Category: Wine


Favorite Things, Day 3

Filed Under: Cocktails, Food, Wine by Kathryne — Leave a comment
December 23, 2012
Vineyard at Thistle

Vineyard at Thistle

I thought this would be easier than it has been. First off, there are many things I can call favorite; secondly, trying to fit them into neat buckets just isn’t happening like I want. So today I think the topic is going to be passion. Yes, passionate. I have never come across such a large group of people who are following their passions. There were others in San Diego, in Las Vegas, but even early on in Seattle I either didn’t see them or they just weren’t there yet. Now I see a lot of them and I see them all over the place.

There are those that left other jobs, safe and secure jobs, to make an incredible leap into doing what they loved. Some retired into it, yes, but some left jobs and uprooted to come here. Some even sort of fell into it. My joy is that I am lucky enough to hear the stories; stories that always leave me with a smile and a sense of wonder at how amazing it can turn out when you have the courage to make the leap. Which is another thing that I love, that these incredibly talented folks are willing to take the time to tell those stories.

They run the gamut, some on that amazing upward run, some rounding out their time, some just starting to dip a toe in. It is the guy in the tasting room who is working on his degree at OSU’s winemaking program and loves everything about wine. It is the chef at Lincoln who takes five minutes to talk with our group on a busy evening and is incredibly gracious about it. It is the guys who came to Portland to learn about microbrews and became winemakers instead. It is Jon and Laura Jennison at Thistle who not only are happy to talk about their wonderful wines, but even pulled my truck out of the blackberries when I was a little too timid on that hill of theirs.

The stories I hear are just amazing. There is the guy who started out selling fish who ended up becoming a distiller when his clients became more interested in the spirits he brought them, thus creating Fremont Mischief . It is one of those funny, interesting, unbelievable tales that sound more fictional than real. There are the folks behind the SE Wine Collective in Portland who, looking for a new place to make their wine, ended up creating a great place that houses three other winemakers and is aiming to be an incubator for more.

They are doing what they do because they have a passion for it. You can see it in their faces when they talk about it. The light that seems to illuminate from within because they can’t believe they are really getting to do what they are doing. Not every day is a joy, sure; and I would wager there are days they wonder why they stick with it, but they do it because they really can’t imagine doing anything else. We should all be so lucky.

So yes, passion. Some folks call it quirkiness or hippy ideals or other names that seek to make it less appealing, because imagine what it would be like if we were all doing what we love. Imagine.

Tags: , ,
Comment

A Few of My Favorite Things, Day 1

Filed Under: Travel, Wine by Kathryne — Leave a comment
December 18, 2012
Pinot Noir Grapes

Pinot Noir Grapes

Lately I’ve been a bit housebound. A combination of weather, projects and job hunting have conspired to keep me indoors and thus there hasn’t been much to write about. Then this morning I was in the car and the station that has dedicated itself to all Christmas Carols All the Time, played a song that seems to be associated with Christmas, though to me it will always be a strong reminder of the ignominy of my sixth grade choir days (when the teacher told me to just ‘lip sync’…). It is “My Favorite Things” from the Sound of Music.

It got me to thinking about just that – my favorite things. The things that I am thrilled to have found, the places that I love to go back to, the people who are part and parcel of why they are my favorite things. So I thought I would take some time and fill a few posts between now and the New Year with them.

So first up is Sokol Blosser Winery. This is a favorite destination, one of the places in Dundee that I stop into time and again, whenever I am in the area, and never get tired of. Why is it a favorite? It goes well beyond the wine, which I am quite fond of. A large part of it is that they just have really great people.

Seriously, they have the memories of elephants, the patience of Job and know a lot about wine to boot. I have been in this place when it was wall to wall people, on the most crowded days they see, and yet they are always gracious, personable, happy to see you. I’m sure they get stressed out on such days, they would have to be super human not to, but there they are with a smile on their face and happy to answer all your questions. This a smart, fun, and funny group who believe in the product they are making, who feel like it is a big extended family that is running the place. There are some places in the region who we have dubbed “Domaine Snooty Pants” because that is the vibe they give off, places that look askance at you if you arrive in a vehicle that costs less than the GNP of a small European country. Sokol Blosser is not one of them.

