripe strawberries and blood orange introduce flavors of nectarine, cherry, and persimmon.
Reserve pinot noir
Fruit-forward entry followed by a round middle full of huckleberries and hints of jasmine continues with red fruits on the nose.