Cherry Hill Winery at 14 MPH

Oregon's Cherry Hill Winery is in the Eola-Amity Hills region, and chances are that you’ve seen their very affordable Papillon Pinot Noir. The label is adorned by their pet Papillon, Daisy, whose forehead is adorned with a blaze in the shape of a wineglass.

Cherry Hill is positioned on 150 beautiful acres of rolling hills with amazing views of Oregon's Coast Range. According to Mike Sweeney, it’s also located smack dab on the 45th parallel. As you drive up the winding road leading to the facility and tasting room, you’ll travel a road with a posted speed limit of 14 miles per hour. More on that later.

Pinot Noir is the only grape planted in the 90 acres of vineyards that surrounds Cherry Hill Winery. The predominant clone here is Pommard, but they also have Dijon clones 115, 777 and 113 as well. The core of the vineyard, a 55 acre plot, was planted in 1998-99 with the first vintage in 2003. In addition to the beautiful vineyard layout, owners Mike & Jan have built a half dozen cottages on the property as a way to house visiting friends and colleagues. At the end of that long and winding road lies the tasting room and barrel house.

When we arrived at the tasting room we were greeted by the winemaker, Chris Luby. He started us off with a glass of their Poverty Road Pinot Gris, which is not from their estate vineyard. This wine is sourced from other nearby vineyards and produces a light, bright Pinot Gris that was a good way to start our flight. The Vanda Pinot Rose followed, a wine that the folks at Cherry Hill are making for our "lady friends." This dry rose is a definite strike against the evils of white zinfandel.

What they do best at Cherry Hill is Pinot Noir. They have three different Pinots to offer. The aforementioned Papillon Pinot you can often find under $20. The Papillion is a blend of Dijon clones 115 and 113 and Cherry Hill describes this wine as their most masculine.


The Cherry Hill Estate Pinot Noir is beautiful; this elegant wine is 100% Pommard clone. It’s delicate, a light Pinot, with the excellent acidity that is a signature of the Eola-Amity Hills. Last, but not least, we moved to the Reserve Pinot, the Sweeney Estate. Again 100% Pommard, this wine is selected from the best blocks in the vineyard. The owner, Mike Sweeney, then does a barrel selection. After all, it is his name on the label. What we’re left with is an excellent wine; they were selling two vintages of the Sweeney Reserve wines in the tasting room. They were clearing out the last two bottles of the 2003 at a ridiculously reasonable price, so we took those off their hands.

As we were wrapping up our visit outside the tasting room, checking out some of the coolest looking spiders I've ever seen, owner Mike Sweeney paid us a visit. Mike talked about how he and his wife Jan came upon this particular parcel of land and the kinds of wines they feel like the Eola Amity Hills AVA is capable of making. Mike also explained the speed limit, the 14 mph: Mike's ATV is only capable of a maximum speed of 14 mph, he owns the joint, he doesn't want anyone going faster than him. Fair enough.


We left Cherry Hill with a handful of bottles of their wine and a good sense of the beauty and elegance that was coming out of the wines from the Eola Amity AVA. If you're down that way, Cherry Hill should be on your list for a visit.

Woodinville's Efeste Wines

I've seen Efeste (pronounced F-S-T) at a good number of wine events and tastings, and I've even met the very nice, and very well regarded winemaker, Brennon Leighton a few times as well. And yet, somehow, I hadn't tasted their wine until relatively recently. When I realized that I had neglected that particular area of my wine education, I said to myself (in a Scottish accent like the Uncle Argyle of a young William Wallace), "Well that is something we shall have to remedy, isn't it?" Off I went to Efeste for a visit.

Efeste is located in the blossoming Woodinville Warehouse district, set slightly apart from the main thoroughfare. While the exterior is constrained by the warehouse in which it's located, the inside is a beautiful and modern tasting room. There is a $10 tasting fee (which Efeste waived, thanks, guys!), a nice bar, casual dining space, and some comfortable furniture. Towards the back of the space, Efeste has installed a series of windows that allow you to see into the production area.

Efeste's first vintage came out in 1995 under the direction of Delille Cellars' Chris Upchurch. From there, Upchurch recommended Brennon Leighton and the winery has been moving forward under his direction since 2007.

Brennon wasn't around when I showed up but I spoke with owners and bartenders, Dan & Patrick, who led me through their current releases. We started out with one of the most talked-about Efeste wine, the Feral, a Sauvignon Blanc. The Feral is produced using all natural fermentation, 100% neutral oak, and all indigenous yeast. This Sauvignon Blanc has a stony quality to it that I find unique; the native fermentation process makes it a bit less refined, and frankly, refreshing. This wine is definitely not your run of the mill Sauv Blanc, but is absolutely something you should try.

As we drank through their wines, Dan told me some of the stories that go along with the names of the wines, and the imagery on the label. Efeste can be a confusing name for the uninitiated, and people tend to over-pronounce it, and the the label is interesting albeit confusing. The pronounciaton is "F-S-T," the initials of the owners, but there are stories everywhere else.



