Oregon Wine: Part 1

First off, apologies on the delayed posting, it's been a crazy week. Now onto the trip. Upon arriving on the Left Coast, I received a job offer that I quickly accepted, so the trip turned into a celebration as much as a vacation. We stayed at a hotel near my Auntie Mar and Uncle Mark's house in Lake Oswego, which is south of Portland. After a quick jaunt to Canon Beach (pictures to come) on Wednesday morning, we headed back to Lake Oswego by passing through Willamette Valley and hitting some wineries. And make sure to pronounce Willamette correctly, try saying the rhyming phrase, "It's Willamette, Dammit!"

Our first stop was Carlton Winemaker's Studio. This operation is a eco-friendly winery that leases its equipment to winemaker's who may lack the capital or need to have their own full size winery. As we tasted some Pinot Noir by Andrew Rich and Dominio, a strange thing happened. Andrew himself stepped behind the counter to make his espresso. He was kind enough to come over and discuss his two wines as Katie and I gave them a taste. We quickly realized that the Oregon Pinots tend to have a much more European feel, with an almost earthy spiciness, much like Burgundy wines. Andrew's two wines were both superb as was the Carlton Winemaker's Studio Red table wine, a blend of 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Tempernillo, which we bought for my Aunt and Uncle, which I am sure they will love!

The next stop was right next door at Cuneo Wine Cellars. They have a broad selection of wine and had a focus on Italian Varietals. We tasted a wine called Bricca, which was essentially a Chianti, a blend of Sangiovese, some Syrah, and Nebbiolo. We also tasted their straight Nebbiolo. They were both solid efforts at the Italian Varietals that don't receive as much celebrity here as the French grapes. What we ended up purchasing was their Two Rivers Bordeaux Blend. I believe the blend was over half Merlot, with bits of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petite Verdot. The high percentage of Merlot made it very approachable and smooth. In all, Cuneo had a good portfolio of wines, but its too bad they, and the Winemaker's Studio, are pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

After the two stops in Carlton, we headed for Route 99W, the main artery of Willamette (Dammit) Valley Wineries. Just before the town of Dundee we arrived at Sokol-Blosser on a recommendation from my aunt. The views were spectacular, and we had some tempting looks at Friday's stop, Domaine Drouhin. Sokol-Blosser's tasting room had a much more Napa Valley feel, then other tasting rooms we would visit during the week. They seemed to be trying to sell merchandise as much as the wine. We tasted a spectrum of their wines that included a summer sipping Rose (Beringer White Zin is cheaper!), an interesting blend of Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Zinfandel called Meditrina, and three Pinot Noirs. The Pinots echoed the Burgundy feel I mentioned early, not the real in your face fruit flavor of a Sonoma Valley Pinot. The Estate Cuvee Pinot, Dundee Hills Pinot, and Willamette (Dammit) Valley Pinot were all nice but the latter was by far the best bang for your buck. It offered deep aromas of black fruits and was smooth on your tongue, not overbearing.

Once we entered Dundee, the traffic began. 99W in Dundee is a two lane road, outside the town its four lanes. Do the math. So instead of sitting in traffic we pulled over to Argyle. This will go down as the Day One winner and one of my favorites for the trip. Their tasting room is situated in an old Victorian style home, and was just elegant! The bar was made of old oak barrel staves and you could see the wine stains in the staves, it was awesome! We first tasted their sparkling wines. They can't be called Champagne, because real Champagne comes from Champagne, France. If your ever looking for a new sparkling wine, seek out Argyle. Even their standard Brut, which means dry, was outstanding. The second we tasted knocked our socks off. It was a 1998 Knudsen Vineyard Brut. This wine is made from 100% Dijon (a town in France) Cloned Chardonnay. For the money is right up there with Vueve clicked when I am drinking the bubbly. We also tasted their Sparkling Rose and loved it! There entry level Pinot Noir was solid, but the Willamette (Dammit) Reserve was too good to pass up. After we mentioned we were celebrating my new job, the tasting girl pulled out a special bottle that was being released for another few weeks, after we tasted it and the girl walked away, Katie leaned over and said, "This is orgasm in a bottle." Needless to say we ordered it and I'll be discussing it further when it arrives. On a side note, always have some kind of story behind why your tasting. Like my new job or our honeymoon last year, having that reason to be there will usually get you some freebies. In Napa we had countless free tastings, and the girl at Argyle even waived our tasting fee for us.

Our last stop was across the street from Argyle and the Ponzi Tasting Bar. We figured it would be easier to cross the street then drive the fifteen mile to the Ponzi Vineyards down the road. The wines were good, but not spectator. We tasted another Rose, which the billed as a nice summer-time, out on your deck, easy drinking wine. Which means Beringer White Zin is cheaper. Don't get me wrong, a good Rose can kick Beringer's ass any day, but few places can do a Rose right and make it worth $10 a bottle or more. We really loved their reserve Chardonnay and Tavolo Pinot Noir. But other then those two the wines seemed kind of flat and for lack of a better word boring.

Next Post will be on our tasting extravaganza at Patricia Green Cellars, Hippy wine-making at Brickhouse, and Garage tasting at Aramenta Cellars. Till Next Time..."Wine is made to be drunk as women are made to be loved; profit by the freshness of youth or the splendor of maturity."--Theophile Malvezin