Sometimes you look at a plate and it just needs some green. What if you really DON’T feel like a salad? I found a quick and easy recipe for Pea Mash on Sprinkles and Sprouts and updated it adding fresh mint to brighten the dish.
The mint brightens it, making it taste as vivid green as it looks!
Just a reminder, make sure that you rinse your peas with cold water after cooking them to keep them bright green!
We made this ahead and stuck it in the fridge until it was time for dinner and enjoyed the cool temperature of the dish as a contrast to our warm entree. Of course you could feel free to warm it again and serve it that way!
This dish is so quick and easy and I bet it might be a fun way to get the kids to eat their peas!
Minted Pea Mash
Feeds: 4
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Mint pea mash ingredients with Alloro Pinot Noir
Ingredients
1 16 oz package of frozen peas
1 clove of garlic (peeled and chopped in half)
1 tbs butter
2 tbs sour cream
1 bunch of fresh mint leaves
Salt and pepper
Directions
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil
Add the peas and garlic
Return to a boil and boil 2 minutes
Drain the peas and rinse with cold water.
Into your food processor, add the peas and garlic, butter, sour crème and mint.
Process until smooth to your liking.
Season with salt and pepper.
You can serve this hot or cold. We found that with the mint, we enjoyed it cold.
Sometimes you look at a plate and it just needs some green. What if you really DON'T feel like a salad? I found a quick and easy recipe for Pea Mash on Sprinkles and Sprouts and updated it adding fresh mint to brighten the dish.
Ingredients
1 16 oz package of frozen peas
1 clove of garlic (peeled and chopped in half)
1 tbs butter
2 tbs sour cream
1 bunch of fresh mint leaves
Instructions
1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil
2. Add the peas and garlic
3. Return to a boil and boil 2 minutes
4. Drain the peas and rinse with cold water.
5. Into your food processor, add the peas and garlic, butter, sour crème and mint.
6. Process until smooth to your liking.
7. Season with salt and pepper.
Notes
You can serve this hot or cold. We found that with the mint, we enjoyed it cold.
This was an elegant dish that we paired with a Pinot Noir from Oregon’s Willamette Valley. We wanted something that would not be too heavy, but would match the elegance of this wine. Incorporating Pinot Noir into the dish as well as adding a savory berry drizzle, help to match notes in the wine and make this pairing extra delicious.
Sometimes you look at a plate and it just needs some green. What if you really DON'T feel like a salad? I found a quick and easy recipe for Pea Mash on Sprinkles and Sprouts and updated it adding fresh mint to brighten the dish.
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
I was looking for a roasted baby potatoes side dish to pair with an Oregon Pinot Noir and was surfing Pinterest for inspiration. It’s the visuals of the food I love. You eat with your eyes, you know what I mean?
I came across this dish and couldn’t get it out of my head.
Inspired by this recipe from Half Baked Harvest, we updated to include different greens and potatoes that were available in the winter.
This dish was to pair with an Oregon Pinot Noir and the blend of fat of the cheese the roasted potatoes and the different greens and herbs seemed to make this a perfect side dish.
Roasted baby potatoes with burrata, basil, spinach and radicchio with lemon
Feeds: 4
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
3 tbs olive oil (you will need a little more later for drizzling)
1 lb of baby mixed potatoes
½ lemon juiced and zested
1 clove of garlic minced
1/2 cup fresh basil (1/2 of this chopped the remainder whole for garnishing)
½ cup o fresh spinach
½ cup of chopped radicchio (torn and soaked in cold water for 30 minutes)
4 oz of burrata
Salt & Pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees
In a baking dish combine the potatoes, a tablespoon of olive oil, minced garlic, lemon juice and salt and pepper
Roast for 15 minutes, toss and roast another 15 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes are crisp.
After you have tossed them the first time…
Mix 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the chopped basil, and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper.
Take the potatoes out of the oven and place on a serving plate. Break the burrata and place on the plate, garnish with the spinach, radicchio and fresh basil.
Roasted baby potatoes with burrata, basil, spinach and radicchio with lemon
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour5 minutes
This is one of those dishes that you see on pinterest and can’t get out of your head. Inspired by this recipe from Half Baked Harvest, we updated to include different greens and potatoes that were available in the winter.
3 tbs olive oil (you will need a little more later for drizzling)
1 lb of baby mixed potatoes
½ lemon juiced and zested
1 clove of garlic minced
1/2 cup fresh basil (1/2 of this chopped the remainder whole for garnishing)
½ cup of fresh spinach
½ cup of chopped radicchio (torn and soaked in cold water for 30 minutes)
4 oz of burrata
dash of salt
dash of pepper
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees
2. In a baking dish combine the potatoes, a tablespoon of olive oil, minced garlic, lemon juice and salt and pepper
3. Roast for 15 minutes, toss and roast another 15 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes are crisp.
4. After you have tossed them the first time…
5. Mix 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the chopped basil, and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Take the potatoes out of the oven and place on a serving plate. Break the burrata and place on the plate, garnish with the spinach, radicchio and fresh basil.
7. Spoon the lemon zest mixture on the burrata
8. Drizzle the whole plate with EVOO.
Notes
We served this with Roasted Cornish Game Hens with a Savory berry drizzle and Minted Pea Mash. The wine we paired was a 2018 Alloro Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley
This was an elegant dish that we paired with a Pinot Noir from Oregon’s Willamette Valley. We wanted something that would not be too heavy, but would match the elegance of this wine. Incorporating Pinot Noir into the dish as well as adding a savory berry drizzle, help to match notes in the wine and make this pairing extra delicious.
Sometimes you look at a plate and it just needs some green. What if you really DON'T feel like a salad? I found a quick and easy recipe for Pea Mash on Sprinkles and Sprouts and updated it adding fresh mint to brighten the dish.
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
It’s the Italian word for laurel. When David Nemarnik purchased this now 130-acre site, he named it after the Laurelwood soils found on the site.
He grew up nearby in Portland, making homemade wine in his garage. He searched the area for the right site, testing soils to find the best for growing the Pinot Noir that he loved. When he found this site, it wasn’t even for sale. The owner who lived in Shasta allowed him to dig test pits and agreed to sell him 40 acres in 1999.
They planted the first 20 acres of grapes in 1999. Since then they expanded the property from the initial 40 acres to 130 acres and now have 34 acres of vineyard.
The Russian Doll AVAs of Oregon
Willamette Valley Map courtesy of Willamette Valley Wine Association Map data by everyvine.com, design by John Fisher, geologic cross section by Timothy A. Cross, special thanks to Patrick Reuter.”
