202 Bottles of Wine for the Ball

Morgan Broadly was pleased to hear how well his Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir had done  last year in combination with Bergstrom Shea, and Shea's own wine, $300 each for the bottles. This time he gave us an '08 Shea Vineyard($50) and says that it tasted out very well at a gathering of winemakers recently. Very exciting to have another, and this year we have Alaxana's Shea, Bergstrom's, and I hope soon, Dick Shea's also. Morgan said that he had been at a tasting of some of the top wineries and that the '08s were showing well but most were not as "big" as the '06. I have tasted a few and have been impressed.
I headed north to Corvallis for a visit with my friend Jerry at Wineopolis but he was out so I stopped by the Pioneer Hopyard Vineyards tasting room located at

255 SW Madison Ave, and was given the '03 Pinot Noir ($19). This wine won a Bronze Medal at the 2005 Oregon State Fair and  is ripe with  huckleberry, blackberries, and currant. Long sweet finish with loads of acid and tannins. Drinkable now but you can keep it another 5-8 years. They keep the wine back for a number of years before releasing them. They are worth a stop, and yes, they are in a jewelry store but they have a wide selection of wines for sale including many Oregon wines.
Next stop was the Spring Hill Country Club to pick up a round for the 18@18 part of the auction. You can see how far I have to go at Oregon Golf and Music Project.

I left there and stopped by Springhill Cellars to pick up a bottle of the '07 Pinot Noir.
This wine needs time in the bottle. It has enough tannins and should mellow after a few more years. Very herbaceous, with sage, fresh cut Chard, dusty leather, black current, and a subtle hint of strawberry jam. A little harsh on first sip but much better on the second. It has lots of room mid-pallet for red sauce or spicy meats or pizza.

Had a nice drive up to Highway 22 on back roads and even the dairy farm that usually smells SOOO bad was calm. When I got to Red Hawk Vineyard and Winery I was treated to a pleasant visit with Betty, the owner, and Brandi who was doing the tasting (seen here) a taste of some very yummy wines, my favorites being the '08 Gamay Noir with tropical notes with red fruit and honey on the nose with a chocolate cherry, anise, and pepper taste. very approachable, good starter wine. The '08 Syrah was delicious! Big black fruit with notes of spice and earth, a little pepper on the back. I picked up a bottle of the '08Grateful Red ($15), also a good drinking wine. Able to stand alone or with food, it has soft black fruit, earth and slight hint of chocolate and strawberry. Long finish with spice.
I love the view from up on the hill. They look down over the Willamette and you can see for miles. Great place for a visit and a taste.
On the way through Dayton I stopped at Joel Palmer House to ask for a donation of a meal for two . Heidi and Chris Czarnecki gave a certificate for dinner for two and Heidi gave an overnight stay at Fox Farm Cottages., 
The Abbey outside of Lafayette is where all the wine for the auction is being kept, along with thousands of of other cases of Oregon wines so I called Rebecca and let her know I was getting close. We unloaded 5 cases of wine from the car and moved it to our assigned space along with all the other cases and magnums. It is getting pretty populated with good wines!

I got to McMinniville about 5:00 and instead of trying to hit any wineries I just went to my friend Thibaud's  house and put my things away. He came home and started marinating steaks and cutting up vegetables, and opening wine.Rebecca showed up with the rest of the fixings and we talked over some of his delicious wines By the time the food was ready we had developed quite an appetite and were ready for something besides great wine. Rebecca sugested the idea of having wineries sponsor tables at the auction for $200 and 6 bottles of their wines, three red, three white for the table.. They would get two seats and be able to talk about their wines, and they would get to stand for acknowledgment when their wines came up for auction.

Great meal, great company, and a much needed nights sleep and I was ready to face the day.

