Willamette Valley wines

[LaurieA-B]

Ellen Shapiro wrote a great profile of the Argyle winery for the Daily Gullet. Rollin Soles: Winemaker

What experiences have other people had at Oregon wineries? (Or Washington. Or Hawaii, since they're now part of the Pacific NW.)

[Fat Guy]

Some notes from a 1999 visit to Foris (immediately following a visit to Argyle):

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We, who Rollin had tastefully nicknamed "The Road-Nazis" proceeded to drive, stuck behind a hundred Winnebagos, at thirty miles per hour down the entire Oregon coast (look on a map -- it's big) to Cave Junction, former hippie community and now home of Foris vineyards. When we called Ted Gerber, owner of Foris, to warn him of our arrival, he turned us on to an incredible campsite alongside a river a few miles from the vineyard (not that this magnificent locale did anything to improve my opinion of camping) and suggested we purchase Chinese food at King's Chinese Restaurant in Cave Junction and eat it at the campsite (normally, I would reject the advice to dine at a Chinese place in a small town in Oregon but when Ted said, in true maniac foodie fashion, "Now listen, there's two Chinese places: King's and the other place. Do not, under any circumstances, go to the other place," I knew he could be trusted). Sadly, King's was closed by the time we arrived in Cave Junction (I should say the kitchen was closed, because there were clearly people living at King's) so all we had for dinner was the remaining pound of old-stemmed Rainier cherries and a bottle of Argyle Pinot Noir (reserve). Which was actually a pretty good meal.

The next morning, Ted showed us around Foris. It's one of the most beautiful spots imaginable for growing wine -- rough-hewn vineyards set against rough-hewn mountains. The property has all sorts of old barns and pumps on it but the winemaking facility, by contrast, is ultra-modern and spotless. We tasted something like thirteen of Foris's offerings, all of which were remarkably good ("No dogs allowed in our tasting room," as Ted put it), especially the honest-to-goodness Chardonnay (which, as you can imagine, is hard to sell since people only want to buy overoaked buttery Chardonnay from California) and the two dessert wines (a port-style wine made from Pinot Noir, and a fortified Muscat).

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Not the Willamette Valley, but perhaps relevant anyway.

[Jim Dixon]

As a native Oregonian I'm of course an expert on the local wines. Here's what I kow:

They cost too damn much.

Or at least the pinots that get so much attention do. I drink a lot more Italian, Spanish, French, and even Caliifornian red wine than I do Oregon, something that rankles my deeply ingrained Beaver State chauvinism. But I'm also cheap.

A few local non-pinot noirs that I like include Andrew Rich's Tabula Rasa Chenin Blanc (which has some Yakima grapes in it, too...he also makes a killer Gewurztraminer ice wine) and Chehalem's Pinot Gris (a sommelier friend told me many years ago that pinot gris would be Oregon's best white wine grape, and it's becoming true).

Jim

[Human Bean]

As a native Oregonian I'm of course an expert on the local wines. Here's what I know:

They cost too damn much.

As a non-native resident of Oregon, I wish that people outside the region wouldn't keep hyping the wine, and exporting it from the area. Then there'd be more for us, and possibly cheaper too.

Chehalem's Pinot Gris (a sommelier friend told me many years ago that pinot gris would be Oregon's best white wine grape, and it's becoming true).

Growing pinot gris locally is a trend that's been increasing over the past several years. Personally, I just don't "get" pinot gris. I've tried several local varieties (and no imported ones), and they've all seemed rather boring to me. But then, I prefer more strongly-flavored whites like Gewurztraminer and Muscat, so maybe my indifference to pinot gris is hardly surprising.

[Fat Guy]

Jim: At Sherry-Lehmann here in NYC I pay $11.95 for Argyle Chardonnay and $16.95 for Argyle Pinot Noir (the 2000 vintage regular bottlings). I think they hold their own value-wise against anything from anywhere else. Or at the very least they are priced appropriately within their quality range. Of course the New World style is different so it's hard to compare, but I don't think you're going to find $10 Pinot Noirs from France that are better or anything dramatic like that. Out in Oregon, I was surprised to see that in the supermarkets near Dundee there were some even cheaper Argyles that never make it out of the state -- basic table wine blends that came in magnums and made for good-value quaffing wines. Not to mention, I don't think there's any sparkling wine from France that can compete on value with Argyle's very strong offerings in that category.

[mamster]

I'm in Portland today and took the opportunity to indulge in some Oregon pinot noir. I did so at Oregon Wines on Broadway, downtown between Alder and Stark. It's a nice little place with a bar serving thirty Oregon pinots by the taste or glass, and little else. (There are whites on the shelves and a couple by the glass, and you can get bread and cheese.) A serious niche business; I hope they are doing well.

I requested a flight of three tastes (1.5 oz), increasing in price. There's a five-tiered price structure with tastes between $1 and $5 and glasses up to $18 depending on the price of the bottle. I had a ten in my pocket, so I went for the $1-$2-$3 range and left a big tip. I don't know whether this makes me generous or stingy. The wines are served on a tasting sheet with room for you to write notes, so I did, even after admitting to the bartender that I know nothing about Oregon pinot and asking her to choose the wines.

They were (in order by price) Runaway Red (I didn't catch the vintage year), 2000 Evesham Wood, and 2000 Witness Tree. I believe the cheapest bottle was $12 and the most expensive $40.

It was an excellent choice of wines because they ran in a continuum from simple to complex, fruit-forward to leathery. All were similarly light in body. The Runaway Red was pure young fruit and easy drinking. The Witness Tree was full of tobacco and mineral flavors with a long finish. A hugely satisfying wine. The Evesham Wood was, well, kind of in between--more tannins than the Runaway Red but without the full supporting structure exhibited by the Witness Tree.

Obviously I'm missing much of the vocabulary to describe these things, but this is a great place to get introduced to Oregon pinot. Plus it's right around the corner from Good Dog/Bad Dog.

[tighe]

A couple years ago, I spent a long weekend in the Willamette Valley doing the wine thing and had a great time. My only gripe would be that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to visit most of the best wineries. This is not terribly different from other wine regions I suppose. Of the wineries that I was able to visit, I think Argyle definately had the most consistently good wines, from pinot noir to chardonnay and back again.

My favorite wine I've had from the Willamette area was a WillaKenzie Pinot Noir, but I think the winery is only open on a very limited basis.

I think the less expensive offerings from the better makers is a relatively new phenomenon. I was stunned to see a Domaine Druhin Pinot Noir in the grocery store the other day for $12. I don't thing I'd ever seen anything from them for under $35 before.

[Fat Guy]

My only gripe would be that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to visit most of the best wineries.

When the area gets discovered and Disneyfied like Napa, you'll say that to describe the good old days!

[MartyL]

I don't think you're going to find $10 Pinot Noirs from France that are better or anything dramatic like that.

Try the 2000 Catherine & Claude Marechal Bourgogne Cuvee Gravel, which sells at around the same price point as the Argyle. Chambers St. and Garnet usually carry it, and I also recently saw some at Nancy's Wines.

The Gravel has beautiful red-fruit aromatics, a seamless midpalate and bright acidity supporting the finish. Not sure I'd call it "dramatic," but it is delicious and great with food and is in my view the best bottle of Pinot one can buy on this side of the pond with $16-$17.