Willamette Valley AVA
We mentioned Pinot Noir, so you probably immediately think of Oregon, and beyond that the Willamette Valley AVA. This overarching AVA covers the Northern part of the state from Eugene near its southern border to Portland on its northeastern border. It is defined by the Cascade Mountains to the east and the Coast Range to the West.
This massive AVA is filled with 9 sub-AVAs from North to South they are Tualatin Hills, Laurelwood, Yamhill-Carlton, Chehalem Mountains, Ribbon Ridge, Dundee Hills, McMinnville, Eola-amity Hills, and the Van Duzer Corridor.
Chehalem Mountains AVA
The Chehalem Mountains AVA is the largest sub-AVA in the state, covering over 100 square miles. 20 miles long and 5 miles wide the AVA was established in 2006 and sits within the larger Willamette Valley AVA.
There are around 150 vineyards, many family-owned and averaging just 12.5 acres. It was here that in 1968 Dick Erath first purchased land, he was followed by David Adelsheim, Dick and Nancy Ponzi, and Paul Hart of Adelsheim, Ponzi, and Rex Hill respectively.
But this is not as small as we go. Within the Chehalem Mountains AVA is the Ribbon Ridge AVA that sits on the Northwest end of the Chehalem Mountains and the brand new Laurelwood District AVA which encompasses 33,600 acres on the northeast-facing flank of the Chehalem Mountains.
General Area of the Laurelwood District AVA (Willamette Valley Map courtesy of Willamette Valley Wine Association)
Laurelwood District AVA
This AVA was just approved in June of 2020! The topography here can reach more than 1,600 feet. This AVA is defined by the Laurelwood soils, windblown loess that came with the Missoula Floods. This AVA was a decade in the works.
Of course, as this was just approved, you will not see this on bottles until 2020 vintages are released.
Alloro Vineyard
Alloro was a part of the push for this new AVA. In 2018 they were part of a group of winemakers who gathered for a blind tasting of Chehalem Mountain wines all from within the Laurelwood AVA. So today, the raised laurel on their label takes on even more meaning.
Their vineyard sits at between 450 and 700 feet and is wind-blown loess (Laurelwood) over basalt.
On the property, in addition to grapes, they raise cattle and sheep. They are LIVE certified (Low Impact Viticulture & Enology). David’s philosophy is to look at the overall health of the farm, minimize inputs, use beneficial insects, and leave natural areas for biodiversity. He looks at the farm as a complete system. The idea is to leave the soil and ecosystem better than when he found it. LIVE is a science-based approach that does not eliminate synthetic products. As he uses beneficial insects, he tries to avoid sulfur which can harm them.
All their wines are estate wines.
David Nemarnik, Vineyard Manager and Proprietor
David Nemarnik loves the land. He helped to build his family’s produce company, in Portland while he was in college. He still heads that company as CEO. Here at the vineyard, he is the proprietor and also the Vineyard Manager. He hired a winemaker to make the wine in 2009. In 2010 Tom Fitzpatrick joined the team and they have a synergy. The team here is small. David, Tom, David Lopez the Vineyard Foreman, Andrew Ward the Cellar Master.
Tom Fitzpatrick, Winemaker
Tom has a master’s in viticulture and enology from UC Davis and has worked in wine all over the world. He began in Washington State, working with a small winery, spent time in New Zealand and Napa, where he worked at Pine Ridge. His Masters Thesis was “Variation in the Phenolic Composition of California Pinot Noir Fruit and Wines: Analysis and Explanation.” (Just the kind of fascinating geeky thing I would love to read!). So Pinot Noir is a grape he has looked at in-depth.
He spent some time in Bourgogne before returning to the US and settling in Oregon. He worked at Hamacher Wines, before coming to Alloro. He is also the Proprietor and Winegrower for Élevée Winegrowers where he studies Terroir.
Alloro 2018 Pinot Noir
This is one of the 3 Pinot Noirs the produce annually.
Medium red-ruby in color
Pronounced nose of red cherry, sweet tobacco, cola, forest floor a slight floral note, and a hint of eucalyptus.
Dry with medium to light tannins and body, medium to high acidity, Pronounced flavors of black plum deep red ripe fruit, spice, cola, and red cherry.
A wine that will age well. This is one of their largest production wines with 1850 cases produced.
100% Pinot Noir – 14.2% abv – SRP $45.00
*This wine was received as a media sample. No other compensation was received. All opinions are our own.*
Alloro 2018 Pinot Noir from the new Laurelwood District AVA
Pairings with the Alloro 2018 Pinot Noir
To pair with this Alloro Pinot Noir, we settled on Roasted Cornish Game Hens with a savory berry drizzle, Roasted baby potatoes with burrata, basil, spinach, and radicchio with lemon and a Minted pea mash.
We ran the gamut with herbs in these dishes; mint in the peas, rosemary in the game hens, basil in the potatoes. The wine paired well with all of these.
It pulled forward the mint in the peas in a lovely soft way, like a mother gently nudging a shy child into a well-deserved spotlight. The acid in the wine played nicely with the fat on the hens and then elevated the berries in the sauce. The lemon zest and acid as well as the savory notes in the roasted potatoes were brightened and accentuated by the wine. Even the bitter notes in the radicchio were elevated and rounded to a perfect level.
Alloro 2018 Chardonnay
This is the one Chardonnay that Alloro makes annually. This is a barrel-fermented Chardonnay that does full malolactic fermentation with Bâtonnage then ages for 11 months in French Oak (20% new). Only 290 cases were produced.
Pronounced nose of Meyer lemon, with notes of mineral, saline, and toasted bread.
On the palate, it is dry and full-bodied with pronounced round flavors of Meyer lemon that sweep over your mouth, making your gums tingle and a long finish.
This is a wine that is as much at home in winter as summer and can pair well with the dishes of either season.
100% Chardonnay – 13.7% abv – SRP $39
*This wine was received as a media sample. No other compensation was received. All opinions are our own.*
Pairing the Alloro 2018 Chardonnay
We paired this with a Scottish chowder with potatoes and pollock.
This dish came to us from SunBasket but is a simple and delicious dish to recreate.
With onion, potatoes, paprika, pollock, cream, and bay leaf, this dish is warming and goes beautifully with the wine. The wine pulls forth the richness of the fish and the broth with the paprika playing well with the Meyer lemon notes in the wine. The salinity and minerality of the wine round out the pairing with the dish.
We added a side salad and toasted ciabatta to complete the meal.
Visiting Alloro
In 2019 Alloro broke ground on a new tasting room. The previous tasting room had been converted from an apartment David had built on the property. This new tasting room which just opened in mid-December has an outdoor space, where you can do a reserved tasting. It is set up as a 75-minute experience.
Be aware that this is an outdoor tasting, so you might be exposed to wind and/or rain. They do have heaters but dress warmly. They are working with the best practices to keep everyone safe at this time.
