Passport to Dundee Hills

The Dundee Hills is a very special place for Pinot Noir, nestled as it is, almost dead center in the Willamette Valley. It’s home to many of the Valley's biggest names and the red Jory soils make a Pinot Noir that can be called signature Oregon style. In a recent Oregon Wine Blog tasting, the Stoller Vineyards Pinot Noir from Dundee Hills was a group favorite. It sounds like to me that anyone within shouting distance of the Dundee Hills should hustle down there for the Passport to Dundee Hills.

The Passport Tour of the Dundee Hills allows Pinot lovers to not only experience the wine they've come to love, but it will also work to connect restaurants, inns and, most excitingly, wine education. While many tasting or touring events swing open the doors to eager wine drinkers, the Passport to Dundee Hills will teach attendees about the history and tradition of this sub-AVA as well as the unique growing conditions, soils and geography that make the Dundee Hills special in an educational seminar that's included in the passport package.

The Passport grants access to special weekend-only pours and you'll find many of the Dundee Hills’ smaller and more exclusive wineries - those that typically only open their doors to the public on rare occasions - will also be participating. I highly recommend that attendees make their way to Anderson Family Vineyards, a personal Dundee Hills favorite of mine. They're making Pinot Noir, but I find their Chardonnay to be some of the best in the Valley. Check out their views and some of Oregon's steepest vineyards.

The $15 passport grants you access to 50% to 100% discounts on tasting fees at participating wineries, discounts and specials at restaurants and hotels and the educational seminar.

Passport Tour Information:

When: April 16-17th, 2011. Hours vary by location (generally 11am-4pm)
Where: 30 DHWA members
Price: A $15 passport provides discounts of 50-100 percent off tastings.
Purchase: Online at www.dundeehills.org

Taste of Terroir: 2008 Oregon Pinot Noir (2 of 2)

Part 1 of our most recent Taste of Terroir began in the Northern AVAs of the Willamette Valley, examining 2008 Pinot Noir from Oregon's Chehalem Mountains AVA and Ribbon Ridge. We also covered a little bit about the 2008 growing season in the Willamette Valley. You can read all that here.
But time waits for no man, and so we must continue our journey South through the Willamette Valley and onto the Yahmill-Carlton District.

Yamhill-Carlton District
The Yamill-Carlton District was designated an AVA in 2004. Its vineyards are predominantly planted on the south-facing slopes of the ridges that surround the district in what resembles a horseshoe pattern. In order for a vineyard to fall within the Yamhill-Carlton District AVA, not only must it be within the proper geographic location, but it must also be between 200 and 1,000 feet of elevation. The soil types are comprised mostly of marine sedimentary soils (Willakenzie), as well as some of the volcanic soils known as Jory. Yamhill-Carlton has some of the oldest soils in all the Willamette Valley.


Our Yamhill-Carlton wine came from Luminous Hills. It was not a winery I knew much about, but it’s a sustainably farmed and LIVE certified winery and a part of the Seven of Hearts winery. Byron Dooley is the owner and winemaker of both labels. The particular Pinot clones for this wine were 115, 667 and Pommard. The 2008 Estate Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir had one of the most, if not the most, beautiful aromatics of the wines we had that evening. In fact, the nose of the wine was a dead ringer for a 2004 Chambolle-Musigny, by Jacques Fredrique Mugnier, which I had recently had the good fortune to taste. The aromatics, beautiful and Burgundian, gave way to a palate that many of us experienced as a more steely minerality and spice than fruit or earthen characteristics. This wine retails for $28 and is a very small production at only 142 cases. (I should also note that I sadly poured some of this wine all over one of the guests. Sorry, Michelle.)

Dundee Hills
The Dundee Hills are probably the wheelhouse for visitors experiencing Willamette Valley. They’re located, right down the middle of the corridor and encompass some of the biggest names in all the Valley: Erath, Sokol Blosser, Argyle and Ponzi. When people think of Willamette Valley, whether they know it or not, they often think of Dundee Hills. The Dundee Hills is made up entirely of the Jory volcanic soil type and it's rich in both iron and a red hue that are a signature of the Dundee Hills. The AVA was designated in 2004 and it has 1,300 planted acres. The Dundee Hills are often thought to be a bit more protected weather wise than some of the surrounding areas, so a bit drier and warmer may certainly help in such a cool climate.

