Oregon or Import?

pinot noir vines burgundy PRA

June 18th, 6 pm

Can you tell whether a Pinot Gris is from the mountains in Chehalem, or Alsatian?  Distinguish a Walla Wallan from a Coonawarran Cab?    

Test your wits and senses at this fun, light-hearted and fast paced blind tasting. We’ll taste through three rounds of wine pairs, where an Oregon wine is pitted against the same varietal from overseas. When the buzzer buzzes, we’ll reveal which wine was which.

Feel free to take part either as a solo taster or a team. Correct guesses will win you prizes, like free tastings around the Willamette Valley. Great wine and scorecards will be provided. We’ll also briefly delve into the wine regions we’re tasting, so bring a notebook if you like to take notes.

Tickets are $15 each, and $10 for chamber members. You can pay by cash at the door.

Willamette’s Secret Society of Alsatian Whites

The Willamette Valley experienced record-breaking warm weather this winter– spring only officially began last week. Soon it will be time to kick-back outdoors, enjoying a refreshing glass of white wine. Our local wineries can easily oblige us; many are now releasing their 2014 and 2013 vintage whites. These releases can also stir up some confusion—what exactly is a Gewürztraminer? Aren’t Rieslings always sweet? What’s the difference between a Pinot Gris and a Pinot Grigio?

For many Americans, whites belong in two categories: Chardonnay, and not Chardonnay. Many restaurant wine lists reflect this, sorting all non-Chardonnays into a category called “Miscellaneous/Eccentric/Other Whites.” Which is a shame: we overlook the intricacies and pleasures of half of the world’s wines. Luckily, white wines aren’t all a bunch of unrelated ‘randos’, which drinkers must memorize independently. Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Gewurztraminer, which grow beautifully and abundantly in Oregon, have a little known interrelation.

They are the three core varietals of Alsace, a wine-growing region in the north-east corner of France, (and for long stretches of its history, a part of Germany.) A winery’s choice to grow Pinot Gris along with Riesling and Gewürztraminer is far from random, as these varietals have been cultivated together for centuries, and thrive in the same vineyards. Finally, look at all the other varietals Alsace makes: Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Sylvaner, Muscat… suddenly, it looks like the Willamette Valley has more in common with Alsace than with Burgundy. In this light, Pinot Gris is as central to our terroir as its slightly darker skinned cousin, Pinot Noir.

Gewürztraminer and Riesling are distant relatives of the Noirien family, of which Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and Chardonnay are members. An easy way to think about Pinot Gris, Riesling and Gewürztraminer is the Goldilocks and The Three Bears story: Riesling is very acidic, Gewurtztraminer is very spicy and fruity, and Pinot Gris is ‘just right.’ However, this does an injustice to the variety and quality of Rieslings and Gewürztraminers. Riesling has the widest range of flavors, body, and sweetness of any varietal, reds included. One producer can make a bone dry Riesling, with a taste reminiscent of sucking on pebbles, while another releases a deep, luscious dessert wine. Gewürztraminer, on the other hand, almost always expresses crystal-clear aromas of roses, lychees and exotic spices. You would be hard to find this delicious combination in any other kind of wine.

Next time you see these wines at a tasting room, try not to see them as “random” whites, but as an essential part of Oregon’s wine country. Willamette’s Alsace connection isn’t really a secret, but it might as well be: it is very rarely cited. Like Willamette, (and its other French model, Burgundy,) Alsace is populated by individual farmers and small, family owned wineries. Alsace, located just north of Champagne, also makes stunning sparkling wine called Cremant d’Alsace. Champagne method wines are quickly becoming a part of Oregon’s DNA—take a look at Argyle’s line of bubblies if you need proof. However, there’s one major difference between Alsace and Willamette: the cloud coverage. Alsace is one of the sunniest places in France, which helps offset the effect of its extreme northern latitude.

Most Willamette Valley producers make a Pinot Gris, and I recommend you spend a little time with this supreme wine at your next winery outing. Several of the Oregon Wine Education Center’s partner and member wineries offer great examples.  If you’d like to try a Riesling, Chehalem Wines in downtown Newberg makes several, and you can swing by wineries like Ponzi Wines, Methven Family Vineyards, and Rallison Cellars to try their offerings. Archer Vineyard, tucked away in the Chehalem Mountains AVA, makes a Gewurztraminer, and Anam Cara makes both a Riesling and a Gewürztraminer, exclusively from their own fruit from Nicholas Vineyard. Finally, Laurel Ridge Winery truly embodies the Alsatian spirit. Not only do they produce Gewürztraminer, Riesling and Pinot Gris, but they are one of Oregon’s oldest producers of sparkling wine. As they toast in Alsace, g’sundheit!