To book your experience you can visit their websiteor call them at (503)625-1978.
I look forward to the future when this beautiful facility with a wood-burning oven, demonstration and commercial kitchen, and a barrel room for small events will be able to open fully.
This was an elegant dish that we paired with a Pinot Noir from Oregon’s Willamette Valley. We wanted something that would not be too heavy, but would match the elegance of this wine. Incorporating Pinot Noir into the dish as well as adding a savory berry drizzle, help to match notes in the wine and make this pairing extra delicious.
Sometimes you look at a plate and it just needs some green. What if you really DON'T feel like a salad? I found a quick and easy recipe for Pea Mash on Sprinkles and Sprouts and updated it adding fresh mint to brighten the dish.
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
Earlier this fall I wrote a piece about Youngberg Hill. In 2019 they created Bailey Family Wines. It was a place we had visited years ago with a friend and tasting through the Pinot Noirs they had sent, I got a bit nostalgic. You can read that piece here Youngberg Hill – Reminiscing and Making New Memories with 2 Youngberg Hill Pinot Noirs.
Youngberg Hill is a beautiful property. They have a gorgeous Inn as well as an Event Center set within the vines. With the winery, they have 2 labels. One is the Youngberg Hill label, which those two beautiful Pinot Noirs fall under. The other is the Bailey Family Wine label.
*We received this wine as a media sample. No other compensation was received. All opinions are our own.*
Bailey Family Wines
Last year, in 2019 they created Bailey Family Wines. They had worked with their Youngberg Hill label to make the vineyard Organic Certified and are working toward Biodynamics, mostly looking out for the land and the soil and sourcing from other like-minded vineyards.
Bailey Family Wines focuses on exclusive wines from the 23 acres of vines on their Estate Vineyard. Of the 23 acres, 18 are planted to Pinot Noir, 2 ½ to Chardonnay, and 2 ½ to Pinot Gris. So this bottle of Estate Chardonnay is indeed rare.
View of the vineyard at Youngberg Hill – photo courtesy of Youngberg Hill
The Youngberg Hill Inn in Oregon’s Willamette Valley – photo courtesy of Youngberg Hill
Wayne Bailey of Youngberg Hill and Bailey Family Vineyards – photo courtesy of Youngberg Hill
Bailey Family 2017 Chardonnay
The Aspen block was planted with Pinot Grill in 2006. In 2014 they grafted over ½ of the black to Chardonnay Clones 75, 76, 95, and 548. The block is on Marine sediment and sits at between 500 and 600 feet.
The 2017 vintage was warm with an early bud break and a dry growing season. Then cooler temperatures gave great acidity and mineral notes as well as rich deep fruit at harvest.
This wine was aged for 8 months in neutral oak and they made just 229 cases, which are sold by allocation only.
100% Chardonnay 12.5% abv SRP $85
My notes:
This wine pours a pale lemon and has an intense nose of floral, crushed gravel, citrus leaf, fresh herbs, citrus pith and zest, and Meyer lemon.
It is dry in my mouth with flavors of lemon pith, lemon thyme, and Meyer lemon with lifted floral notes.
I felt like I was standing in a citrus grove with scents of citrus flowers, fruit, leaves, and pith all at once.
This was round but bright. I would luxuriate in this wine for hours.
Roasted Chicken with root vegetables
Michael was on kitchen duty for this one with a meal from Sun Basket. The chicken breast was roasted with lemon juice and lemon zest which paired beautifully with the lemon notes in the wine. The roasted vegetables included golden beets, potatoes, and Brussels sprouts. I was concerned about how the Brussels sprouts might pair, but they were lovely.
Bailey Family 2017 Chardonnay with Roasted Chicken and Root Vegetables
Smoked Gouda Mac & Cheese
Youngberg Hill Pinots paired with rainbow trout and root vegetable gratin
I think this wine might really sing with a creamy dish, it has great acid to cut through a creme sauce. It would also be great with homemade mac and cheese, like the smoked gouda and white cheddar one I recently made (link) or perhaps with a baked brie. Quite honestly, I think it would have been brilliant with grilled rainbow trout that we enjoyed with the Youngberg Pinot Noirs.
Cannolis with lemon curd crème
Michael bought cannoli molds back on Amazon Prime Day and it was evidently time to try them out. I was at first, an unwilling participant (I have a fear of hot oil). Nonetheless, we put these together and they worked! Most importantly, I came out unscathed by the hot oil! YAY!
We filled them in an unorthodox way with a lemon curd crème, that paired beautifully with the wine.
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
If you are reading this in time you can join us on Saturday morning December 19th at 11 am EST or bright and early at 8 am PST for a great Q&A discussion on Twitter. Just follow and use the hashtag #Winophiles to join the conversation.
I was lucky enough to receive this bottle of Résonance Découvert Vineyard Pinot Noir 2017 thanks to Jennica at Kobrand Wine & Spirits
*I received this bottle as a media sample. No other compensation was received. All opinions are my own.*
Maison Louis Jadot
Label and logo of Maison Louis Jadot
If you have tasted a French wine in the US, you have likely tasted a wine by Maison Louis Jadot. It is one of the most beloved French wine brands in the United States. You know the logo. You have seen it on countless wines from Bourgogne (Burgundy) and Beaujolais.
Maison Louis Jadot originated in Beaune France and produces wines from over 150 appellations in Bourgogne with 110 hectares in the Côte d’Or.
This renowned house was founded in 1859, which, coincidentally is the year that Oregon became a state. Of course, Oregon and Bourgogne share a latitude of 45 degrees.
Résonance
In 2013 Maison Louis Jadot took their first steps outside of Bourgogne purchasing the Résonance Vineyard in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Jacque Lardière the longtime Maison Louis Jadot winemaker, had recently retired and he and Thibault Gagney, whose family operates Maison Louis Jadot were off to find a bold new project. The vineyard already had a French name! Well, they did add the accent mark, but it was Kismet.
If you click the map to make it larger, you will find the Résonance vineyard. It is on the bottom half of the map near the center.
The Résonance vineyard had been planted in 1981 and it was own-rooted, which is rare. It is one of the oldest dry-farmed vineyards in the Willamette Valley, sitting between 262 and 492 feet in elevation. Their custom-built winery opened its doors in May of 2019. Our friends at AdVINEtures visited them a bit ago meeting with winemaker Guillaume Large.
But our story takes us beyond the Résonance Vineyard.
Découverte – Discovery in the Dundee Hills
The Dundee Hills are the historical heart of winemaking in the Willamette Valley. It was here that David Lett, Dick Erath, and the Sokol Blosser’s came to plant their vineyards.
