Oregon Wine Trip
Posted: Tue May 28, 2019 2:45 pm
As many know Oregon’s Willamette Valley produces some fine wines. I spent four days last week visiting a few wineries and thought I’d give you a short summary of the wineries at which I tasted.
There were two wines that really stood out. I’m talking Grand Cru quality. The first was Lingua Franca. It’s owned by Larry Stone and David Honig and the winemaker is Thomas Savre, who was educated in Burgundy. Dominque Lafron is also involved in the venture. It is situated in the Eola Hills
The wine that really grabbed me was not their pinot noir, though it was very good, the standout were the Chardonnays. This is how the winery describes it:
Chers Amis is a special Wine Club offering that is produced in very limited quantities. This is a wine of great intensity from a neighboring site to Lingua Franca Estate that expresses a distinctive mineral characteristic. The resulting wine has a focused, intense character that feels light and pure, finishing with refreshing gunflint, lemon, and crunchy mineral nuances. It has weight but it is vibrant, filled with energy.
It was a beauty!
The second is a very small winery called Rose Arrow. It is partnership that includes the ownership of Seven Springs Property, some local money with some guidance from Liger-Belair of La Romanee. As I understand the philosophy, with the help of “wine geologist”, they map the entire vineyard. Then they use the map to decide which blocks goes into what pressing. The point being a true expression of the soil type. I tasted two wine where the plots were 10 feet apart and they were very different though vinified in an identical manner. The wines are pricey but a beautiful expression of the earth.
So now for the very close seconds. It no particular order:
Archery Summit, pricey but beautiful pinots! Dunee Hills.
St. Innocent, new location and facility but still great.
Walter Scott, wonderful pinots and chardonnays. Eola Hills
Domaine Drouhin. Their non-domaine label is RoseRock and the chardonnay was every bit as good as the Drouhin label. Drouhin’s pinots were also exceptional. Dunee Hills.
The next level is very good.
Ken Wright Winery. Ken is a good wine maker, I just don’t like the commercial thrust of his winery sales staff. Carlton.
Flaneur Winery. A very small winery in Carlton. Great pinots and Chardonnays.
Failla Winery. This new Oregon winery has moved in the location left by St. Innocent. Ehern Jordan now is splitting his time between Sonoma and Willamette Valley. The wines were fine, but I suspect they will be much better after experiencing a few vintages from Oregon grapes. Eola Hills.
Good level
Mayasara Winery. Mayasara is a beautiful winery. Maybe you know it by its vineyard name Momtazi. The wines are good, but go just to see the vineyard. McMinnville AVA.
Bjornson Winery. This winery has many wines and many are not worth mentioning. However Edward was a nice wine.
White Rose Winery. Beautiful location with sweeping views of the Valley. The wines were a little heavy for me but still well made.
OK but not my style
Sokol Blosser. This winery has been around since the beginning of the Willamette ascent. It is a nice winery structurally but the wines I tasted were a bit over-extracted.
There were two wines that really stood out. I’m talking Grand Cru quality. The first was Lingua Franca. It’s owned by Larry Stone and David Honig and the winemaker is Thomas Savre, who was educated in Burgundy. Dominque Lafron is also involved in the venture. It is situated in the Eola Hills
The wine that really grabbed me was not their pinot noir, though it was very good, the standout were the Chardonnays. This is how the winery describes it:
Chers Amis is a special Wine Club offering that is produced in very limited quantities. This is a wine of great intensity from a neighboring site to Lingua Franca Estate that expresses a distinctive mineral characteristic. The resulting wine has a focused, intense character that feels light and pure, finishing with refreshing gunflint, lemon, and crunchy mineral nuances. It has weight but it is vibrant, filled with energy.
It was a beauty!
The second is a very small winery called Rose Arrow. It is partnership that includes the ownership of Seven Springs Property, some local money with some guidance from Liger-Belair of La Romanee. As I understand the philosophy, with the help of “wine geologist”, they map the entire vineyard. Then they use the map to decide which blocks goes into what pressing. The point being a true expression of the soil type. I tasted two wine where the plots were 10 feet apart and they were very different though vinified in an identical manner. The wines are pricey but a beautiful expression of the earth.
So now for the very close seconds. It no particular order:
Archery Summit, pricey but beautiful pinots! Dunee Hills.
St. Innocent, new location and facility but still great.
Walter Scott, wonderful pinots and chardonnays. Eola Hills
Domaine Drouhin. Their non-domaine label is RoseRock and the chardonnay was every bit as good as the Drouhin label. Drouhin’s pinots were also exceptional. Dunee Hills.
The next level is very good.
Ken Wright Winery. Ken is a good wine maker, I just don’t like the commercial thrust of his winery sales staff. Carlton.
Flaneur Winery. A very small winery in Carlton. Great pinots and Chardonnays.
Failla Winery. This new Oregon winery has moved in the location left by St. Innocent. Ehern Jordan now is splitting his time between Sonoma and Willamette Valley. The wines were fine, but I suspect they will be much better after experiencing a few vintages from Oregon grapes. Eola Hills.
Good level
Mayasara Winery. Mayasara is a beautiful winery. Maybe you know it by its vineyard name Momtazi. The wines are good, but go just to see the vineyard. McMinnville AVA.
Bjornson Winery. This winery has many wines and many are not worth mentioning. However Edward was a nice wine.
White Rose Winery. Beautiful location with sweeping views of the Valley. The wines were a little heavy for me but still well made.
OK but not my style
Sokol Blosser. This winery has been around since the beginning of the Willamette ascent. It is a nice winery structurally but the wines I tasted were a bit over-extracted.