The Dundee Hills wine we had was the 2008 Stoller Vineyards, JV Estate Pinot Noir, which was also the third wine of the night (of four total) that sported a screwcap The JV Estate, or Jeunes Vignes, is a showcase of the vineyard’s newest vines. The wine is made to be drinkable and approachable right away, and folks found it to be just that. The Stoller 2008 Pinot Noir was a rounded wine with pleasing aromatics; some of the oak character coming through in sweet spice notes. The wine provided plenty of red berries and a bit of oak on the palate. A couple of our guests described an almost effervescence. This was a very comfortable Pinot Noir for our guests and made it the most popular among many of them. The wine retails at $25

McMinnville AVA
The McMinnville AVA was designated in 2005 after a successful petition by Kevin Byrd of Youngberg Hill Vineyards. The AVA lies within the rain shadow created by Oregon's Coast Range and it therefore generally sees less rain than many of its neighboring AVAs The proximity to the Van Duzer corridor, and the coastal wind it brings, keeps the vineyard sites a bit drier. The soil composition is primarily marine sediment but basalt and volcanic soils also underlay much of the McMinnville AVA. Only 600 acres of vineyard are planted.

Our wine from McMinnville comes from Noble Pig, a new winery. The 2008 McMinnville Pinot Noir is their first vintage released. The wine is comprised of three Pinot clones, Pommard, 114 and 115. This wine had very active aromatics, and was almost perfume-y. The oak made a slight and positive impression on the wine, and the bright red fruit made this an impressive first vintage from Cathy Pollak, winemaker and proprietor. This wine retails at $34

Eola-Amity Hills AVA
Continuing south in the Willamette Valley, on towards Salem, we reach the Eola-Amity Hills AVA. The fruit of the the Eola-Amity is known for its almost pitch perfect acidity, higher than much of the Willamette Valley. Its proximity to the Van Duzer Corridor and those cooling winds from the Pacific play a major role in that acid retention. Designated in 2006, the AVA consists of mostly volcanic soils, as well as nekia, which is a soil comprised of exposed basalt. The Eola-Amity hills holds some of the most famed Pinot vineyards in the Willamette Valley, including Temperance Hills, Seven Springs, and Elton vineyards. Some of the signatures of the AVA include darker fruit profiles on both the palate and the aromatics of the wine.

The Brooks Winery 2008 Rastaban Vineyard Pinot Noir is a deep, dark Pinot Noir. This wine had far darker fruit character than any of the other Pinots we tasted. It was a bolder wine, a big, luxuriant Pinot Noir. The oak program used on this wine, 50% new French for 18 months, resulted in aromas of smoke and earth and represents a bit of a departure from many of the Burgundian styled Pinots that Oregon is known for. This wine was a lot of dark rich velvet, and it retails at $50.

Umpqua Valley
Next, we did what many people consider the unthinkable: we left the Willamette Valley. We left it behind and continued south to the Umpqua Valley. The Umpqua Valley was designated in 1984, and contains the basin area of the Umpqua River. In conjunction with the much warmer Rogue Valley AVA, it makes up the Southern Oregon AVA, designated in 2004. The Umpqua Valley is warmer than the Willamette Valley and sees plantings of Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Riesling and some occassional Cabernet Sauvignon. Most of those warm weather varietals grow beautifully in its neighbor to the South, the Rogue Valley AVA. The soil composition of the Umpqua Valley is often sand and clay loams.

Our final and southernmost wine, the Brandbourg 2008 Ferris Wheel Estate Pinot Noir. This wine gave us a bit of toasty oak on the nose and certainly the palate held much more spice, with hints of chicory and cola than the Pinots to the North. While many of us found this Pinot slightly different than its neighbors, with its spicier fruit profile, this was still an elegant, balanced Pinot Noir and demonstrated capably that Pinot can, in fact, be grown outside the confines of Willamette Valley and still demonstrate great varietal integrity and beauty. This wine retails at around $30.

Our conclusion, the 2008 vintage is a great one for Oregon Pinot Noir fans. In many cases wineries are still releasing their 2008s, particularly when it comes to single vineyard Pinots. In other cases some of the 2008s have been completely sold out. The buzz about the vintage has had impact on both pricing and availability, but don't be deterred. Gather up and drink as much of it as you can, you'll thank us later.
These wines were provided as samples.