David Lett’s Eyrie Pinot Noir caught the attention of the French in 1979 when it placed in the Top 3 in the Gault-Millau French Wine Olympiads. Domaine Drouhin took enough note to open their winery here in 1987.
In 2014 Maison Louis Jadot treaded into these red hills purchasing 18 acres with 8 acres of vineyard planted. This is the Découverte Vineyard. It sits at a much higher elevation than the Yamhill-Carlton property. The 15 acres now under vine sit between 600 and 690 feet above sea level. Most of this (12.5 acres) is planted to Pinot Noir, with the remaining to Chardonnay.
You will find them on the map on the right side 6th up from the bottom.
They call these the Red Hills because of the rich, red volcanic Jory soil. This soil comes from ancient volcanic basalt. It is iron-rich, not very fertile, and well-draining.
Résonance – Découverte Vineyard 2017 Pinot Noir
This Pinot Noir is from the second Résonance Estate Vineyard, Découverte. Découverte means “Discovery” in French.
The 2017 Vintage saw late flowering due to a cold wet winter and spring. The summer, on the other hand, set a new record high in August. This vineyard is organically farmed.
This wine saw 17 months in French Oak barrels, 30% of which was new.
My notes:
Medium ruby in color with a fuchsia rim.
The nose hits you first with rich warm spices, followed by red fruit. Notes of earth, integrated black fruits, cherry, and notes of mint.
Dry with medium tannins the mouth was rounded and savory on the first sip. Rich but elegant, bright tart cherry notes emerge, and medium tannins that unevenly coat your teeth.
The mineral finish is the give-away here that this is a Dundee Hills wine. Those red Jory soils shining through.
Keep in mind that this wine is young. This is a wine that will age and it will continue to evolve and grow more complex.
100% Pinot Noir – 13.5% abv – $65 SRP
A Classic Pairing – Oregon Pinot Noir and Salmon
We paired this with a classic Oregon Pinot pairing, salmon. We did have a Mediterranean twist adding a honey-harissa glaze. We added sides of slaw with cabbage and apple and pan-roasted summer squash.
I was a little skeptical of the harissa glaze. Harissa is a Tunisian spice blend, usually made in a paste from dried chili peppers, spices, olive oil, and garlic. The peppers range from smoky to hot and the spices are often toasted. Our harissa was powdered rather than in paste form and it had a smokiness from roasted peppers and spices. While there was a little heat on when tasted on its own, we were mixing it with honey to glaze the salmon, which I hoped would tone down the heat and elevate the smoky notes.
Would it work with the wine? It did. The harissa and honey pulled out the spice notes in the wine and the wine did not elevate the heat in the harissa. Our other dishes, the apple and cabbage slaw, and the pan-roasted summer squash played background to the salmon but blended seamlessly with the wine.
Is it crazy to think that the color of the harissa brings to mind the color of the dirt in the Dundee Hills. Is that why it connects so well with this Découverte Vineyard Pinot Noir?
#Winophiles
I am looking forward to reading all the pieces by my fellow writers in the French #Winophiles! There is so much knowledge and a diversity of viewpoints within this group so I am anxious to hear their thoughts! Dive in and give these a read!
The Oregon Wine Board and the Oregon Wine Symposium 2021
I have to give a shout out to the Oregon Wine Board. Their site is full of great information on Oregon, its soils, vineyards, and wines. It really is my go-to place for information on Oregon when I am doing research.
The Oregon Wine Symposium is a wine education and trade show that they produce annually for the Northwest Wine Industry. In 2021 it will be virtual, held online from February 16 to 19th.
We are in the midst of our 12 Days of Wine 2020 celebration at Crushed Grape Chronicles! We invite you to join us as we taste and pair a wine each day leading up to Christmas. Great wines from around the world with the stories behind them, plus recipes and pairings including Dessert!
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
A couple of years ago we made our way to the Beckham Estate Vineyard. It sits at the east end of the Chehalem Mountains AVA on what is known as Parrett Mountain. We spent the morning with Annedria Beckham tasting through their wines and hearing the story of the winery first hand on their patio, their dog Ruby Tuesday curled up to keep us company.
They have a fascinating story, which you can read in our post here.
Beckham Estate Vineyard Panorama
Grapes growing on the vine when we visited Beckham Estate Vineyard
The vineyard at Beckham in mid summer.
Gardens and Vineyard at Beckham Estate Vineyard in Willamette Valley’s Chehalem Mountain AVA
Blue skies peeking through at the Beckham Estate Vineyard
One of the things that drew me to Beckham was their Amphorae program, called AD Beckham. You see, Andrew Beckham is a ceramics artist. Annedria had come across an article on Elizabetta Foradori in Italy where she was making wine in terra cotta vessels.
I thought about it 3 different times before I decided to show the article to Andrew…I said “you know I’ve heard of this winemaker and I’ve heard of her wines, we should see if we can get some in Oregon.” And he flipped through and said, “I can make those”. Annedria Beckham
The die was cast, he ordered clay the next day.
NOVUM Ceramics
Andrew Beckham’s Novum Ceramics is the first commercial producer of terra cotta Amphorae for winemaking in North America. As we continued to visit the valley we met other winemakers who were either using or waiting anxiously to receive one of his beautiful amphorae.
The day we were there, his very proud father took us up to the studio to watch the process.
Andrew has worked to create these vessels so that they do not impart flavor to the wine. The early creations he found had too much impact on his wines. I have to say, that I enjoy the characters the clay imparts.
A.D Beckham MMXVI Amphora Pinot Gris
This 2016 Pinot Gris was made from fruit sourced from Antiquum Farm in the Willamette Valley AVA. 70% did skin ferment for 40 days in amphora and then was aged in acacia. The other 30% was fermented and aged on the skins in the amphora. This wine is unfined and unfiltered.
13.7% abv, SRP $40
This wine was a deep rosy salmon-orange color. Like the color of roasted salmon. It is the perfect match for the rich color of fall leaves. This is not white wine, it is not red wine, but more of a deep orange in style, with the skin contact then amplified by the clay vessel.
There were berry notes, like macerated strawberry and tart almost pomegranate notes. At one point it brought to mind cooked plums with herbs. There were savory notes in the back. I got bright red berries and spice, some dusty notes, rhubarb, and then as it opened more umami notes, white pepper, anise, and notes of tarragon.
Amphora Pinot Gris and flavors of Afghanistan
We paired this with a Sun Basket dinner of Afghan butternut squash stew with yogurt. This stew is rich with butternut squash, chickpeas, onion, and a turmeric spice blend that includes ginger, coriander, and cumin and is served over farro. Those orange notes and spice notes played beautifully with the dish.
