Through the Eyes of Newbies: Willamette Valley Vineyards

Since beginning The Oregon Wine Blog, one quality we've strived to stick to is breaking down the wine industry in a way that makes it accessible to young people who don't know anything about wine. These folks are usually intimidated by the thought of driving their Honda up a long, winding driveway and parking it in front of a beautiful chateau just to belly up to the bar and not know what to ask for. We know this feeling, but the truth of the matter is it just isn't the case in the Pacific Northwest. We've broken this down numerous times, but it's time we prove our point in person.

To do this, I'm going to dedicate more time dragging people who don't know Chardonnay from Syrah out to wineries I enjoy. This provides three incredible benefits:

1. My
guinea pigs
friends get to experience Oregon wine first hand, find out what they like, and hopefully become lifelong wine consumers of Oregon wine
2. You, the reader, get to hear about their reactions
3. I get to pick wineries I already enjoy and drink great wine either way


For our first journey, Josh and I took Alyssa, Cole, Shannon, Laura, and Chelsea to Willamette Valley Vineyards. Why Willamette Valley Vineyards? For one, they make a little bit of everything. I had no clue what kinds of wines were going to be popular with this group, so it was a safe bet bringing them somewhere that produces pretty much the entire gamut of wines. Not only does this help my friends decide what kinds of wine they like, but it selfishly helps me narrow down what to bring to gatherings. I'm not saying that I particularly minded drinking an entire bottle of Latah Creek Petite Syrah by myself, but I also don't want to be that guy.

The second reason is even more important than the first. We weren't just getting any tour; oh no. We were getting a tour from Willamette Valley Vineyard's very own Wende! Wende is super rad and guided our tour during the Le Tour De Pinot Finale, so we knew our friends were in for an awesome experience.

After quick introductions, we were guided into the main hallway and given a brief history of the wine industry in Oregon as well as the story of how Willamette Valley Vineyards came to be. We even heard about how cork is harvested! While I'm sure our group didn't retain absolutely everything, it was really great hearing an explanation about the industry from somebody who actually works in it. For me, the industry itself is almost as fascinating as the wines it produces and from the feedback I got, everybody in our group really appreciated hearing about it.


With our history lesson over, it was time to hit the wine making facilities! Here we got to walk through their cellar, wine making facilities, and even saw a bottling line. Wende broke down the complicated methodology of making world-class wine into terms so simplistic that Cole even started throwing out questions regarding creating hybrid and custom grapes. While he probably won't end up changing careers to winemaking, it was clear that everybody left with exponentially more knowledge than they had when they showed up.

With the tour out of the way and one glass of Pinot Gris down, it was time to do some tasting!

Instead of bellying up to the bar and going down a tasting list, Wende had other plans for us. Upon walking out of the bottling room, we were lead into a separate event space and had a private table laid out with gourmet cheeses and five different bottles of wine.


Have I mentioned how awesome Wende is yet? Because it's a lot.

For our palate's pleasure, we all had the opportunity to try their regular Pinot Noir, Founder's Reserve Pinot Noir, Merlot, Frizzante, and Viognier. This provided quite the range of wines and lead to some surprising results. I would have guessed that the Frizzante and regular Pinot Noir would have won the crowd over, but here's how things played out:

Pinot Noir: Ranked towards the bottom of peoples favorites of the five. I was kind of shocked because WVV's Pinot Noir is fairly light, fruit-forward, and not at all offensive. It turns out that while they're all wine novices, it was actually too simple for their palates. Even Cole, who can often be found with a Coors Light, shrugged it off.

Founder's Reserve Pinot Noir: This was a home run with the entire crew. Everybody seemed to love how bold it was and how the flavors changed as each sip evaporates off the palate. Wende also showed us a cool trick of rolling a pinot glass on its side with wine still in it, so maybe that had something to do with it.

