Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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This southern Oregon winery is a bit under-the-radar but well worth a visit if you are traveling through the Ashland area. All of their wines are well-made and fairly priced, and they do especially well with Rhône varietals. Grenache is a personal favorite, and this is sure to please anyone who loves this engaging red wine grape. It’s front-loaded with cherry and blackberry and marionberry flavors and has just the right touch of earthy grapeskin highlights to frame and focus the fruit. Light ac...
The national wine press unfortunately branded the 2020 vintage as a failure in Oregon due to wildfire smoke. But as the wines have emerged, and I've tasted hundreds of them, it's clear that the 2020 white wines were exceptional. Why? Because it was a great vintage until the smoke hit, and these grapes were picked before it got smokey. As with so many other 2020 Oregon Chardonnays, this exceeds all expectations. It's leesy, with a palate-refreshing yeastiness, and anchored on a core of lemon,...
Always a reliable budget bottle, this version of The Jack draws upon some well-known Walla Walla and Columbia Valley vineyards (notably Lewis!) for its fruit. In the blend are small amounts of Grenache and Mourvèdre. Ten percent new oak adds just the right toasty touch. It's a supple, clean, varietally-true wine with plenty of purple fruits and hints of bacon fat. The Jack has been a popular value brand since Saviah introduced it over a decade ago and now includes a large number of different... Full story
The Abondante blend changes significantly from vintage to vintage and this year it is essentially a 50/50 Zinfandel/Merlot (Zinlot? Merfanndel?) sourced from vineyards on the Oregon side of the Columbia Valley AVA. It's a well-made wine showing ripe and fresh flavors of berries and cherries. There's even a hint of milk chocolate, suggesting some exposure to French oak. Unlike all too many cheap red wines it is unmanipulated, ripe and absolutely fresh. The alcohol pushes near 15% so you get a...
Dineen is a family-owned and operated Zillah winery that offers a range of estate-grown wines. Among a solid lineup of red varietals, this Syrah/Cab Franc/Cab Sauv blend offers a low-cost look at the portfolio’s strengths. It’s a style more often reserved for expensive Washington reds – ripe, dark fruit and tannin flavors spiced up with the Syrah component. Though still young, it’s already in a good drinking condition. It finishes with some tannic astringency, suggesting a burger or tri-tip...
One of a pair of Chards from Jay Somers, this is a blend of grapes from the Anahata Vineyard (Eola Hills) and the Corrine Vineyard (Chehalem Mountains). Fermented and aged in 600 liter barrels, it’s fresh and spicy, with juicy apple and pear fruit and a squirt of lemon. You won’t find a better Chardonnay if you are one of those like me who love this high acid, low oak style. That’s not to say this is sour or thin – it’s lip-smacking and palate-cleansing, a perfect match to any dishes with lemo...
King Estate is best known for being Oregon's leading producer for Pinot Gris. But the winery portfolio has expanded to include a lineup covering almost every fine wine style made in our neighboring state. This tart and refreshing white wine is sourced from nine different vineyards; the blend includes 4% Semillon. It's stylish, fleshy and firm, with a deft mix of citrus rind, fresh verbena, crisp green apple and a hint of cucumber. There's a suggestion of residual sugar, just enough to cut the...
The casual label reader might easily miss the layers of puns and jokester references scattered on the wine labels and throughout this winery's highly entertaining website. Here the name puts the letters GSM in caps, which tips off the blend: 47% Syrah, 27% Grenache and 27% Mourvèdre. Another sensational value from TruthTeller's Miscreant Project, this layered and textured wine mixes light red fruits, sandalwood, almond butter, smooth almost silky tannins and a finishing hint of buttered...
Maybe it's all the hot weather we've been locked into, but my Wine of the Week choices keep flipping back and forth between Chardonnay and Riesling. Riesling – you're up again, this time from pioneering Oregon winery Ponzi Vineyards. This is not an estate wine – Alloro and Elk Cove provided the grapes for this new vintage. Nonetheless, this is an outstanding effort, dry and textured, with an immaculately fresh lime and grapefruit core backed with appealing minerality. It's a style def...
The talented team of winery co-founder Trey Busch and production winemaker Keith Johnson have elevated all of the SoH wines in recent years, while expanding production capacity and opening up new venues across the state. This summertime Riesling is sourced from a vineyard near the Gorge Amphitheater in an AVA called the Ancient Lakes. The calcareous soil is perfect for white wines, as this steely, stony example – dry as an ancient lake – amply demonstrates. The flavors focus on lemony cit...
Gärd 2019 Chardonnay Chardonnay two weeks in a row? Why not! I’ve been researching a deep dive into Chardonnays from Washington, Oregon and California and this beauty from Gärd is one of the standouts. The Lawrence family owns Gärd, and their estate vineyards include eight separate sites in the excellent Royal Slope AVA in north central Washington. They also farm and get grapes from Conner-Lee, which supplied 43% of the blend here. This is a powerful wine, packed with orchard fruits and show...
I’ve been drinking a lot of Chardonnay during the recent hot weather, and if you put a slight chill on the bottle (about 20 minutes in the fridge) it can be a most refreshing choice. This Waterbrook Chard is labeled as a reserve but falls into the value category for me as it is difficult to find this kind of flavor at this kind of price. It’s more generous than pretentious, done in a straight-ahead style with bold fruit flavors of apple and lemon meringue pie. A wash of toasty oak puts a pre...