AD Beckham 2016 Amphora Pinot Gris and Afghan butternut squash stew
Afghan butternut stew
Strawberry Mascarpone Crepes
For dessert, we went with something lighter, crepes filled with mascarpone crème, orange zest, and strawberries, served with a trio of strawberry sauces to see which went best with the wine. One sauce had cardamom, one fresh tarragon, and one basil. I enjoyed all 3 but the basil was my favorite with the pairing.
I find that I really enjoy wines made in amphorae. Find some of the AD Beckham, or check Montinore, or Maloof…or any number of the other wineries that now have one of Andrews Novum to work with! When you can travel, schedule an appointment to taste a Beckham. The drive to the property is beautiful and the views from the ridge are stunning.
Currently, due to the cold weather and the COVID restrictions, they will not have tastings through the end of December. As we get into the New Year and things start to open up you will want to head to the Beckham Website to schedule an appointment.
Of course, right now, you can just curl up at home and order some of their wines online and have them shipped right to your door. That seems like a great option these days!
You might check out their 2019 AD Beckham “Aequalis” Pinot Gris-Pinot Noir, it sounds delicious.
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
Years ago, Michael and I ventured to Oregon on our first trip to explore the Willamette Valley. An old friend of mine, Adam, met us and made sure we visited Youngberg Hill, where he and his wife had recently been married.
I remember, having a joyful conversation with Adam in the backseat and me in the passenger’s seat. We had already stopped at one winery and Michael was being the designated driver. We were chattering away on the small roads leading to the winery. These were the days before in-car navigation systems and Adam was directing us. Of course, he and I kept getting distracted in conversation, and to Michael’s dismay, we had to turn around and backtrack, more than once.
We made our way to Youngberg Hill and Adam was greeted warmly as we arrived. He has a way of making friends wherever he goes. We tasted wine and toured the property, getting the play by play from Adam on the wedding, as he blissfully (and adorably) reminisced.
Recently we received samples from Youngberg Hill. The memories took me back to this earlier visit and I looked forward to opening the wines.
*We received these wines as samples, but all opinions are our own.*
An Arial view of Youngberg Hill – photo courtesy of Youngberg Hill
View of the vineyard at Youngberg Hill – photo courtesy of Youngberg Hill
View of the Valley from Youngberg Hill – photo courtesy of Youngberg Hill
The Youngberg Hill Inn in Oregon’s Willamette Valley – photo courtesy of Youngberg Hill
The History of Youngberg Hill
This property had been a family farm since the 1850s. Back then a Swedish immigrant named Youngberg established a 1600-acre homestead here. The family lived off this land for 130 years.
In 1987 the family sold 700 acres. The new owner planted vines in 1989 overseen by Ken Wright. These vines were sourced for wines at Panther Creek, Wright’s winery at the time.
The Bailey family arrived at the property in 2003 and began the process of making this a sustainable vineyard as well as an event venue, the views here are stunning.
They produce 2 labels, Youngberg Hill and Bailey Family Wines.
The approach to growing grapes was informed by Wayne Bailey’s youth in Iowa on a farm. He takes his stewardship of the land seriously. His career path, from mechanical engineering to supply chain management dropped him into the beverage field. That led to a bit of time in Burgundy which led him to want to grow Pinot Noir.
Bailey’s farming here, at Youngberg Hill, began with sustainable methods and a non-interventionist approach. He moved to organic and then beyond. The goal wasn’t certifications, the goal was the best way to take care of the land. They employ various organic and biodynamic practices to suit the site. They farm by the farmers’ almanac via the phases of the moon, as farmers have done for centuries. This practice is often considered “biodynamic”, but it has been used long before biodynamics was a thing. He’s pragmatic in his approach to farming.
“It’s like raising children,” he says. “You can’t make a rocket scientist out of a child who’s born to be a musician.”
The Youngberg Hill estate is 50 acres with 20 acres planted to vine. This is in the Western portion of the Willamette Valley which receives significant maritime influences sitting just 25 miles from the Pacific as the crow flies. While the maritime climate doesn’t come straight through, it sweeps it’s way up through the Van Duzer Corridor south of them. They don’t get as much rain here as the rest of the valley and the temperatures tend to be cooler overall. The original 11 acres are own-rooted.
We tasted two of the Youngberg Hill Pinot Noirs, one a blend of non-estate and estate fruit and one from the very specific Natasha Block.
2017 Youngberg Hill Cuvée Pinot Noir
This 2017 blend comes from fruit from the Bailey Block on the Youngberg Hill estate, as well as some fruit from Yamhill Valley Vineyards.
The Bailey block was planted in 2008. This is 3 acres of 777 clones. Soils here are well-drained mixed Steiwer/shale and the vineyard sits at 660-700 feet in elevation.
The rest of the fruit is from Yamhill Valley Vineyards and from Dijon 667 & 115 clones. This is a 150-acre estate. They are the oldest winery in the McMinnville AVA. We met their winemaker Ariel Eberle a few years ago pouring her own label “A Cheerful Note”.
Soils here are sedimentary clay with basalt.
The details:
100% Pinot Noir
14 months is 25% French Oak
Case production: 660
ABV 13.1%
SRP $35
Our notes
The nose was full of red fruit with a waft of dustiness then brambles and spice. Baked strawberry came to mind. It was bright in my mouth with med/high acid and light drifty tannins that evaporate. A medium finish that brought up bits of cola.
Our notes
This wine had a very integrated nose. It was heavier than the Cuvée with more brambles and bramble fruit. It was lively in my mouth with tartness, like tart blackberry and good acid. Notes of red currant, with bits of smoky vanilla, popped up as I paired it. The finish was lengthy and mouth and gum warming.
This wine is a bit more brooding and earthier than the Cuvée.
2016 Youngberg Hill Natasha Pinot Noir
The Natasha Block is a Bailey Estate Block, planted in 1989 and named after Wayne’s eldest daughter. Facing southeast this 6.6-acre block gets great sunlight and sits at 600 feet. The soil here is the Willakenzie series of Marine sedimentary and volcanic rock.
The details:
From 40% Wadenswil and 60% Pommard clones
14 months in 37% New French Oak
Case Production 859
ABV 14.3%
SRP $60
Pairings for these Youngberg Hill Pinots
Salmon & Pinot are so traditional, we stepped just a bit outside the box. The key to red wine with fish is choosing a fatty fish and so we chose rainbow trout. For my vegetable, I went earthier choosing a root vegetable gratin, in a rainbow of colors, with red beet, sweet potato, golden beet, and parsnip.
How did the pairings go?
The trout with its distinctive flavor and fat stood up to both of the wines, even the brooding Natasha. The gratin really worked well, much credit should be given to the Gruyere topper for pulling the pairing together. With the blend of 4 vegetables, I found I preferred the parsnips with the Cuvée and the beets with the Natasha. Overall, a very satisfying pairing.