Taste of Terroir: 2008 Oregon Pinot Noir (Part 1 of 2)

Oregon’s recently released 2008 Pinots are garnering some serious buzz. "In the 2008's, you've got the best vintage Oregon has ever produced, the kind of vintage Oregon winemakers always hoped they could produce." Harvey Steiman, Wine Spectator.

With that in mind, the time was right for The Oregon Wine Blog to explore this vintage in our Taste of Terroir series. To many wine drinkers, Oregon Pinot is Oregon Pinot, but that's too large a generalization. The Willamette Valley is certainly what people think of, but there's so much variety within the Valley itself that the sub AVAs provide an exploration of the valleys, elevations, soil types and micro-climates - and that's just what we hope to do with the 2008 Oregon Pinot Noir tasting. We've even got a Pinot from the Umpqua Valley.

This two-part post will start on the Northern end of the Valley in the Chehalem Mountains. As we progress, we'll pass through Ribbon Ridge, Yamhill-Carlton District, the Dundee Hills, McMinnville and the Eola-Amity Hills AVAs, and as we work our way South we’ll end in the Umpqua Valley.

What kind of growing season was 2008? Here’s a description from our friends at Stoller: “In retrospect 2008 was the ultimate cool climate vintage, but it began rather apprehensively. A frost arrived when bud break, already a few weeks late, began. Everyone seemed to survive that frost and the fruit was right on track by late summer. Concerns about a wet harvest forecast never came to fruition as the end of summer and early autumn saw cool breezy days that allowed the necessary hang time to produce Oregon's world class Pinot Noir.”

Oregon’s Willamette Valley, 100 miles long and about 60 miles wide, was first declared an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in 1984. Since then, it's become known as one of the greatest places in the world to grow Pinot Noir. Other varietals that do well in the Willamette Valley include Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris.

Chehalem Mountains AVA
The Chehalem Mountains AVA rests on the far North end of the Willamette Valley and serves as the guardian to the rest of the Valley of the harsher weather that comes in from the Columbia River Gorge. The area is marked by great variation of soil types within the AVA, with volcanic basalt creating the foundation for much of the area's clay and silt, marine sediment and sandstone. The area’s soil is also comprised of a windblown silt, or loess. The AVA was granted designation in 2006 and has around 1,600 planted acres of vineyard. The AVA Association has a great website here.

Our Chehalem Mountains representative was a personal favorite: Anam Cara Cellars 2008 Nicholas Estate. The Nicholas Estate vineyard (LIVE certified) is probably one of the most distinctive vineyards I've sampled in Oregon when it comes to displaying terroir. The site is a former hazelnut and walnut farm, has unique characters that are present, particularly on the nose of the wine. The 2008 was no exception. The wine started out with a smokey, earthen nose, hints of moss and forest floor as well as pepper and toasted spice that speak more to the site than the use of newer oak. This wine saw less than 20% new oak. This elegant Pinot delivers brighter red fruits and a hint of that spice from the nose on the palate. The Nicholas Estate is a blend of 5 clones, nearly 40% 667, though Pommard, 115, 114 and 777 all make up the wine. The wine was named in the Top 100 by the San Francisco Chronicle and will retail at around $30.


Ribbon Ridge AVA
Within the Chehalem Mountains AVA lies Oregon's smallest AVA, Ribbon Ridge. Ribbon Ridge was planted in 1980 by Harry Peterson-Nedry, owner and winemaker at Chehalem Winery. The AVA is only three and half miles long and 1 and 3/4 mile wide and it sticks up out of the valley floor at 683 ft of elevation. Its comprised of a younger soil, a silty clay loam of the Willakenzie type, drains exceptionally well and is perfect for viticulture. There are only 350 acres planted in Ribbon Ridge and the first vineyard was Ridgecrest, at 55 acres, Ribbon Ridge was designated in 2005.