Griffin Creek Merlot: This was about as varied in opinion as I thought it would be. Surprisingly, this was one of Shannon's favorites. Shannon tends to drink Rieslings and Pinot Gris, so I'm still a bit perplexed as to how her palate works. That said, she really enjoyed the medium spiciness from this Southern Oregon favorite. I may just have myself a new red wine buddy!

Tualatin Estate Frizzante Muscat: Not at all surprisingly, this was a hit with everyone. It's practically wine soda!

Griffin Creek Viognier: This was perhaps the wine of the day. While our guests didn't have experienced enough palates to express every nuance of this wine, they all had the realization that there was a whole new dimension to white wine that they didn't know was there before.

Whole Cluster Pinot Noir: This wasn't one of Wende's wines, but I made everybody try this on the way out. This ended up being a big winner as well, which still has me scratching my head as to why the regular Pinot Noir wasn't. Oh well.

After our incredible tour and tasting session, we hit up the tasting room once again and each picked a few bottles. I was really excited to see that our wine newbies purchased a little over a case worth between themselves. While those guys were picking out their favorites of our tasting session, Josh and I got a little distracted by a few cellar wines on display:


Somehow we resisted the urge to buy the 2000 The Griffin as well as a magnum of port; instead leaving with a few bottles of Griffin Creek Cab Franc. As a somewhat regionally-respected wine journalist, it is my semi-professional opinion that you can never have enough Cab Franc on your rack.

All in all this trip was a huge success. The Oregon wine industry just gained itself five new customers and I got an excuse to visit one of my favorite wineries. A huge thanks goes out to Josh for coordinating the reservations and another out to Wende for being WVV's Senior Executive Director of Awesomeness.

Look for more of these posts as I drag my non-enophile friends to other wineries!

Feel the Wrath of Merlot...Merlot Gone Mad (like Steven Seagal)

There are tons of sweet revenge stories out there: The Count of Monte Cristo, A Boy Named Sue and, of course, the Steven Seagal classic, Hard to Kill, an action-packed classic of a man who knows how to fight and shoot guns and has been wronged. Much like Seagal's character, Mason Storm, Merlot has in some ways been left for dead by the hoity-toity wine drinking public. While Mason Storm escaped a second assassination attempt and was nursed back to health by Kelly LeBrock, self-applied acupuncture and punching a board, Merlot also had its supporters. The winemakers of Washington know what grows well here, and hell, they aren't going to let a movie about two goofballs wine tasting over a weekend inspire them to turn their backs on one of Washington's wine gems. In that regard, they're like Kelly LeBrock.

There are other supporters, like Josh Wade, Jamie Peha and Yashar Shayan who have helped to bring attention back to Washington Merlot. In Hard to Kill, Seagal had some buddies on the inside who were helping him figure out who put the hit out on him. Picture the aforementioned Jamie, Josh and Yashar.

What happens next is relatively formulaic; Mason Storm comes back and lays waste to the ne'er-do-wells. Anyone who gets in his way is summarily dismissed with an Akido move, a witty remark, and a sneer. Merlot would have more or less done that but, being a wine varietal, Merlot has no martial arts ability to speak of. Instead what Merlot has substituted are some ass-kicking good times. To wit Merlot Gone Mad at Tulalip Resort and Casino.


The Akido moves came fast and furious. There were about 50 wineries pouring, and they were pouring with fury. Instead of an elbow to the temple or a kick to the teeth, we were left with purple teeth. Purple from the smooth, balanced and rounded Merlots that are signature Washington. Purple from the dark fruit and tobacco or smoky accents on the pallet (and the teeth). There was delicious Merlot from wineries that stretched from Woodinville (Northwest Totem Cellars) to Red Mountain (Kiona Vineyards) down to Olympia (Donedei Cellars). There was even an local winemaker from nearby Arlington, a winery that I've never come across before, Felicity Wines who poured a delicious 2007 Merlot.