One more unexpected pairing!
We did not finish both bottles in one sitting, so we had some left over to pair with lunch. Youngberg Hill mentions that the Cuvee will pair with everything!
“You can even pair this with PB & J or spiced tacos.”
Challenge accepted! We paired with PB & J to our delight and it was wonderful, the acid in the wine cutting through the fat in the Peanut Butter and melding beautifully with the fruit in the grape jelly! Do It! Preferably in your jammies on the couch with a good book or a great movie. This is genius for a nesting day!
Youngberg Hill 2017 Cuvee and PB & J
Rainbow root vegetable gratin
Cutting red beets
Cutting Sweet Potato
Cutting Sweet Potato
Cutting Parsnips
Preheat the oven to 400 F
Grease a baking dish (2-quart size)
Peel and slice the vegetables thinly into rounds and place them in separate bowls. (How perfect and fancy you want to get depends on your style. I hand cut these and was not concerned about having them all look the same size, but you could use a cutter to make all of your circles uniform if you chose)
To each bowl add bits of the cream (4 tablespoons each to the beets, 2 tablespoons each to the potato and parsnip you should end up with about ¼ cup left)
Divide your parmesan in ½ and then divide that into 4 parts and sprinkle this on each of your 4 bowls.
Divide the thyme 4 ways over the 4 bowls.
Rainbow root vegetable gratin
2 red beets
2 golden beets
1 sweet potato
1 parsnip
1 cup of cream
4 oz of grated parmesan
1 tbs+ fresh thyme
1 clove of garlic minced
1 oz of shredded gruyere
Salt & pepper
Stir up each bowl seasoning with salt and pepper and make sure all the slices of vegetables are coated.
In the base of your buttered baking or gratin dish, pour the rest of the cream, add the minced garlic, and ½ of the remaining parmesan.
Now, layer your gratin, start with a bunch of the parsnip (5 or 6 slices) followed by the yellow beet, followed by the sweet potato, and finally the red beet, standing them on edge making rows. Continue until your dish is full. (Feel free to play with your patterns and colors artistically as you see fit).
Top this with a bit of S & P and the rest of the Parm.
Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes.
Uncover and top with the gruyere
Bake another 20 minutes. (Cheese should be melted and lightly brown)
Sprinkle with a bit more thyme and serve
Cheesey Root Vegetable Gratin ingredients
grating Parmesan
parmesan on Scale
Mixing Sweet Potato
Baked rainbow trout
2 trout (scaled and gutted)
1 lemon
Dill
Green onions (chopped)
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper
prepping Trout
Preheat your oven to 450 F
Rinse the fish and pat dry
Sprinkle the inside with salt and pepper
Add half the dill and green onions inside
Drizzle with Olive oil
Do the same to the other fish
Cut 3 shallow diagonal cuts in the top of each fish
Drizzle olive oil on top of each fish
Stick a ½ lemon slice in each of the cuts.
One last sprinkle of salt and pepper and pop them in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
Pop them back under the broiler for a couple of minutes to crisp up the skin and serve.
How to find Youngberg Hill?
The Willamette Valley is a beautiful place to visit and has so much wonderful wine!
You can find Youngberg Hill at 10660 SW Youngberg Hill Road, McMinnville, OR 97128
Tastings are appointment only 10-4 daily, call them at 503-472-2727 or drop them an email at [email protected]
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
What to pair this week? Maybe an Illahe Viognier. The sun was out this morning. We spent a bit of time in the backyard, planning our upcoming #travelinabottle trips, and letting Loki enjoy the great outdoors for a bit. I may have even taken on a bit of a pink tinge. It was the perfect day to have the windows open and feel the breeze, a rare thing in Las Vegas.
Today’s bit of travel in a bottle
Today, we were traveling to Oregon, to a spot in the Willamette Valley west of Salem in what is on it’s way to being the Mt. Pisgah/Polk County AVA.
Illahe vineyard Panorama view
ILLAHE, pronounced Ill-Uh-Hee, is a local Chinook word meaning “earth” or “place” or “soil”
From Illahevineyards.com
Illahe Vineyards
We visited Illahe Vineyards a bit ago and spent a morning with Owner Lowell Ford, tasting through the wines, touring the winery and cave and taking in the view in front of the tasting room.
This glorious spring day was perfect for a spring pasta! We made a Pappardelle from Sun Basket that was perfect for the day and the wine!
Spring vegetables and pasta
Fresh pasta, shallots, lemon juice and zest, parsley, spinach and peas, get topped with crushed hazelnuts and ricotta salata. The dish is beautiful, as you can see. It also tastes as good as it looks. Bright and fresh without being overly acidic.
Spring, Pappardelle with a Illahe Viognier
Illahe 2017 Viognier
The same can be said for the wine. The nose has stone fruit, as it says above, but I also get Meyer lemon and lemon zest which of course made it perfect with this dish. This wine was Re-Fresh-Ing! It is nuanced with the citrus notes, a bit of chalk, stone fruit pit (like a crisp white peach). There were pits of beeswax in the background. For a 2017 it was remarkably crisp and fresh and rounded beautifully.
With the food, it was bright with the green notes, had great acid for the pasta, was perfectly matched with the lemon and lemon zest, and picked up the notes from the hazelnuts.
While they no longer have this vintage, you can find their 2019 in their online store at a most reasonable $19.00 per bottle. This is perfect for lunch with the alcohol sitting at just 12.5%.
5 more Articles on Illahe
You can read more about Illahe in the pieces below (you’ll also find great video of our visit)
***On a side note…as I was writing this my best friend called me from Yorktown Virginia. I had visited a few months ago and we were in a wine shop in Williamsburg. Looking for a bottle I saw and Illahe Pinot Noir on the shelf and pointed it out to her. She picked it up, planning for us to enjoy it together, which we ran out of time for. She opened it, as I was writing this and called me immediately to tell me how good it was. Another Illahe convert!
Visit us again for more on wine, wineries, amazing people as well as some food and wine pairings!
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
Years….they used to take forever! No longer. Now they often seem to speed by in a blur. The coming of the New Year makes me nostalgic. I sit warm, happy with a full belly and I remember that this is not to be taken for granted. Time for a little reflection and gratitude.
2019
I head to social media to reflect on the year. Remember the days when we had journals or diaries or a box of photos? Well, technology has allowed us to share those memorable moments, both big and small.
Instagram is my go to photo journal. So I’m sifting through to give you an idea of my year…holy crap there are alot of wine photos! LOL!
The Quiet Time
My photo essay of the beginning of my year…snow, studying, a Valentines Day on the ice, new Ramen places, hiking at Mount Charleston, beautiful sunsets, reading by the ocean in Carlsbad, high tea with friends, the super bloom in San Diego, a blind tasting event and of course, Loki. Okay…that gets us through the quiet months.