Cuppings, Pop-Ups, and Why Fridays are Awesome in Newberg

wineandcoffee

There are new reasons to be excited about Friday, perhaps the best day for the liquid arts in Newberg.

Valley Wine Merchants‘ Pop-Up Tasting Room series begins this Friday, from six to eight pm. ROCO Winery of Dundee will be pouring three outstanding wines. Feel free to quiz the winemaker Rollin Soles, a Willamette Valley legend, and Argyle co-founder. Can’t wait until 6pm? Great news: Caravan Coffee, who import, roast and brew specialty coffees here in town, host a weekly coffee ‘cupping’ at 9:30 on Friday mornings. A cupping is like a wine tasting, where you can compare (and most importantly, drink,) two different, delicious coffees side by side. Best of all, both events are completely free. More details below:

valley-wine-merchants-2VALLEY WINE MERCHANTS POP-UP SERIES

6-8 pm, at 112 S College Street, Newberg, OR 97132 The Pop-Up series will occur on upcoming Thursdays and Fridays this spring. Dates will be announced on a rolling basis, so follow VWM  on Facebook or check out their website to hear the latest news. On Fridays without a Pop-UP Tasting, Andrew Turner, the proprietor, will be personally tasting exciting new wines he’s discovered each week. You can always bet on fantastic wines being poured at Valley Wine Merchants every Friday between 6-8 pm.

Thursday, Mar 26: Anne Amie Vineyards & Carlton Hill Vineyard

Friday, Mar 27: Leah Jorgensen Cellars

Friday Apr 10: Wild Aire Cellars

Friday Apr 24: Coattails Wine & Domaine Roy

Friday, May 15: De Lancelloti Family Vineyards

 

caravantastingheader1CARAVAN COFFEE CUPPING SERIES

9:30 am, at 2750 E 9th St, Newberg, OR, 97132 Caravan Coffee has long been tasting Oregon’s best coffees every Friday morning. If you haven’t been by before, its never to late to swing by, (or make it a new Friday morning tradition.) This week, they’ll be cupping their Guatemala San Jorge and their Fair Trade Organic Papua New Guinea. Its a fantastic chance to delve a little deeper into your morning cup of Joe, and celebrate coffee with its biggest fans. Caravan Coffee is one of Oregon’s original artisan coffee roasters, and they responsibly source their beans from all over the world. They develop close-knit relationships with their growers, prioritize sustainable farming for people and the environment, and give back to growing communities through a variety of service projects. Friday cupping coffees are announced on a week by week basis, so follow Caravan on facebook or attheir website to keep up to date. Cheers!

Willamette Valley’s First Wine Education Center

Here in the Willamette Valley, wine is a part of life. The vineyards are hard to miss, even as they intermingle with hazelnut orchards, hops farms, alpaca paddocks and nurseries. Tasting rooms dot the hillsides and downtowns, and more wineries and wine labels appear every year. The wine business is becoming an increasingly important part of the local economy, especially considering that wine consumption is on the rise in America. Pinot noir sales continue to grow, and winery-direct shipments exploded in 2014. “Eno-tourism,” or wine country vacationing, is booming.

More subtly, wine is part of our identity and story. People in London, Tokyo, and Auburn, Alabama see and think about the Willamette Valley every day, if only subconsciously. They see it spelled out at the local wine store, on the bottle on their counter, or treasured deep in their cellar, (or more likely, their basement.)

International recognition can be dizzying, but for the most part, our wineries and winemakers enjoy the opportunity to share their love of wine with the whole world.

As people pick up bottles from all over the state of Oregon, they naturally begin to ask questions as well. Why does pinot noir grow so well here, and often taste more ‘Burgundian’ than pinot noir grown in other parts of France? How do we deal with all the rain? Are there any wineries in Portland? How do you pronounce ‘Jory’ soil? (With a hard j, like ‘jury.’) And why is red soil so special?

We’re excited to help wine-lovers answer these questions, and learn more about Oregon and international wines. Located in downtown Newberg, The Oregon Wine Education Center plans to host seminars, workshops and certification classes for locals, wine industry professionals and visitors. We will focus on the richness of the Willamette Valley’s terroir, climate, winemakers and wines, (Pinot Noir included,) as well as extend our vision to surveying the entire world of wine. We are also excited to examine the fascinating local spirits, beer and coffee produced in Oregon, and their parallels to wine.

In addition, we’ll be posting up news, articles and insights into Oregon’s wines here at this blog.

We’re looking forward to peering through the wine glass with you. Cheers!