We sampled two wines from Ribbon Ridge, the Chehalem 2008 Reserve and the Chehalem Ridgecrest Vineyard Pinot Noirs. Both of these wines exhibit a bigger style and excellent acidity that come across right away. These are wines that will lay down that much is clear. The Ridgecrest Vineyard 2008 came across with spice and smoke from oak on the nose. The palate gave way to prominent tannins, certainly in comparison to the Anam Cara. The wine is really well put together and we found it to be one of the favorites among the guests. The dark red fruit on this nicely balanced wine made it a beautiful example of Oregon Pinot.
The Chehalem Reserve 2008, is not yet released and was even bigger than the Ridgecrest and exhibited significant tannins. Bright fruit notes and even some of the oak on the palate, guests found the nose to have herbal notes, and fennel or licorice came up many times. This is a big and really impressively structured wine. Certainly drinking very well now but this wine held the most promise for tomorrow of the 2008s we tasted. I would love to taste this wine again in a few years. Both of the examples from Ribbon Ridge were nice examples not only of what the AVA has to offer but also spoke to the experience and innovation of Harry Peterson-Nedry and the amazing things that are coming from Chehalem. Wines with incredible structure and finish. Impressive.

Our journey through the 2008 vintage Oregon Pinot Noir continues in Part 2 coming later this week.

Wine Country Resort Destination: The Allison Inn & Spa

Have you ever had an experience that completely changed your mind about something you thought or believed? The Allison, for me, was that experience. I'd never stayed at a resort before because I never understood the appeal. The whole idea struck me as stuffy and overdone and I'm too rugged to be a resort guy. Well, this was before the Allison Inn & Spa in Newberg, Oregon let me come stay there and take a test drive on behalf of The Oregon Wine Blog at a special rate.

Nestled in the north end of the Willamette Valley between the Dundee Hills and Chehalem Mountain AVAs, the Allison is surrounded on all sides by the slopes and vineyards that make Oregon a world class Pinot Noir producer. They've also planted some small vineyards of their own onsite, though it'll be a few years before they're mature. The Allison Inn & Spa opened in the autumn of 2009 and it is a spectacular example of Northwest luxury. A LEED Gold certification puts The Allison in excellent company; fewer than 25 hotels worldwide have received LEED Gold status. It also makes the Allison fit firmly within the ethic of the Northwest's commitment to sustainability.

The Allison's restaurant and bar, The Jory, was named for the red soils of the surrounding vineyards in Willamette Valley. The Jory serves bistro style meals that celebrate the local ingredients of Oregon's bounty and the bar has 100 different Oregon Pinot Noirs, including 50 different by-the-glass pours, and various tasting flights, including one of three 2007 Pinot Noirs titled "The Critics are Wrong." Jory sommelier Ercolino Crugnale was recently recognized by Food & Wine magazine as one of the top seven sommeliers in the United States.


There was a lot to be impressed with at The Allison Inn & Spa. Every detail was perfect, and it was all comfortable. The stuffiness I had associated with resorts was non-existent. They let you bring your dog, for Pete's sake. While the Allison pulls out all the stops for you and your pet, it also offers dog walking and pet sitting as well as sweet room service. Elsie made out with some lamb, kale and pieces of baguette.

While Elsie was getting room service, Gwynne went to a massage at the Spa at the Allison. In her words: "The massage was amazing. I could heap adjectives on top of that, but bottom like was that this was, hands down, the best massage I've ever had and more than worth it. From the moment I walked in until I left, the spa and the staff was phenomenal and helpful - even volunteering to keep an eye on the clock for me so I could relax in the steam room. I've never been someone who could sit on the beach all day or hang out at a spa - it seemed dull and not worth the time. After this visit, I completely understand the desire for a spa day. A steam room, a sauna, and the softest robes imaginable... On top of those, the big things, it's such a little thing, but I was really grateful that the locker room had hair ties and bobby pins to tie back my hair. Thoughtful touches like that show me the spa at the Allison knows what they're doing. If you're in Newberg, even if you're not staying at the Allison, make a reservation for a treatment. You'll thank me."

While Gwynne got "one of the best massages of her life" I went to the "living room" off the bar. The fireplace was crackling and I took in the the jazz trio and a glass of Penner Ash Pinot Noir while looking out on the grand lawn as dusk settled in on the Willamette Valley.

We had dinner at The Painted Lady instead of Jory, but all in all, the experience at The Allison was a refreshing one, on many levels. The decor at The Allison is tasteful without being ostentatious and comfortable on top of that, classic Northwest. They've combined luxury with attention to the environment and sustainability, blending the two more seamlessly than I've ever seen.