Double click on any of the photos for a larger picture and perhaps a bit more information.
The Scenic Route
We did our typical drive a million miles summer vacation. This year it was named “The Scenic Route”. It took us from Vegas to Tahoe, to Mount Shasta, to Southern Oregon, through the Columbia Gorge to the Yakima Valley, Walla Walla and then back through the Willamette, down to the Applegate Valley and finally to Yosemite before traveling home. We met incredible winemakers, saw beautiful scenery and vineyards and while we shared the overall story of our trip this year, you can look forward to many more in depth pieces on the places we visited this year.
Studying
Then we rested…that should be what I write next. But no. This was crunch time for me. I had been studying all year to take my test to become a Certified Specialist of Wine. After a 13 week course and then months of additional study I hoped I was ready. I was…
#OurAussieWineAdventure
Now was it time to rest? Nope. We were off to the Wine Media Conference in October. Social media got to see much of our trip…there are still interviews and articles to be written in the new year. Here is a glimpse of our travels through New South Wales Australia. We dubbed it #OurAussieWineAdventure.
So, exhausted and exhilarated, we returned. At this point the holiday’s approached and our 2nd Annual 12 Days of wine celebration was at hand.
12 Days of Wine
Here is a link to that page. 12 Days of Wine 2019. You’ll find fun video reveals and details about each of the wines there.
Now we’ve come to the end of the year. It was a full year. We have writing to do video’s to create and tons of content to share with you. And…there will be new adventures. For right now…I’m going to relax and then day dream about what the New Year might hold.
What wine list of ours would be complete without a bottle from Johan.
The Van Duzer Corridor
View of the Johan Vineyard in the Van Duzer Corridor of Oregon’s Willamette Valley
The Van Duzer Corridor is one of the newer AVA’s in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. The TTB approval of the AVA happened in December of 2018 (7 years after they started the process). So what is this corridor and where is it?
The Van Duzer Corridor AVA map courtesy the Oregon Wine Resource Studio
1st, this is a nested AVA lying within the larger Willamette Valley AVA in Oregon. It is in the southern part of the AVA, north of Salem. Encompassing 59,850 acres, there are but 1,000 acres planted to vines. The soil here is marine sediment. It is named for the area 10 miles to it’s west, the actual Van Duzer Corridor, where there is a drop in the coastal range that funnels cold air into the interior.
This happens daily at around 2 pm. The breeze, or should I say wind (it often gets up to 8 mph) does a couple of things. It cools things down and it dries out the berries, keeping them free from mold and fungus (think the Mistral in Provence). It also forces the berries to protect themselves. To do this they thicken their skins and tend to grow smaller and fewer. This gives you more tannins and anthocyanins (which give you color). Lower yields, smaller berries, thicker skin…this all means more flavor.
Johan Vineyard
I have a great love for the wines of Johan. If you know me, you are probably surprised that this was not a Pet Nat! (I do love their Pet Nats). But today we dive into their Estate Grüner Veltliner. But before we get into that…a little on the vineyard.
The vineyard road at Johan Vineyards in the Willamette Valley’s Van Duzer Corridor AVA
Vines at Johan Vineyard
Vineyard View at Johan in the Van Duzer Corridor
Jack and the compost at Johan in the Van Duzer Corridor
Jack pointing out the mushroom innoculation on this stump at Johan
A cowhorn at the biodynamic Johan Vineyard
Views from the tasting room at Johan
Johan Vineyard is 85 acres certified biodynamic. More than that, the winery is certified biodynamic. A holistic approach is important to them here. We walked the vineyard with Jack when we visited and saw the compost heap, and the oak stump innoculated for mushrooms. They have a garden and their wines…most lean toward that “natural wine” style, with many deliciously unfiltered.
For more on Johan you can catch a couple of our previous pieces
Grüner Veltliner can be an underappreciated variety. Hailing from Austria, this grape can often trick people in tastings. That is until they get to the finish where white pepper is the give away. These wines can be citrus, or herbal, lean or full. Flavors as well as textures can vary dependent on climate and style.
In Austria white wines dominate, much of that due to the climate and Grüner is the definite leader covering about a third of the vineyard acreage.
2017 Johan Estate Grüner Veltliner
The grapes are crushed and destemmed, then barrel fermented through primary and malolactic fermentation in puncheons and aged 10 months sur lie (that’s on the dead yeast cells that fall to the bottom). They do not stir the lees. It sits at 13.6% abv and runs $34.99.
2017 Johan Estate Grüner Veltliner
They look to make this wine rich and exotic, choosing to pick appropriately and going through malolactic and sur lie aging to increase the texture.
It should be noted that white wines from the Van Duzer Corridor have a few things in common. They tend to have bright fruit and acid that is compimented by weight and texture. The Oregon Wine Board also notes that you will often find Iodine and Nori characteristics in these wines.
The Tasting
Exotic and rich…lime, lemon, herbs, white pepper, poprocks, nectarine, ginger, honey are all typical aromas and flavors for Gruner.
Johan Estate Grüner Veltliner Scents
This wine was a deep golden color in the glass. The first thing on the nose was bruised apple, then white flower and nectarine. It exploded out of the glass and bottle when it was first opened. It perfumed the air for a several foot radius around the bottle and glass. Then it quickly became shy, making me search for aromas. The acids were firm and the wine had a depth of texture.
The Pairing
We paired this with camembert cheese and found that it brought forth the floral notes. It was lovely with our asparagus risotto. This is one of those rare wines that can pair with asparagus! We also tested it with a split pea soup and found it was less exciting. Perhaps a lighter style of Grüner would have worked with this. I did struggle to find that signature Grüner white pepper on this wine. On a second pour tropical notes came forward and it opened again in the glass with rich warm baked apples.
Other pairing suggestions
Grüner can pair beautifully with Wiener schnitzel (breaded veal cutlets quickly fried). It also pairs well with fried chicken. In addition it is one of those rare wines that will pair with artichokes! Try it with cauliflower, trout or gnocchi!
Noooooo….Only 1 day left!
Thank goodness there is Christmas to cheer us after tomorrow! Otherwise what would we do? The sadness as the 12 days comes to an end would be unbearable! Come back tomorrow!
As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.
Located in the Chehalem Mountains, Beckham is actually on Parrett Mountain on the south east end of the range. We visited them in July of 2018 to hear their story. It was a beautiful morning and Annedria set us up on the patio next to the tasting room, (which has a beautiful view), for our tasting.
Andrew was busy in the studio making amphorae.