As you know, in many of his movies, Seagal likes to offer wisdom in the form of witty repartee, either from an ancient Asian culture, a Native American tradition, or a street-wise Italian American perspective. In place of Seagal's nod to ancient wisdom, we had the Merlot Seminar. Yashar Shayan released wry wit and knowledge upon us, as Seagal would. We got the pleasure of tasting six Washington Merlots, from several winemakers and vineyards. Don Corson from Camaraderie Cellars reviewed the press that Merlot has gotten to that of Cabernet, with surprising results. When Don compared the 90+ point wines from Spectator over the last year, Merlot and Cabernet both elicited the same remarks from writers regarding flavor profiles. Don had us taste the '06 and '03 from Camraderie and they were showing well, the '03 really mellowed out the tannins and was speaking as to why Merlot has a long life. Patricia Gellis, owner of Klipsun Vineyards on Red Mountain, talked about the longevity of Merlot and the pristine growing conditions that Washington provides this particular varietal. Noah Reed from Northstar talked about managing the huge tannins that you can get from Washington Merlot. He poured the '06 Northstar from Columbia Valley as well as the '06 from Walla Walla. Both were excellent; Gwynne preferred the Columbia Valley, while I went with the Walla Walla wine.


This seminar was very educational for an audience that really needed some education. The best, and most mis-guided question came from a woman who asked why some winemakers add artificial berry and cherry flavors to their wines while others only add natural flavors? There was a collective moment of WTF from the panel and some of us in the audience. This woman actually believed that the flavors you might smell or taste in a wine come from flavor additives. I needed to go lie down. The panelists were gracious in explaining that with the exception of fruit wines like rhubarb wine, the fruit flavors in wines come from the characteristics of the grape. We'll consider that particular misapprehension to be laid to rest.

The sneer that Seagal would have given never really came from Merlot, mad or otherwise. Merlot has forgiven us. It's welcomed us back with open arms, or really bottles, because grapes don't have arms. Washington Merlot continues to impress. There are the usual suspects like Kiona and Northstar as well as new wineries who are producing quality Merlot as part of their first releases, like Felicity Wines. What we've learned is that Merlot, like Steven Seagal, can lay down a serious hurting when need be, but ultimately, it's a wine that would rather just be enjoyed by you, over a meal, with friends or with people, most of whom you've never met, in the lobby of a casino. In any case, keep drinking.

A Visit With A Neighbor

Today brought another early end to the work day for me due to Oregon inclement wintery weather. When I got the notice from my University’s President that we could leave at 3:30, I immediately started to think about what wine I could possibly pass the time with this evening.

I arrived home and let most of the afternoon and evening pass me by doing a little bit of work at home before I decided it might get too late to really enjoy the wine if I didn’t just pick one. Anyone who knows me knows that picking a wine to drink is a task that could be quite time consuming. I have to decide if I want a Northwest wine or not? Do I want a domestic or international? Don’t get me started on deciding between red vs. white. So after about 15 minutes (the clock was ticking against my favor), I decided I would open a bottle from a neighboring winery.

This evening I decided to open a 2006 Oregon Merlot from Eola Hills Winery. Eola Hills located about 10 miles west of Salem, and while it is literally a 15 minute drive from my front door to the winery, I have not been there. I have driven by it many times and made the mental note that I should visit, but after living in the area for about a year and a half, it had not yet happened. Unfortunately, that does not allow me to tell you more about Eola Hills than what is available on their website.

I opened this Merlot and let it breathe for about 45 minutes before I poured the first glass. The color is one that is a rich red-grape in hue, not very transparent to the light. The nose was strong, but not overpowering. I could easily smell the “smokiness” with each whiff. There are light hints of fruits, but I am unable to detect exactly which ones are there. The first sip was surprisingly fruity, again, not overbearing, but clearly noticeable. As I took each supplemental sip, I imagine the flavors landing on my tongue, then spreading out evenly for a very full flavor.

After a while, there is a light aftertaste that I am not completely able to describe. The aftertaste is strong initially, and then subsides. I cannot put my finger on what it is, which I am finding quite bothersome, hoping that it will come to me in the middle of the night perhaps. I would encourage anyone of you to try this Merlot, not to be confused with the 2005, and submit your thoughts on how you would describe the aftertaste.

