Wine Each Week ~ Chemistry Rose’ of Pinot Noir Bubbles

Chemistry best describes interaction between two properties, as in this wine which was a collaborative effort between two Oregon wineries, Chehalem Winery and Stoller Family Estate, both of which produce estate wines in the Willamette Valley. This light, effervescent bubbly non-vintage Pinot Noir rose’ celebrates the beauty of a summer morning in the Willamette Valley. It offers light strawberry, watermelon and lemon lime citrus notes. The carbonation is nicely balanced, not aggressive so you still get some of that beautiful Pinot noir fruit.  Simple yet effective.

3,800 cases

ORIGIN: Willamette Valley, Oregon

ALCOHOL: 12.5%

PRICE: $20 (750ML)

SCORE: 90 POINTS

Chemistry Wines

Wine Each Week ~ Siduri 2018 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

The marvelous thing about Pinot Noir is that it has the most diverse expressions of any other grape. What this 2018 Siduri represents is what the Willamette Valley in Oregon does so well – the earthy tobacco-ish, old leather sort of vibe. It shuns the typical bright red fruits of California Pinot in favor of something dramatically different, darker and earthier. There are also notes of black cherry, mild cola, blackberry, lingonberry, boysenberry and sweet earth. A mix of six vineyard sites, eight Pinot Noir clones, and 10 months of aging (with just 30% new French oak) really allows this fruit to express itself.

ORIGIN: Willamette Valley, Oregon

ALCOHOL: 14.2%

PRICE: $35 (750ML)

SCORE: 91 POINTS

SIDURI

Wine Each Week: 2018 INOX Chardonnay, Oregon

Throughout Oregon Pinot Noir is the top grape – no surprise - followed by Pinot Gris, and in the netherworld of third place is Chardonnay. But Oregon Chard is gaining momentum and the 2018 INOX is one of the reasons why. Light and clean the seeming simplicity is deceptive. Defined by peach, Asian pear, nectarine, wild flowers, light honeysuckle and mango, none of these flavors are overwhelming, they act as supporting players in the background. Thus the overall experience of drinking this Chardonnay is its versatility. For example I tried this wine with a barbecue chicken pizza (sampling the wine before the pizza of course) and was surprised at the results that the lovely light style and acidity of this of Chardonnay could work so well with BBQ.

Fermented in stainless steel to keep the freshness with just five months of “aging” in tank there are just under 5,000 cases so you should be able to secure some.

In July 2018, Chehalem became the sixth Oregon winery to achieve B Corp status - which assesses companies to ensure they meet the highest standard of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability. Additionally they are registered as Salmon Safe – all good things to treat our land as equitable as possible. This is a lovely Chardonnay made better by an attractive price for a wine of this quality.

ORIGIN: Willamette Valley, Oregon

ALCOHOL: 12.9%

PRICE: $20/ 750ML

SCORE: 91 POINTS

CHEHALEM

Wine Each Week: Canned Oregon Pinot Gris

Wine in cans is actually not a new idea. In fact it has been around since at least 1996. But the wine industry and now the public are embracing canned wine, new ideas, new packaging. Some of the first canned wines over the last decade did have a metallic taste to them, and no one wants that. That’s what always turned me off. But technology has improved and joining the pop-tops is this new version out of Oregon made by Canned Oregon. Their Pinot Gris (they also offer a sparkling rose’ and sparkling white) offers up notes of citrus, lemon-lime, mango, hints of guava and pineapple, lemon grass with a bright clean acidity, best consumed after the chill of the can has worn off a few minutes to really get the bright, crisp nature of this wine. The fruit is from a variety of Willamette Valley wineries, whole-cluster pressed to mitigate the phenolics and fermented in stainless steel. It’s not national just yet, but expect a full 20 states to offer this by fall of 2018 including California, Oregon (of course), Washington, Minnesota, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, North Dakota, the Carolinas, and Ohio.

ORIGIN: Willamette Valley, Oregon

PRICE: $5.99 - $7.99/ 375ML

ALCOHOL: 12.5%

www.cannedoregon.com, 3700 cases.

Two Jacksons & a Pinot

Pinot Noir is one of those grapes that makes a wine people love…or not. There seems to be little common ground for the people on this particular wine. Pinot Noir grapes tend to be tiny little things with a thin skin (I’m thinking my mother); fussy about weather, dirt, and kind of prima donna-ish. Compare that with over-achiever grapes like Syrah or sturdy Cabernet, and Pinot ends up being more expensive to grow and produce and therefore to buy a bottle requires some serious cash. However, in my endless quest of all things wine I discovered two Pinots that defy price points. May I present the 2013 Vista Hills Estate Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley, Oregon and Fossil Point from California’s Edna Valley in San Luis Obispo County - just 20 bucks each.

The Vista Hills Vineyard from the Dundee Hills region is a dynamic spicy pepper number, a little earthy mineral quality, muted on the fruit and with a moderate acidity. Conversely the 2013 Fossil Point from the Edna Valley is indicative of the California Central Coast, bright and lively with more noticeable strawberry and black cherry and a solid through-line of acidity. Let me be honest, these are not mind-blowing wines. But the larger issue is that they are solid values; well crafted and worthy of your $20 if even just once precisely because they are so well made and demonstrate exactly how a wine can deliver quality, value and integrity. I sample high end wines from across the globe but most people I talk with ain’t willing to drop $80 for a bottle of wine for dinner; they want a bottle of wine that doesn’t equal a car payment. Search these baby’s out (the Vista Hills in more likely to be found in Oregon restaurants) and enjoy them, remembering that not all wines need to be expensive.

State of the Union

Having just returned from Oregon on a week-long wine trip, I’m certainly, and unabashedly pro-Oregon wine. There are a lot of great things happening in this state from large mega producers turning about respectable juice to under-the-radar funky folks making niche wine. Oregon’s Union Wine Company does Riesling well. Riesling is the 4^th most planted grape in the state and they really do have a handle on how to make it sing. I know, I know - I can hear your high-pitched voice now: “I don’t like Riesling, it’s too sweet.” Uh, no, it’s not often that sweet (when I was in Germany I tasted through the gamut of Riesling from bone-dry to coma inducing uber-sweet wines, most of them amazing). A fine example of a value, food-wise Riesling is Union Wine Co. 2011 Kings Ridge Riesling. Soft, viscous with citrus, peach, caramel and a wee bit of sweetness (a mere .73% RS - residual sugar), makes this is a terrific little number that will make your heart, and palate and wallet, happy. It's rare to find quality for around $10 but here Union succeeds very well. They made 1,200 cases, so there’s plenty to go around. Riesling is a wine you need to invite into you rotation, and this is an excellent starting point. So get going!  UNION WINE COMPANY
 

ORIGIN: Willamette Valley, Oregon

PRICE: $13 / 750/ml

ALCOHOL: 12%

BOOZEHOUNDZ SCORE:  89 POINTS