Australia played a substantial role in Efeste's labeling and naming. The image on the label is the Aboriginal symbol for kangaroo, which are all over the place down under. Their Syrah, the Ceidleigh (pronounced "Kaylee"), is named after a waitress they met in Australia's Barossa Valey. The '07 Ceidleigh was a 93 pointer and is made using Red Mountain fruit. The wine is big and full and has the nuances you expect in a Red Mountain Syrah.

While I think my favorite wine was the Feral, my favorite story was about their Babbit Rose. They've been making the Rose for a few years, and it's named after a family friend who has since passed away, Dick Babitt. Every time they'd go out fishing or have a party, Dick would always bring along his box of White Zinfandel. When they decided to start making a pink wine, they knew they had to acknowledge their old friend.

Head out to Efeste so you can taste some excellent wine made in a way that respects tradition and the wine making process, and that pairs well with fascinating back stories.

The Bottle That Was Meant To Be - Del Rio Claret

Have you ever found a bottle of wine that, seemingly like fate, ended up on your rack after such an odd and absurd chain of events that it was almost meant to be? The 2007 Del Rio Vineyards Claret recently filled that niche for me, for had the day I purchased the wine gone a different path at a number of junctures, it would have meant no wine for me.

At the end of August, Micheal and I took a much needed vacation to Bend and Crater Lake. When it comes to travel, I'm a planner. I'll have reservations, maps, agendas, bottles of wine, and tickets finalized months prior to the trip. This trip was exactly opposite of that philosophy. The epitome of spontaneity, I hadn't had the time to think about this particular vacation until about 2 weeks prior. The result? Lodging reservations about 45 miles from the lake at the Historic Prospect Hotel, and tickets for the Crater Lake Boat Tour on a day that had a marginal weather forecast.

We arrived at Crater Lake on a gorgeously sunny Friday afternoon. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States, and has a transfixing deep blue color even on the worst of days. On a sunny day, the lake literally sparkles. After driving around the 33-mile Rim Drive (he he, Rim Drive), we headed into Prospect to eat at the Dinnerhouse at the Historic Prospect Hotel where we were staying. After an awesome prime rib paired with some wine from Crater Lake Cellars, Micheal and I reviewed our plans for the next day. Drive to the lake...hike a quick little jaunt down to the boat launch at Cleetwood Cove...and head out for a 2-hour spin around the lake with park rangers. Awesome. The revised weather report indicated a high probably of rain and a moderate temperature. Not so awesome. It was Oregon though, so a little rain wasn't going to stop us.

We hit the road to the lake on Saturday, the day in question, and the drizzle started. It was about 50-degrees and a little foggy, but no big deal. As we started gaining elevation, the temparature started dropping. And dropping. And dropping. By the time we ascended about 2000 feet to the parking lot for the boat tour, it was 30 degrees. And snowing. That's right, snowing. In August, in Oregon. And we were scheduled to go on an open-top boat in the middle of the deepest lake in the nation. Brrr. The ticket attendant looked at our light jackets and noticeable lack of gloves or hats, and intelligently talked us into a refund. We decided to still do the hike down to the boat launch, the only place at Crater Lake where you can access the water. The little jaunt wasn't so little. Despite only a mile in distance, the hike dropped almost 1000 feet in elevation over that mile. It was steep, and cold. We did the loop and my seat warmers never felt so good. But, as it was only about Noon and still snowing and cold, we needed to find a way to occupy the rest of the day. What to do...what to do.

I thought back to dinner the night before, and it hit me. Crater Lake Winery! The drive was about an hour, how could we not go? We started heading towards the winery and decided to stop for lunch. Two restaurants and 3.5 hours later (yep, they that busy), we hit the small town of Shady Grove, Oregon and found the winery. As we walked towards the door, I saw an ominous sign on the door.

Yep, closed. Foiled again. By this time, it was about 4:30 PM and we were 30 minutes from the hotel, in one direction...and 30 minutes from Medford, in the other direction. The boat tour failed, the winery was a wash, restaurants were congested, and we had a decision to make. Across the street, I spied a grocery store and in a moment of clarity we decided to grab some sandwiches and head back to our hotel, where an open bottle of wine and some pie waited. We walked in to this little grocery store, and I was immediately drawn to the wine section, in all it's splendor. Well, it was actually pretty small but I always like seeing what these little places have. After picking up and putting back down a few bottles, there it sat. With a price tag of $19.99, marked down from $35.00, were about 5 bottles of the 2007 Del Rio Claret. I knew this was a great wine, and at that price, how can you say no? The purpose for the day of trials and tribulations became clear: I was meant to go home with this wine, and go home with it I did. As Clark Griswold best put it in Christmas Vacation,

Hallelujah! Holy shit! Where's the Tylenol?