After a Latte' at the Safeway Starbucks I Drove up the hill through the dense fog of the morning to Winderlea Vineyard and Winery, where Donna and the dog gave me a bottle of the '07 Estate Pinot Noir ($50) and a beautiful box for it.From their tasting notes:The 2007 “Estate” pinot noir (formerly Goldschmidt) was picked on Sept 29th and Oct 15th. The core of the wine is two new blocks of Pommard planted in 2005 which we allowed to ferment in our new Taransaud wood fermenters. The remaining fruit was fermented in stainless steel and macro bins. In addition to being fermented in wooden tanks, the Estate was barrel aged in French oak barrels for 9 months prior to being bottled in August. (more) Last year the '06 Estate went for $150 in the silent auction so I look forward to another great sale.
I was sorry to have missed Bill but I will make a trip up just to sit on their deck and watch the vines grow.  I drove over to Four Graces, where as luck would have it, I had won their Facebook friends prize of a very neat zippered vest, a t-shirt, and an insulated wine bag that holds two bottles!
Melanie made sure I had the right size, XXL unfortunately, but I am working on it.
Driving out to Brooks Winery I realized I was almost out of gas so I turned back (that is so hard to do!) and filled up in Lafayette. I caught Heather before she had to leave and we tasted some of their wonderful wines.
The story of this winery is at once tragic and uplifting. The founder passed away at a very early age and his sister took over management, but ownership went to his young son, now 14,. the youngest winery owner in the world. I encourage you to visit and enjoy the wonderful energy coming from the staff and from the winery. I did not get to taste the wines that were selected for the White House State Dinner but you can buy them! I left with a bottle of the '08 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir($25). From their notes: On the nose beautiful primary aromas of minerals,dusty bing cherries, blueberries, beeswax, redcurrants, blackberries, spice, roses and a mouthwatering cornucopia of small red fruits pour from the glass. As the wine sits in the glass more dark and savory aromatics of tobacco, tar, smoke, freshly picked plums, bitter orange peel and grilled bread emerge.(more)
I had fun driving over the top of the hill and down the other side and in to Amity for a quick burger at Ashes Cafe, then a visit to Coelho Winery. They have a wonderful tasting room filled with fine wines and chocolate from the Brigantine monastery so you can indulge at least two vices while you are there.
This year they gave us a bottle of their '06 Divertimento Pinot Noir ($18). I will stop by again and taste it as they have no tasting notes posted as of yet. I am sure that even though it is 4 years in the bottle that is has enough structure to last for a while longer. Listen to Dave talk about his wines here in a video done by VineStories.
They are working on a huge project that will change the face of Amity, a new winery and tasting room with lots of space right on highway 99.
I drove back toward the north to Kristen Hill Winery where I picked up a bottle of an '02 Pinot Noir. This is a really small winery with a tasting room located in an adjacent house surrounded by Daffodils. Rustic and pleasant and they make really good wines. From their notes:

family owed and operated. Produces about 1000 cases per year. Specialty is sparkling wine. Our wines are served with down home friendliness in our German style tasting room next to the vineyards. You'll have such a pleasant experience, you won't want to leave. Great for novice wine tasters as we try to impart some wine education during the tasting. Pinot noir, Pinot gris, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Blush, Port are also available as well as our 3 sparkling wines. No tasting fee.
I made a stop at Left Coast Cellars and met a very old dog, and nasty cat ( who has been seen dragging unsuspecting tasters in to the bushes), and a beautiful woman, Devon. The latter helped me through the tasting of their wonderful wines. 
The '07 Rose' of Pinot Noir is a very good afternoon in the sun kind of wine, light, yet rich with melon and soft red berry, and a taste of fruit cocktail and cherry. Not an overly sweet wine and no hint of grapefruit or citrus. Nice finish with just a little bit of sharpness.the most surprising wine was the '08 Left Bank Pinot Blanc. It has qualities that are hard to find in a white. Lots of good fruits like guava, banana, pineapple, kiwi, white grape, and citrus but with a remarkable mouthfeel of softness and body. It has one of the most complex endings I have tasted in a Pinot Blanc. I left with a bottle of the '05 Estate Grown Pinot Noir.
I drove over to Rickreal for a taste and a bottle from Cherry Hill Winery's new tasting room. Linda and I went to the Valentine's Day tasting there so I knew what I wanted. The new '08 Syrah($29), using Del Rio fruit, is a hit. Smokey, earthy, candied fruit, lush, soft mouthfeel, long finish. Like this a lot. Next stop was the Emerson Winery where I met the assistant winemaker and the owner and picked up a bottle of the '07 Avelina Pinot Noir. from Tom. From their tasting notes;
Showing excellent extraction, 2007 Avelina Pinot Noir is a deep ruby-garnet color in the glass. Clean and expressive scents of sweet currant and kirsch immediately greet the senses, followed by hints of spice, subdued oak, and perfumy, blossomy highlights. A taste reveals an intense, round, hedonistic wine built on flavors of black cherry and currant, giving way to exotic spices, vanilla, smoke, and minerality.(more)
Driving back the long way, I hoped to catch Lumos or Harris Bridge wineries open. No such luck.

The gathering will intensify over the next weeks leading up to the auction as I have about 55 more wineries that gave last year that I have not been to yet!

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.

A Nice Surprise!