Anderson Family Vineyard; Patience is a Virtue

My recent Taste Washington experience taught me that while I may know a bit about the wineries here in the Northwest, there are so many wineries I've never heard of and that I still have a lot to learn.
When I looked for a Willamette Valley winery that I was unfamiliar with, I was excited to read about Anderson Family Vineyards.

I called Cliff Anderson and told him that Gwynne and I would be traveling down to Newberg, Oregon to stay at the new destination resort The Allison Inn & Spa. Cliff was eager to talk and even on the phone I could tell this was going to be a great visit. He was very excited about what he and his wife were doing with the vineyards. Anderson Family was just on the other side of the valley from the Inn's location and was a perfect fit for us based on our schedule.

Anderson Family Vineyards is in a beautiful setting atop a pretty steep hill. The view from the Anderson Valley facility was spectacular - a nearly 360º view out over the valley, looking at Chehalem Mountain. From their property, we could take in all of the valley as well as the Dundee Hills. Cliff and Allison invited us in to their tasting room, which also held steel tanks with the 2008 Pinot nearly ready to be bottled. Allison poured us some 2009 Pinot Gris, and the Andersons started to give us the rundown of the operation.

Cliff started making wine in high school, and they both got into wine simply because they enjoyed growing things as a hobby. They planted their first vineyard in 1978, with the 108 Chardonnay clone out of California, a practice common to early Willamette Valley viticulture. In their first go-round, the Andersons grew nearly everything from Cabernet to Pinot, from Gewurtztraminer to Syrah, all in Oregon. Time, trial and error, and the collaboration of the other area viticulturists helped them determine what grows best in the Willamette Valley.

After a two and a half year search for land that was not only suitable, but had a view equivalent to the one they would be leaving, the site the Andersons chose is not only beautiful, it's effective. They planted twenty acres on one of the steepest vineyards in the state of Oregon; the grade in some places is 40%. They largely planted Pinot Noir with a good bit of Chardonnay worked in there. The Andersons sell much of their fruit to renowned Oregon winemakers Bergstrom and Boedecker to name a few.

This brings us back to that glass of Pinot Gris we started with, which was an accident, in the most literal sense. When the Andersons lost a few rows of Chardonnay vines, they needed some vines to fill in the holes, and picked up some young plantings. Three years later, what they had thought to be Chardonney vines turned out to be Pinot Gris.

The 2006 Chardonnay really surprised me. It was really incredible. When I go to Oregon, I look forward to digging into Pinot Noir, and that's what I expect to stand out at each place. At Anderson Family Vineyard, this Chardonnay stood out for me. The Chardonnay is fermented partially in the barrel and partially in steel tanks and the oak worked very well with the spice and herbal notes. It was complex and very smooth.

After the Chardonnay, we moved on to their Pinot Noir. Anderson Family grows a variety of Pinot Noir clones, including 115, 667, 777, Wadenswil and Pommard. Their Pinot is a combination of all of these grapes. Though the 2006 Pinot is, of course, a fine example of this darling vintage, Cliff was really excited about his 2007, a vintage he feels has not gotten its due. While the 2007 was largely panned by critics, the winemakers call it a favorite. Cliff suspects the 2007s were reviewed before they were ready and they're just now coming into their own. We also got a shot at the 2008 Pinot which was hanging out in a steel tank getting ready to go into the bottle. The 2008 was young, but you could already get a sense that this wine is going to be impressive.


As Cliff and Allison took us through the barrel room, we listened to the 2009 Pinot going through secondary fermentation and the Chardonnay bubbling through primary fermentation. Cliff explained the secret behind the success of Anderson Family's excellent wines is patience: "We're not in a hurry."

Cliff and Allison are fortunate to be in a position where they aren't rushing the next vintage out to market. Most of their estate fruit is sold to other well regarded Willamette Valley vintners. When they select fruit for their own label, they're looking to reflect the patience they've shown with their vineyard, as well as with the wine making process. They keep barrels for a long time, and they keep the wine in the barrel as long as they can. "We've been slow and deliberate about our entire process, vintage to vintage and with this entire operation." The Andersons keep everything small and they made 1500 cases of wine in 2009.

Anderson Family Vineyards is a reflection of the unique terroir and their incredible dedication to their fruit. They have been painstakingly deliberate about their site, clone selection, and the process that their wine goes through. Not only is a patience a virtue, in this case it makes an excellent Pinot Noir in the Dundee Hills, and hands down one of the best Chardonnays I've ever had.