Another reason I love this place is the setting. The tasting room has some of the most beautiful views in the area. They are in the midst of building a new one (I imagine that they need a bigger space) and my fervent hope is that they will still have the incredible vistas that I love. The sweeping expanse of vineyards, the charming houses, the trees in the distance; I would be willing to bet that half the pictures I have on my camera were taken at this place.

Then there is the wine. Yeah, the wine. This is the very first wine club I ever joined. It is the only one I have stuck with over the last few years. They have a nice variety of wines, and make my favorite all-purpose red (Evolution Red). The prices run from affordable to splurgable. And then there is the rose. Oh my. Their Rose of Pinot Noir is truly summer in a glass and while almost everyone in the area is making one of these, this is still my favorite.

So there it is, Sokol Blosser. One of my favorite things.

Tags: , , ,
Comment

Days of Green and Gold

Filed Under: Travel, Wine by Kathryne — Leave a comment
December 5, 2012

Lemelson on a perfect fall day

Fall is winding down, heralded by the sloppy wet weather of the past couple of weeks. It can be easy to feel oppressed by the low dark clouds, to want to crawl back under the covers on cold and gray mornings, to believe that coffee is the only antidote for mid afternoons that feel like late evening. As we head into winter and the attendant fears and hopeful anticipation of snow or ice or other such dire weather, I find myself cherishing those singular days between storms.

The leaves have turned, and a goodly number (if my porch is any indication) have already fallen, but those that remain are gorgeous. This is when the evergreens are in their glory, when the grass is having a second birth from the rain we all curse, and when those trees still holding on to their golden glory seem to glow in the stolen sunshine.

Such was the Monday after Thanksgiving. It started as a cold and windy day, the last of the storm clouds gathering in conference over the distant Cascades to the east and thus a perfect day to head to Dundee. As much as I have loved the Wine Country Thanksgiving outings, this year I just couldn’t muster the energy to mingle with the enthusiastic crowds. Having a leisurely day in quiet tasting rooms seemed much more my speed, and I was not disappointed.

After our sojourn at the Republic of Jam, we headed back from Carlton, doing as we usually do – missing the turn off for the 99 and ending up taking highway 240 and then Worden Hill Road (a beautiful road, at least after you get past the gravel part, with the attendant potholes and such). But as we did, we passed a sign for Lemelson. And then we saw the place – a beautiful building in a gorgeous setting. We turned around and headed back.

It is a lovely tasting room, warm and welcoming, and we had the place to ourselves. Like so many in the area, this place is pretty much all Pinot Noir. On the menu this particular day was a very nice Chardonnay, one done in new and neutral oak that really took me by surprise. It was crisp and flavorful, with a nice mineral component and none of the cloying, buttery oak that has too often been the highlight of Chardonnay in this country. This was followed by three Pinot Noirs, all slightly different.

The Cuvee X was probably my favorite; we were told that this is the winemaker’s brainchild. I love these kind of wines, where the winemaker gets to play at being a mad-scientist of sorts, playing with the grapes to create a labor of love. This wine is a great example of just how well that can turn out. It is a fun wine, one with a peppery nose that is along the lines of a bigger red like a Syrah or a Merlot. It is a big wine; not the usual dainty and complex Pinot Noir I have come to know and love. This is Pinot Noir for the non-Pinot drinker. Yet as much as such wines usually bug me (if you are making Pinot Noir, make Pinot Noir…) I liked this one.  The flavor and complexity weren’t lost in the mix, they were just taken to a very different place.

I am, I fear, a bit spoiled now. I have my favorite wineries and my favorite wines. So it is good to get outside that comfort zone and try something new. This was a wonderful melding of new wines to experience in a gorgeous setting on a gorgeous day. It reminded me of my first wine tasting trip in this area, almost exactly six years ago to the day. The thrill of something new and interesting, the beginning of a new passion, all set in this golden glow of a stunning Northwest fall day. Maybe spoiled is the wrong word, perhaps complacent is better.

It becomes easy to take these days for granted, to whine about the weather, to whine about the distance, to whine about the wine. So for one day I was back in the glory of the green and gold, of the new adventure, of a perfect day with a good friend. No whining allowed.