In today's mail was a gift certificate for 6 tastings at The Four Graces! I will go up on Wednesday of next week and pick up the other part of the donation: A magnum of '05 Black Family Estate Pinot Noir ($105) signed by the owners, Steve and Paula Black. This wine is SOLD OUT so this is a very special gift indeed. Here are the tasting notes: This Pinot Noir marks its voluptuous impression immediately, rose petals, almond tones and a red fruit mix finishing with soft oak and vanilla tones. The tannins are fine with a long finish. Enjoy this wine now, but it will continue to evolve, with its prime 3 to 5 years. More

 We are so lucky to have so many friends and supporters amoung the wineries here inOregon.

My First Long Day of Wine Gathering

I left Eugene on the 18th about 7:00 and drove straight through to Oregon City and found a cheep but nice Best Western right on the river. They gave me great deal and a fourth floor room with a wonderful view. Times are hard and there were very few cars in the lot and fewer diners at the restaurant adjoining the motel. I had a nice meal with a glass of Firesteed Pinot Gris.
This morning after a traditional bacon and eggs I headed down town to pick up a bottle of Holloran's 2007 Staford Hill Pinot Noir they brought down to his office for me. Stafford Hill provides outstanding value for handcrafted, small production wines.
After getting directions I drove to Lake Oswego on 43 then left on McVey to Rosemont ( be careful the round about as the sign is not visible so you have to go all the way around to see it) then back south to Oswego Hills Vineyard and Winery. It is a beautiful farm with white barns and house. They are building a new tasting room using the same style. I found Jerry Marshall, the owner, covered with sawdust and looking very happy. He was gracious with me for interrupting him and gave me one of his very best wines, the Vintage Select Oregon Pinot Noir 2006.
I took I205 to Tualatin and cut over to 99w and headed south with a stop at Ponzi Vineyards where Jeff Mathews gave me bottle of their 2006 Chardonnay Reserve.
He said that they were very proud of this one and gave me a taste. It had a very light, sweet nose with a little citrus and burnt sugar, it tasted like soft spiced berry fruit. Loved it!
On to Rex Hill for a bottle of Chardonnay and a bottle Day and Night Red from A to Z. Great web site!

I made stops at Adelsheim, (where they just put in a solar array!) and picked up a truly great wine, the 2006 Elizabeth's Reserve, and at Bergstom where Sara Kofman, the tasting room manager, gave a 2007 Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir. These kind of donations makes this whole trip worthwhile!
I went in to Newburg and found Chehalem Winery tasting room and picked up a INOX Chardonay. "Dave McIntyre's WineLine, June 11, 2006, "Two Unoaked Chards." ABC really could be called ABO -- anything but oak. The extreme example of the movement's success is unoaked Chardonnay. These came originally from New Zealand and Australia, but some wineries in the U.S. are now making them and bragging about it. Oregon's Chehalem bottles an unoaked "INOX" (French for stainless steel) Chard that is a winner year in and year out."
Now for a drive: I, like most men, hate to turn around or ask where I am so off into the hills! I found Vidon Vineyard and had a good time talking to Don Hagge, the owner, and enjoying his amazing view. He gave a bottle of 2007 3 Clones Pinot Noir (90 points in Wine Spectator in the April Issue). Thank you Don!
I was excited by the next stop because of things I had heard about Peter Rosback and his wine making skills. Sineann Block One is a Cabernet made from grapes grown in the Columbia Valley by Paul Champoux. The vineyard is one of the oldest in the Northwest and has constantly produced intense and complex Cabernet Sauvignon.He also gifted me personally with a small bottle of 2008 Pinot Gris that I am tasting even as I write. Honey and wild flowers on the nose with an acidic taste that turns to very pleasant tingle on the tongue! I really like this wine.
Now for another wild chase through the valley: Owen Roe and O'Reilly was hard to find: no cell signal, but I found them and he rewarded me with a 2007 O'reilly's Pinot Noir and an Owen Roe 2006 Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills, their richest of the 06 Pinot Noirs.
On the way south I stopped at Duck Pond and was given a 05 Pinot Noir Jory Cuvee "WINEMAKER NOTES: Using grapes primarily from its estate St. Jory vineyard in the South Salem Hills (and 9% from the Dundee Hills), the ’05 Pinot Noir Jory Cuvee is a wine that is bright and yet complex. It opens with aromas of petals, spicy pie cherries, raspberries and cinnamon, followed by clean flavors of raspberries, Rainier cherries and cranberries, with hints of vanilla. " (Quoted from their wine club site.)
My last stop, right at 5 till 5:00 was Four Graces. This is a wine that I look forward to trying again. They let me sample the 2007 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir and I liked the structure and the light fruit of the wine. This is the perfect example of the wine being strong yet delicate, like a ballet dancer rather than a weight lifter. It has been compared to a new world Burgundy but I think it is time we begin to just say that it is a Dundee Pinot Noir.