This is a very enjoyable wine and I highly encourage you all to try it as it could possibly be among my top 10 favorite wines.

Until next time…

2003 14 Hands Merlot

I realize that it has been quite a while since my last post, but I have decent reasoning - among them being I haven't been consuming as much wine that would warrant making any entries in the last couple of months. I am definitely at a point where I will be remedying that situation, in a very responsible way.

Tonight, as I prepared a Cornish hen for dinner, I struggled with what wine to partake with it. I had staring at me, a 2006 Vintage Willamette Valley Riesling and a 2003 Merlot from 14 Hands. I know the cardinal rule of the type of food that should be consumed with what type of wine - but I couldn't bring myself to open the Riesling, so instead, I decided to go with the Merlot. I know, I know, shame on me.

Anyway, I received this bottle of 2003 Merlot from my friend Jon a couple of months ago after I dog-sat for him for about a week. I shelved this bottle of wine and truly forgot I had it until this evening. 14 Hands is a winery that is completely unfamiliar to me, at least I think it is (I don't recall having been there, but if it is in the Tri-Cities area, then it is possible I have visited them, but only once before). The grapes come from the Horse Heaven Hills, the south-central area of Washington in the Columbia River Valley. I have to be honest, I have not been able to find out much more about the winery itself. I have called the 800 number, but it being a Sunday, they were closed, so I will work on finding out more and make an addendum to this post.

I opened the bottle and let it breathe for about 30 minutes before I poured my first glass. Holding the glass, I noticed a very rich, very deep and dark color, which peaked my interest. I took a whiff, and the first thought that came to my mind to describe it was "clean." The nose on this wine - and I have continued to smell it - can only be described by me as clean. Don't get me wrong, its not like a cleaning agent, but just "clean." The nose also is not very strong - you smell it initially while sniffing the wine, but it doesn't remain.

The first sip was not very impressive, as is not completely uncommon with wines, but it definitely gets better. I do find the taste to be very "oak-filled," not in a bad way, but it is clear that it was fermented in oak barrels. You are also able to taste the spices of this Merlot, which comes in the form of an aftertaste - there isn't anything that hits you before you swallow it. I continue to sip as I write this, and I can feel/taste a little bit of a kick that enhances the spices.

What I am finding here is that this Merlot is not over-bearing, nor is it bland, but rather, it has a mellow sense to it. I definitely imagine that this is a wine enjoyed while just relaxing. A not bad wine for under $15.

Enjoy!

Snoqualmie Vineyards 2003 Reserve Merlot

There is something about Fall that just screams couch potato and red wine. I can’t decide whether it’s the debut of the fall television lineup, college football, or a chance of letting down after a summer of go, go, go. Either way, a renewed crispness in the air and the fact my wife and I just survived our first power outage this season; I knew it was time un cork an old standby and an autumn classic, Merlot.

I opted for a new label, and a winery which I have yet to visit, Snoqualmie Vineyards. The wine you ask, the 2003 Reserve Merlot. I chose the Reserve label, thinking my abrupt entry into fall deserved nothing less. Winemaker Joy Andersen describes the Reserve label as the “best of the best”. The wine itself is one of the more pricey wines editorialized on this blog, selling at $25.00.

The food pairing consisted of penne pasta with a tomato sauce, at the recommendation of the winery. I was quick to jump at letting the merlot flow, and my first swirl did not disappoint. I’ve never seen wine cascade down the side of the glass so slowly. The nose offered scents of its black cherry and oak aged roots. It felt clean on the palate, and went down with a kick, like a good Merlot should. Elements of spice and berries lingered long after taking a sip.

After finishing my first glass I noted a light layer of sediment on the bottom of my glass. If you’ve ever made homemade wine, you know first hand that sediment is the root evil of the home winemaking process. A second glass was poured and consumed, and little sediment was left. This one faux pas did not disappoint, overwhelmingly surpassed by the level of satisfaction this wine produced.