Tags: , , , ,
Comment

Wine, Wind, Fall

Filed Under: Shiny Things, Travel, Wine by Kathryne — Leave a comment
October 25, 2012

Bins waiting on grapes at Thistle Wines

Ah yes, Fall. October is almost over, I can’t believe it; it has been a relatively busy month. There were Wine Club Sundays sponsored by the Dundee Hills Winegrowers Association. This was a brilliant idea where if you belong to one wine club, you get a card making you an honorary member of 22 different wineries in the area. I was proud and somewhat shocked to realize that I had been to 18 of the 22 wineries on the list. Most of them multiple times… This coincided with wine club fall pickups, which made the drive out to the area just that much more fun.

Harvest was well in process, one of the earliest in quite some time and in stark contrast to the last two years. The leaves on the vines were already starting to turn, and the combination of the gray October skies, the yellowing vines, and the propane cannons (to keep hungry birds from those delicious, delicious grapes) made for a very atmospheric day. I swear there are times when I am out in the Willamette Valley that I really feel like I have stepped into an entirely different country. The rolling hills, the expansive vineyards, the gravel roads – sigh.

The changing colors of the vineyard

It was also the 50th anniversary of the “Big Blow” this month. The huge Columbus Day storm that literally decimated orchards in the region and caused damage from Northern California to Southwest Canada. The result of an extra-tropical cyclone (Typhoon Freda), the storm registered wind gusts of 145 miles per hour at the Oregon Coast (before most of the anemometers stopped working, toppled by the winds) and upwards of 100 mph in the inland cities of Portland, Salem and even Renton, WA. This was a story I first heard in a visit to Winter’s Hill winery a few years ago. Looking at the orchards that share real estate in the Willamette Valley with the myriad of wineries, I learned that many of those vineyards stand on places where orchards were destroyed. Interesting how we adapt.

In any case, Halloween is fast approaching with Thanksgiving nipping at its heels. Days are growing ever shorter, but what should be sleepy time of year is actually quite busy. In a good way. How is your fall falling?

Tags: , , ,
Comment

Please Release Me

Filed Under: Travel, Wine by Kathryne — Leave a comment
September 11, 2012

Wine Waiting to Happen

One of the things I love about the onset of fall is that it is often new release time for the local wineries. My phone and email have been busy with folks letting me know that they are getting ready/are ready/releasing their latest vintage. Yeah, it can be irritating sometimes, I won’t lie. But when you put it together with one of your favorite wine clubs doing a pickup, it can mean good things are afoot.  Sokol Blosser did just that this past weekend.

I haven’t been going to a lot of winery events this year. Too often they are crowded, too often you end up jostled off to a corner (especially if you aren’t there with a posse of any kind), and too often the promised good eats run out well before you get to the front of the line. I suspect it had a lot to do with a sudden increase in popularity and the old methods just not doing the trick.

Sokol Blosser has always done a decent event, but they’ve been around a while and had a chance to perfect their game. The first time I went to the winery was a Thanksgiving weekend six years ago and I remember being bowled over by the event, the way the barrel room was so beautifully lit, the room, the wine, the people, even the smell of the place is etched in my memory. So when they told me about this club event, I really wanted to go; I knew it was going to be good. I wasn’t disappointed! Along withe five new releases, they had a nice little barbecue going, music, the requisite visiting dogs, and a gorgeous afternoon. I dragged Brother Pete and TK along and we all had a great time.

We all agreed that the 2011 Pinot Gris was just beautiful. A lovely nose – the wonderful citrusy, green apple pinot gris perfume that makes me want to bury my nose in the glass; and that signature taste that is crisp and refreshing. This one has a lot of flavor, a lot of great summer fruit flavor with a hint of mineral underneath. This is one of those consistently good wines that SB does so well. The Evolution 16 was, I think, one of the highlights of the day. I love that it changes just a bit with each release, but always has that moscato nose; is always in the off-dry so that is lots of fruit, a little sweet, and incredibly flavorful. This is one of my favorites, good with the pulled pork sliders we had at the event and good to just drink on a warm afternoon.

It was also fun to taste the difference between the 2009 and 2010 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir. Vertical tastings are always fun to me because I am constantly amazed at the differences between vintages. That one fruit can make such a different wine year to year is just boggling to me, even taking into consideration how wine changes over time in the bottle. These two are a good reminder of that.