Pacific Rim makes a wide range of affordable Rieslings in a variety of sweetness levels. The Dry Riesling featured here is richly fruity with a luscious blend of peach, apricot, and papaya fruit. Though it is accurately labeled as dry the ripeness of the fruit provides a slight impression of sweetness, which rounds out the palate and cuts through the tart acidity. The flavors extend into a pleasing finish with a mix of orange blossoms, Meyer lemon, pink grapefruit, and a cascade of ripe...
The first vintage of Cymbal was in 2018, and it has quickly become a tasting room favorite. The 2021 was sourced from Gamache, Boushey, and Bacchus vineyards – a terrific trio. It's an ideal summer wine, immaculately fresh and loaded with zesty flavors of grapefruit, white peach, and lemongrass, brushing against the edges of more tropical fruits. Fermented in a mix of cement egg and stainless-steel drums, it was finished briefly in French oak barrels, one-fifth new. By any measure, it's b...
Pinot Noir rosés are abundant in Oregon, and this outstanding example charms from the first sniff with its heady mix of watermelon, strawberry, and cherry lifesaver fruit. The winery calls it “summer ready,” and indeed, it is made for warm weather chillin’ and swillin’. The acids keep it fresh and lively, and once in the mouth, flavors of rhubarb, raspberries, and citrus pile on. This is ripe and full-bodied, delicious from start to finish. 1250 cases; 14%; $28 https://www.br...
The Horse Heaven Hills AVA (American Viticutural Area) is home to many of Washington's oldest and finest vineyards, not the least of which is Champoux. Famous for its red wines, especially Cabernet, it's a pleasure to find a well-made example at a relatively modest price. Robert Larsen (formerly with Rodney Strong) consults for Beckstone, which is vinified in the Tri-Cities. This vintage is principally sourced from the Wallula vineyards overlooking the Columbia River. The wine is medium-bodied...
Acquilini owns a lot of Red Mountain acreage and offers several different brands from their expansive vineyards. Since we're heading into BBQ season, with the 4th of July right around the corner, it seems to be the right time to feature this big, bold red. Yes it's a bit of a splurge, though it represents the value end of the Acquillini portfolio. The blend is 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot, 3% Malbec and 2% Cabernet Franc – classic stuff. Aged 20 months in 35% new French o...
By the time you read this note, actual summer weather may be back. There's no better way to celebrate that happy occasion than with a nicely-chilled bottle of rosé. The Mercer family goes back a long way in eastern Washington and pioneered the planting of grapes in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA. This all-Grenache rosé is sourced from one of their finest sites. It has a palate-pleasing cherry candy character, though any initial perception of sweetness is a function of well-ripened fruit rather t...
For a number of reasons, the best dry rosé wines have gotten more expensive, especially those Oregon rosés made exclusively from Pinot Noir grapes. Pinot Noir is costly to grow and turning it into rosé doesn't make that part of the process any cheaper. Additionally, the fires of 2020 meant a number of wineries lost some or most of their crop, so 2021 is a recovery vintage. This estate-grown, pale copper, generously flavorful wine mixes strawberries, blood oranges, watermelon, and jicama ac...
Tranche and its Blue Mountain Vineyard occupy a spectacular setting on the eastern edge of Walla Walla. The focus is on Rhône-style varietals and blends that may be enjoyed picnic-style on the expansive grounds. Regular weekend concerts are held outdoors throughout spring and summer (full disclosure – my band plays there once or twice a year). It's fair to say you cannot get anything less than a wonderful wine at Tranche, but this week's feature is a particularly good value. An estate-grown bl...
Force Majeure is one of the most important producers in Washington yet remains under the radar for most wine drinkers. Now relocated to just outside the western boundary of the Rocks District, it's guided by winemaker Todd Alexander. His superb touch with exceptional Red Mountain and Walla Walla vineyard sources inspires a growing lineup of Bordeaux and Rhône-inspired blends and single varietal wines. These are not cheap, but this week's feature is from the lower-priced Parabellum tier and is...
The Ciel du Cheval vineyard was among the first planted on Red Mountain. Today it's in the hands of second generation winegrower Richard Holmes, who has begun experimenting with these two non-traditional white varieties. Arneis is a northern Italian grape rarely seen in the U.S. Holmes thinks this is a first for Washington. It's tart, tight, sharp and strikingly good. There's a clear focus on citrus and apple fruit and rind, balanced throughout with generous acidity and a peppery finish....
Apart from the intriguing name, there is much to admire here. This is a sister brand to Walla Walla's Corliss and Tranche wines. It features estate-grown fruit from Columbia Valley vineyards and is made by the same winemaking team as its pricier siblings. One sip and you can taste the kinship. The 2017 Cab is just now being released after spending 22 months in French oak and further aging in bottle, which has done wonders for the overall melding of the components. The packaging is clever and...
The first NV (Non-Vintage) Brick House Red was introduced last year in response to the 2020 smoke taint issues that affected some Oregon vineyards. In this second release, the winery has blended fruit from both 2020 and 2021 to make a better wine than 2020 alone. All the grapes were sourced from the estate's biodynamic vineyard up on Ribbon Ridge. It's a stunning value, with a refined herbal streak, tight and brambly red fruits, a touch of peppery spice and the evanescent aromatics that come...
L’Ecole No. 41 2021 Old Vines Chenin Blanc Celebrate Walla Walla Wine Month with a bottle of this splendid old vine Chenin Blanc. I know of no one making new plantings of the grape other than a couple of tiny patches in the Willamette Valley. In the early days of the Washington wine industry, Chenin was widely grown because it could ripen as much as 12 tons to the acre, and then be made into an off-dry, springtime wine – cheap to make and easy to sell. But this is a grape than can achieve gre... Full story