A few weeks later after the trip to the Sakery, 2 wineries, a flat tire, and an awesome dinner at Chang's Mongolian, Rick and I opened the bottle that was meant to be. The Claret was everything I dreamed of and more, and at $19.99, my frugalness was shining after having worked so hard to get the bottle. I first noticed the deep, dark purple hues on the wine and Rick pointed out some delicous blackberry notes on the nose. The blend is one that we knew would be a homerun out of the Rogue Valley:

• 50% Cabernet Sauvignon
• 30% Merlot
• 10% Malbec
• 10% Cabernet Franc

That equals 100%, right? We swirled, sniffed, and sipped, and found some awesome flavors of currant and fig. The mouthfeel of this wine was lighter than I would have guessed based on the composition, but in a totally awesome way. The more we drank the more we liked, and this Claret is proof that Southern Oregon can stand up to Eastern Washington in the battle of the big reds.

Next thing we knew, the bottle was empty and the Del Rio episode was done. For now. Luckily, I have another bottle on the rack for the next time I want to have an absurd and random experience. Oh, and next time you want that awesome bottle at an awesome price, check out the grocery store in Shady Grove.  Don't worry about the name, it's the only one.  Cheers!

Blend Seattle and DIY Winemaking

Many wine tasting events follow a basic formula: a get together centered around wines from a particular region/varietal/theme. Winemakers and tasting room staff may talk to those in attendance about the wine that they're making and trying to make; they talk about what got them into wine and where you can find them. Oftentimes these events are great ways to meet smaller producers, or put a face to a wine that may come from further away than you normally travel. For many people, this can be a perfect opportunity to try a variety of really good wines all at the same time and do a little comparison across varietals, vintages or regions. I love wine tasting events, they're great places to try something new and meet new people.

Living in Seattle I've had the good fortune of being able to attend a number of events, and they all have tended to be similar until recently. Jamie Peha has recently added a little bit of bang for an additional buck to her tasting events with the incorporation of seminars and educational workshops. The first such seminar was at the Merlot Gone Mad tasting where winemakers and growers talked about the unique qualities of Washington Merlot while attendees tasted multiple vintages side by side. In her most recent foray, Blend Seattle, Jamie outdid her last go round with the addition of blending workshops. I got to attend one, and it was a blast.

Winemaking staff from Washington's Columbia Winery founded by the late David Lake started us off with a bit of an historical and scientific look at why winemakers blend wine for years, and for today's consumers.


After a bit of history on the blending traditions of Bordeaux we set about making our own blends. Columbia Winery had provided varietals from two different vintages to blend together in our own creation. I was at a table of all-star Seattle wine talent that included Annie Hong, GM for the Black Pearl restaurants, Taryn Miller fellow wine blogger, and the reigning king of the Washington wine blog scene, the man himself, Sean Sullivan, author of the Washington Wine Report, and the cover boy of the Seattle Metropolitan Magazine's 100 Best Washington Wines. We were also accompanied by an actual journalist and editor Jessica Voelker from Seattle Met Magazine as well.

Equipped with four of the traditional Bourdeaux blending varietals, we went to work. Traditional Bourdeaux styles are either Left Bank, blends predominantly made from Cabernet Sauvignon, and Right Bank, where the predominant grape is Merlot. Our table decided to buck tradition and we all experimented with different blends.

Using the Columbia Winery Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from 2007 and the Red Willow Cabernet Franc and Malbec from 2008, we measured our blends into 100ml batches. Yours truly created a blend fancifully named Dark is the Night 1.0 that was 50% Malbec, 20% Merlot, 20% Cabernet and 10% Cab Franc. My blend was popular with the ladies, but Sean felt it needed a little more backbone. Annie and Taryn also had winning combinations, but they both lacked the cool name that mine had.

As we went into round two, I eased the Malbec back to 45% and beefed up the Cabernet to 25% at Sean's suggestion. (He's Sean Sullivan folks, the guy knows his stuff, you should listen to the man.) Dark is the Night 2.0 was a hit. Jessica had a nice blend this time around as well. We decided the table’s best chance at victory our best chances lay with Dark is the Night. Before submitting our blend, we tweaked the blend a bit, coming to rest at 45% Malbec, 20% Merlot, 25% Cabernet and 10% Cab Franc. A bit of field blending was done after that and we submitted our wine to the judges. Each table submitted a wine and then scored each other's wines blind.

Unfortunately, we did not win. The winning table walked away with a bottle of the Penninsula blend from Columbia Winery. Tails between our legs we made our way out to the big event, Blend Seattle.

I was really pleased with some of the food tasting options, and some wine blends I hadn't experienced before. A favorite was the La Boheme from Saint Laurent and one I didn't try but heard great things about was the Vinify from Forgeron Cellars.


Curious to see what Jamie has up her sleeve for her next event? Get your tickets for the upcoming Lamb Jam.