The 2009 is just lush and, well, juicy. There is a good, solid tannin structure on this wine and yet it is not overwhelming for being so young. The nose is surprising, I was immediately hit with caramel, followed by a nice spicy, earthy note And the taste – hard for me to pinpoint, really. Plummy? A bit, yes. Dark cherry? Yeah, that was there. Spice – I could say that yes, a bit of baking spice was in there. It just melded so nicely together. This one is going to be saved for a bit, I suspect. If it is this good right now? I can’t wait to see what happens when some of that tannin mellows out. 2009 is going to be a memorable vintage, I suspect.

2010?  This is an interesting wine. My first take on it was that it was good, not a lot of tannin, nice. Then we moved on to the 2009 and were blown away. A nice woman wandered past a bit later with a bottle of the 20010 and we allowed her to fill our glasses – it would have been rude not to, right? And as we discussed whether we had liked the 2009 or the 2010 better, I took my second taste of this one and was…impressed. It was richer, it was fruitier than I had thought it originally. I had started out thinking this would be one of those vintages best drunk sooner rather than later. But now I don’t know. I think it is going to be interesting to see where this one goes.

We had a good time at this event, a chance to taste some good – really good – stuff, enjoy some good food, talk to some nice people. They did it up right, I have to say. The scattered tables for the tastings meant that it never felt crowded even though there were a goodly number of people. The food line moved at a good pace, and I thought it inspired to have folks roving that line and offering second (or third) tries of the wines. This was a nice way to put a cap on the summer, a fitting farewell that includes a little anticipation of what is to come for fall.

Tags: , , , ,
Comment

Back to the Dark Side

Filed Under: Wine by Kathryne — Leave a comment
August 29, 2012

I have been reveling in white wines this summer. I stocked up this year. Lots of Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, some interesting Chardonnay, a lovely Grenache Blanc, dry Gewürztraminer, and – of course – a few outstanding rosès. I love these wines for the hot (or warm) weather. They are generally light, crisp, fruity, perfect for summer food. A Thistle Pinot Blanc went very nicely with an incredible dinner of pork kabobs, eight ball squash and white corn. A Winter’s Hill Pinot Gris made a perfect pairing with some spicy gazpacho. Summer food, summer wine.

But here it is, the end of August and evenings are already cooling off. On a whim the other night I opened a bottle of Pinot Noir. I wanted a red wine, for a change. Something sipable. I don’t think I have had a glass of Pinot Noir since the start of summer. Sure, a few tastings here and there, but not just a glass to sit and enjoy of an evening. To be honest, by the start of summer I was kind of sick of it. Pinot Fatigue, indeed.

Pinot No More

The bottle I choose (and there was some debate) was a Sokol Blosser 2008 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir. I’m sort of hoarding the ’07′s. The ones I have are now relegated to the ‘special occasion’ position in the wine box. And by special occasion, I mean they are being saved to be shared. 2007 was sort of a turning point in wine for me, the year I think it all started to make sense. It is sort of the ‘little engine that could’ year. A vintage that was universally savaged by an overzealous wine media (I was going to say wine press, but let’s say media and be done with it). A vintage that I followed from harvest to release, and turned out to be a little bit of magic where it was made with the right hands. And magic should be shared.

Now, sure, all wine is arguably better when shared; however there are times, there are evenings when you just want a nice glass of wine. And so my hands fell upon the ’08. To be honest, I didn’t have much in the way of expectation for this wine. For no reason other than I wasn’t thinking much about it. Sokol Blosser is reliably good. 2008 was a good vintage, arguably one of the best vintages to come out of the region yet. No thinking required. And that is what I did, no thinking, no expectation. And maybe that is the secret.

It was the aroma from the freshly opened bottle that first hinted that this was going to be a treat. That wonderful, earthy, warm day and damp earth scent; it was like finding an old friend. In the glass it was dusky garnet, more on the purple side than the red. And then the first taste. Delightful. All red fruit and dark berry, a little smoky, a little earthy. An old friend indeed.

Another old friend mentioned to me recently that he was pretty well done with wine. That it had all started to be the same to him. Maybe this is the curse of the wine lover, or at least the wine snob. How many Malbecs can you drink before you have a hard time telling them apart anymore? How many Pinot Noirs? Sometimes, maybe, you need a break. It is hard to do around these parts. Pinot Noir is everywhere. Every wine maker around here has one their lineup. Another friend likes to joke when we go wine tasting “Hey, this place has variety – three different Pinot Noirs!”

