A Short but Rewarding Trip

Got a late start today but still got what I needed done and made a nice contact that resulted in a bottle of really fine wine.

Just at the north edge of Dundee sits a little old farm cottage that houses the tasting room for The Four Graces. The Blacks had put aside a bottle for me to pick up so that was my first stop of the day. Jason Senior greeted me and handed over a magnum of '05 Black Family Estate Pinot Noir($150) hand signed by  the owners. They also included a tasting certificate for 6 people($60).

I always forget to take a picture of the tree and barn outside the farm house but today I remembered.


Next stop was to drop off wines at Northwest Wines to You, located at The Abby outside Lafayette. Rebecca Pittock Shouldis
takes care of the business and will also be, along with Steve Baker from Authentica, our wine experts with Bob Sogge at this years auction.

We had a nice long lunch with Mike Steele, VP of Pioneer Packaging and some friends at Farm to Fork in Dundee where Paul made us some truly delightful food. Duck Confete salad for me. Can't praise this place enough!
During lunch Paul de Lancellotti and he handed me a bottle of his '07 Estate Pinot Noir($65).
Paul is one of the owners of the Inn at Red Hills where Press, and Farm to Fork are located. I recommend that you eat both here and at the Dundee Bistro every chance you get.

Last stop for the day was at the place I stopped first in the Dundee area when I started all this in December of '08, Stoller Vineyard and winery.
Grace and Emily were there getting ready for an event so I did not take up much of their time with a tasting, just begged politely, and was rewarded with a bottle of the '05 Cathy's Reserve Pinot Noir ($100). Wow!
I must say that there are a lot of really good looking people in the Oregon wine industry. Must be all the wine.
From their web site:
Wine Overview: The 2005 Cathy’s Reserve comes from a 5-barrel lot of our oldest planted Pinot Noir; Pommard clone planted in 1995.  Three new, one 1-year and one 2-year barrels were used to articulate the high quality of the 2005 vintage.
Vintage Notes: 2005 was a classic vintage in Oregon.  The growing season was ideal for Pinot Noir: moderate in temperature and leaning towards the cool side, even through the summer.  The fall brought intermittent rains, leading to a long and spread out harvest.  The result of this vintage is elegant wines with moderate alcohol levels (13.5% average) and bright natural acidity.
Harvest Notes: We began harvest September 24th at Stoller Vineyards, and concluded October 20th.
Tasting Notes: Elegant and powerful, with a nice balance of earth and fruit.

Another thing about this winery, along with a growing cadre of like minded businesses in the Northwest, is their commitment to conservation and energy management. 

From their web site:

Stoller's Gold LEED certified winery.

The Stoller winery is the first Gold LEED Certified winery in the United States. It integrates gravity-flow winemaking techniques, energy-efficient heating and cooling, and waste-water reclamation to reduce negative environmental impact.
This environmental consciousness goes hand-in-hand with the Stoller's belief in a sustainable workplace, where the people whose efforts go into producing Stoller wine are cared for as diligently as the vineyards they tend. (more)


Next trip will be Saturday to Marsh Ann Landing for Oregon Mozart Players -- A Tale of Two Wolfgang's: A European Romp. Rich bassoon and vibrant strings with works by Mozart, Dohnani, Wolfgang, and Devienne -  and a little wine tasting.