This summer was all about walking on the light side of wine. Nothing deliberate about it, it just turned out that way. But it was nice to make a little sojourn to the dark side again. Sure, fall is nipping at our heels and winter won’t be far behind. Food will swing back to the heavy and the hearty. Soup will replace salads, tomato sauces will replace the gazpacho. Dark evenings will be perfect for dark wine – the Cabernets (Sauvignon and Franc), the yummy, chewy Italian grapes (a trip to Cana’s Feast will surely be on the schedule), and my beloved Pinot Noirs. Nice to know they are patiently waiting for me, though I can hear the slightest whisper when I pass the wine rack, seducing me back…

Tags: , , , ,
Comment

Pinot Geek

Filed Under: Shiny Things, Wine by Kathryne — Leave a comment
July 10, 2012

Pinot Noir Grapes

About a week ago I found myself in the Dobbes tasting room. Always a good place to be. I ended up in a conversation with a group of people who were new to wine tasting. One asked me (why me?) what the difference was between Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir. Specifically the question was – ‘what’s with all the Pinots?’ I tried to explain, but failed miserably. The truth was that I wasn’t exactly sure what was with all the Pinots myself. So I decided to find out.

First off, Pinot Noir: A temperamental little grape that is believed to be very, very old. Some folks use the word ancient when referring to the varietal and there are references to it going back to 1 A.D. so I think that word holds merit. The grapes are a deep purple, almost black – hence the name ‘noir.’ This is the varietal most closely associated with the Burgundy region of France, but is found in a number of places around the globe, and on many a hillside in the Willamette Valley. The grape produces a red wine and sometimes is used in rosè (by reducing the amount of time the wine spends in contact with the skins of the grape). It is also sometimes used as a component of Champagne and other sparkling wines. The color of the red wine is generally lighter than other reds, ranging from a dusky garnet to a plummy red.

And now for the white wines: Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc. Ready? They are mutations of Pinot Noir.

And this, for me, is where it gets interesting. A red wine; a complex, fruity, temperamental wine that causes vintners heartache and headaches, is the genetic springboard of two very different white wines. Pinot Gris, as made in the Willamette Valley, generally, is dry with a lot of tart citrus notes. It has a really wonderful minerality to it, making it a great food wine as well as a perfect choice for sipping on a hot summer day. Pinot Blanc is all green apple and sometimes even a bit of honeydew. It is usually a fairly full bodied wine, one that is easily drinkable – one that I often refer to as a summer sipper. All three very different, all three related; a couple of changes in DNA making all the difference.

Maybe it is the science geek in me that gets excited over this. Maybe it is the science geek in me that drives my interest in wine. A few differences in base pairs making a huge difference in the outcome is pretty darn cool, from my point of view. Those of us who love to stand at a tasting bar and yak about wine talk about the terroir, the weather, the altitude, the type of cask and even the winemaker. All of that is important, no doubt. We don’t, however, often talk about the DNA level of it all. Sure, we talk about clones – the term ‘Dijon Clone’ is heard a lot in Oregon wine country – and root stock, and all the aspects of plant hybridization that can be traced way back to well before an Austrian friar working with peas tweaked to what the heck was going on.

It still amazes me. The science end of it amazes me. I am completely bowled over by the sheer idea that all these sub-species of vitus vinifera can create wildly different wines. That when it comes right down to it, the variation of one of those sub-species can also be so wildly different. A beautiful double helix made up of a limited and very specific group of base pairs can create such incredibly different outcomes. I suppose I shouldn’t be, because I have studied science – microbiology, genetics, chemistry. Wine, I think, is one of those wonderful places where art and science intersect. It is where this science geek becomes a Pinot nerd. I’m okay with that.

Tags: , ,
Comment

Non-verbal

Filed Under: Shiny Things, Travel, Wine by Kathryne — Leave a comment
July 1, 2012

I am at a loss for words today, I think I used most of my available inventory in other writing. So have a picture of one of my favorite places. This is the lavender field at Red Ridge Farms in Dundee, OR. A lovely place to shop for garden things, gifts and and culinary goodies such as olive oil and finishing salts.  Next door is the tasting room for Durant Vineyards, well worth the stroll across the parking lot.

I feel calmer just looking at it…

Tags: , , , ,
Comment

Urban Tasting Notes Part II

Filed Under: Food, Wine by Kathryne — Leave a comment
May 24, 2012

Just to finish my urban wine trail adventure I wanted to add tasting notes from the last two wineries I visited. This was Enso, who hosted Helioterra. Again with these wineries, as noted before, the wines produced are very food-focused and are pretty impressive. For the record, it may appear that I like every wine I taste but in truth I really only write about the wine I like. There are plenty of wines I haven’t been impressed, thrilled or delighted by but I also believe that wine is a highly subjective thing. What I like is what I like, I don’t see much point in spending a lot of time on the stuff that is either just okay or not my taste.

Okay. Enso, shall we? Enso is in Southeast Portland; a wine bar and tasting lounge (their words) who generously support the local winemakers and other food artisans of the area. I like that about them. They also make some decent wine. Again, all of these are low-alcohol, school night wines.

We started with the 2011 Riesling. This had a light green apple/ripe pear nose that was very appealing. Taste was big on fruit and yet off dry. There is a bit of a grapefruit citrus, a bit of that apple, and some light floral notes on the palate. My food wine theory here as was proven the other evening when it was consumed along with a lovely pasta salad and grilled chicken. This is a great little summer food wine.

Next up was the 2011 Pinot Gris. Sniffable wine, this one was; all honeysuckle and orange blossom. A dry nicely balanced wine that was just a bit more mineral than fruit on the palate; there are notes of pear and apple again, like most Pinot Gris from this region. I can see this with grilled salmon, with a steak salad, something that has a bit of richness to it that begs for a little acid to offset it.

My favorite red of the day because it was so different and so interesting was the 2010 Zinfandel. I am a big fan of Zinfandel and while there seems to be a glut of the grape on shelves at the moment, a lot of them are just okay. So finding a good, interesting and unusual take on it is always fun for me. The first thing that hit me about this wine was the nose, very strong tobacco notes – like a really fine cigar. The palate isn’t the usual peppery zinfandel; this was a juicy, earthy, well structured wine. A manly wine, if you will; the kind that you have with a perfectly grilled rib-eye and none of those silly vegetables (unless it is a baked potato). The guy next to me called it ‘jammy’ but I didn’t get that. This is a smooth, velvety red; sophisticated and elegant. Yeah, I liked it. A lot.

While I tasted the Helioterra wines in order with Enso, I wanted to separate them in the notes because it was confusing for me to sift through, I didn’t want to make it confusing to read. So, without further ado, Helioterra! There were three of her wines on the tasting menu, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir and Mourvedre.

The Pinot Blanc was perhaps the driest of the varietal I have had in some time. There was the characteristic green apple nose, with a little undertone of minerality to it. This is a lovely, acidic, dry wine with a silky mouth feel. It just feels luxurious, that’s the best way to describe it really. It is crisp, yes, but in a way where she hasn’t sacrificed flavor for it. You know what I mean, some whites are acidic to the point of not tasting like much of anything. This isn’t one of those whites. Food? Well, I wrote crab, then lobster, then seafood; something with a buttery richness to it would be perfect – each one bringing out the best in the other.

The 2010 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir was next. A lovely red, again food focused, with lots of red fruit; nicely complex and lighter in alcohol than a lot of Pinot Noirs produced around here. This is the first pinot that I would put in my all purpose wine category, something for burgers or steak, chicken or fish, even a nice summer salad would go nicely with this one.

Last up was the 2010 Mourvedre, sourced from Walla Walla area where they seem to know a thing or two about growing the grape. This was a big, jammy, yummy, bold red. All red fruit on the nose and the palate. I know that ‘yummy’ is probably not the most sophisticated descriptor, but I call ‘em like I see ‘em and this was yummy. A year round wine that is going to go nicely with that summer barbecue or heavier winter dishes.

And there it is – urban wine 2012. It was a joy to find these folks, and I have a feeling that I will be back again as well as looking into some of the others on the trail that I didn’t get to. Foodie wines for a foodie town. It makes sense, doesn’t it? Yes. Yes it does.

Tags: , , , ,
Comment

Urban Tasting Notes – Part I

Filed Under: Wine by Kathryne — Leave a comment
May 19, 2012

As promised, tasting notes from the PDX Urban Wine Trail. Again, only hit four last weekend and I am going to try and get to Seven Bridges and and Grouchau this weekend just to test my urban wine/foodie theory a bit more. The things I do for science…

In any case, tasting notes. Let’s start with Division Winemaking Company. First off, our esteemed winemaker trained in the Loire Valley. This is very evident in his wines; dry, food friendly, with a lot of flavor and character. Division had four wines on offering, Chardonnay, Rose of Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir and Gamay Noir.

We started of with his Chardonnay. How many times and how many ways can we use the term ‘dry?’ A minerally nose tips you off to what’s coming, light fruit on the palate and not a hint of that buttery, oakey California Chardonnay that we have been inundated with (though thankfully that trend seems to be well on the wane at this point). There is a lot of structure to this wine, it is meant to hold up to food.

Next was the Rose. This one hits you with a big strawberry nose, and the dryness of it is kind of a surprise as a result. It is all Boonesfarm on first sniff, and while there is a lot of fruit in this wine, none of it is sticky sweet. Again – dry. Bone dry. Acidic, light, perfect for a summer grilling adventure. This one was just fun to me, kind of a bait and switch in a good way – completely unexpected for me to have that much, that sweet of a nose and to end up as dry and lovely on the palate.

The Pinot Noir Un (as in French for ‘one’) followed. This another with a light, fruity nose, hint of mineral to it as well. The taste is pinot noir – red fruit and complex, but in a very light way. There is a nice tannic structure to it, a nice balanced acidity; I wrote ‘salmon on the grill’ next to this one. The tannins and the acid? They cry out for a bit of oil, a bit of fat and would stand up nicely to grilling marinades.

The last wine in this grouping was the real surprise. Gamay Noir. This is a beautiful wine – deep purple in color, big white pepper nose and the most unusual taste. I wrote down strawberry-pepper, which I believe the winemaker mentioned and I enthusiastically agreed with. Because it just is. This is a burger wine, in the sense that it classes up the burger. A barbecue wine of the highest order. There is a lot going on in this wine, again in a really good way. It is not a common varietal around these parts and it was nice to see a new kid on the block.

Hosting Division in their petite tasting room was Alchemy Wine Productions. Alchemy has two lines, Edwin Dyer and Class Act. For the passport tour he was sampling four wines as well – Viognier, Rose of Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir and Syrah.

Starting with the Viognier, this was probably the most compatible with stand alone sipping of all the wines I sampled. The word dry appears again, and it is a very food friendly wine. Mineral and pear on the nose, nice dry fruit flavor; this one is fun, you actually get this fleeting moment of banana in it which makes me smile. It isn’t overwhelming or off-putting, more like a little surprise that makes your eyes widen and puts a smile on your face. Overall it is pear and summer fruit, nice to sip while you make dinner and then to drink with dinner.

Rose of Pinot Noir was next. A bit of strawberry, a bit of pear, fruity, dry and balanced. I don’t have a lot of notes on this one; it was a good wine and I enjoyed it. I think it just go a bit overshadowed by both the rest of the wines and the really good conversation I was having with both winemakers. Ah well, it must means I have to go back for a more rigorous sampling.

The 2009 Class Act Pinot Noir was our next entry. This is a very Oregon Pinot – big red fruit nose, big red fruit flavor. Lower in alcohol, again these are all school night wines which adds to their food appeal, I think.This is just a great everyday Pinot Noir, which is what they seem to be aiming for in the Class Act wine; good wines at reasonable prices.

The star of this line-up, in my opinion, was the 2009 Edwin Dyer Syrah. From Australian clones, it has the trademark peppery nose, but there is also a hint wet earth and leather in there. The taste is also pepper, but more like black pepper than the vegetable. There is also something in the background, an herb rather than spice flavor. The winemaker said eucalyptus and I can see that, but not in an overwhelming sense. My first thought was Sharon’s sage wrapped pork loin. This is a wine that can stand up to strong flavors, strong spices. There is just a lot going on here.

Next post will be the notes from Enso and Helioterra. As I mentioned before, these four wineries are doing some interesting things. Things that make me want to delve a little deeper into this urban winery scene.

Tags: , , , ,
Comment