We had discussed the creation of the vineyard (you can see that in our post here). Now we move on to Annedria telling us about planting their Riesling, expanding the vineyard, their inspiration from the Jura in France and then how the Amphorae Project began.
Planting riesling
Beckham Riesling block
When choosing a white grape to plant, they settled on Riesling and planted in 2013, the traditional way on the steepest, rockiest part of their vineyard.
“We had to hand pick with a pick axe every hole for each vine because it was just cobble and it’s taken a little while to come along.”
Annedria Beckham, July 2018
They
had warm vintages from 2014 to 2017, so the vintage in 2016 was small with an
even smaller vintage in 2017 since it is dry farmed. Annedria was hoping they might have enough
this year to do something. She’s really
looking forward to some Riesling.
When
the Riesling was planted they had 6 acres of Pinot Noir and 1 acre of Riesling
on their 8 and a half acre parcel.
“I was doing my happy dance thinking we were done. Now we were finished. No more breaks spent planting vines, pounding posts, no more catch wire. All of the infrastructure was finally in. We were done.”
Annedria Beckham July 2018
More vineyard
Beckham the new block of Trousseau Noir
But Andrew was contemplating the acreage behind them. He spoke to the owner and made a deal to purchase a bit of the parcel.
The parcel was covered in Douglas Fir. The family who owned it were Oregon homesteaders and had gone through a variety of crops on the land before settling on timber. The owner liked that they were farming and was happy to make a deal for the property.
The county, however, couldn’t parcel off the property in smaller blocks, so they ended up with the whole 20 acres.
Soon Andrew was thinking of what else he could plant and the journey of contacting the timber guys, pulling out the Douglas fir and all that follows began again.
They cleared 10 of the 20 acres and prepped it. At this point they had a bit more knowledge on how to lay out a vineyard and had decided to go with higher density, up to 2000 vines per acre from 1200.
That makes for just a few vines…2000 vines times 7 acres…that’s a chunk of change. They were also ready to go with North American root stock. The previous vines were own rooted, which was pretty safe up here on Parrett Mountain, as they do not share equipment.
To save a bit, they took cuttings of North American root stock and planted them. They could get the vines going and when they were ready, purchase bud wood to graft in place.
Falling in love with the Jura
Around
this time, they also managed to take their first real vacation in years and and
visited France. They visited Burgundy,
which Annedria said was wonderful, but they had enough Pinot Noir planted. When they visited the Jura, they felt
completely at home. This region is one of the undiscovered areas of France for
many people.
“it wasn’t a monoculture there yet. There were still farms, there were still animals, there were still other crops. It wasn’t just row after row of vines and hillside after hillside of vines. And the people…you know, dirt under their fingernails and they were doing it like we were doing it”
Annedria Beckham July 2018
They visited cellars and garages in the Jura and decided that these were the varieties they wanted to plant.
Planting Jura varieties and testing some Italian varieties
There
were a couple of vineyards that had planted Trousseau Noir, so it wasn’t
completely new, but in around May of 2018 they grafted over 2 acres to 3 or 4
clones of Trousseau Noir, including the Bastardo clone. They also grafted an acre to Sauvignon Blanc
and an acre to Aligote. While they don’t anticipate getting Poulsard, they are
looking to add Savagnin.
They
also have a test block of a couple of Italian varieties, high alpine Nebbiolo,
Montuni and Albana. These last two from
the Emilia Romagna region. With global
warming they are testing the waters to see what might start to grow well.
Making
the cool climate style of Pinot Noir that they like is becoming more of a
challenge without doing things like making additions, adding water,
reacidulating etc in the winery, with the multiple warm vintages that they have
been experiencing. They’ve been doing
it, but it is tougher.
A vineyard, a winemaker and an artist with clay – The amphorae project
The entrance to Beckham Vineyards from SW Heater Road with it’s amphorae
Back
to 2013. They planted the Riesling,
bought the new property, started clearing and one night, Annedria has half a moment to flip thorough a
Wine Spectator and comes across a piece on Elizabetta Foradori.
“I was flipping through waiting for my computer to load and I see this photograph of this stunning Italian woman in her underground cellar and row after row of these beautiful terra cotta vessels. And it was Elizabetta Foradori in her cellar. And I thought about it 3 different times before I decided to show the article to Andrew, because I knew him well enough that I didn’t want him to get this crazy idea that he needed to start making amphorae, because we had enough on our plate. But I showed him the article and said “you know I’ve heard of this winemaker and I’ve heard of her wines, we should see if we can get some in Oregon.” And he flipped through and said “I can make those” I said “ I know you can dear, but that’s not the point. How ‘bout we try the wines first?” And he ordered clay the next day and started working on shape and size.”
Annedria Beckham July 2018
This was in his wheelhouse. Andrew’s pottery had always been large scale, now it had a purpose. They tried to keep this quiet. I mean… it was an experiment. But friends found out and soon there was quite a bit of interest. At this point they just had the amphorae, but they did not have any wine made in it.
Beckham Amphora and barrels
Trials for amphorae – the experimentation
Andrew worked with a chemist trialing clay. They searched for an Oregon clay, but the closest they could find was from Sacramento in the delta. Most terracotta is used for pots for plants, so there are things like barium and color stabilizers in it that would not work for making wine. The clay body has changed over the years as he trialed the wines. As the potter and the winemaker he can look at a vintage and see where he might like to tweek the vessel or adjust firing temperatures. It’s all a big experiment, which, like anything with wine, takes time.
He was
scientific in his testing. The first
year they used their estate pinot noir and just did primary fermentation in the
amphorae, then pressed and aged in neutral oak.
There were just 24 cases of this wine.
They did not additions other than a touch of sulfur before bottling to
keep the variables down as they tested.
After ferment was complete, he had this empty amphorae just crying to be used, so they picked up some Pinot Gris that another winemaker had and did a little skin contact Pinot Gris. This first year was 2 weeks skin contact, the next 30 days, the next year 40 days and now he does 10 months.
A summer spent creating amphorae
So in
2014, happy with the initial test, he spent his entire summer break making
around 30 amphorae. The clay body was
slightly different this time. They took
a little more of their Estate Pinot Noir fermented it in the amphorae, pressed
and then separated half to amphorae and half to neutral oak for aging. These were later bottled separately as Creta
for clay and Ligna for wood.
A.D. Beckham 2016 “Creta” Amphora Pinot Noir
Beckham Estate Pinot Noir
“ It was really fun to pour those wines side by side because it was split 50 50 down the middle between what people liked. Because the ligna wasn’t too far off the beaten path. You could tell there was a difference. There was this textural component, this purity but it wasn’t so different to be too far out there. Where as the Creta in 2014 was very different, was very iron driven, there was a I don’t want to say a “blood character” . There was a very clay textural component.”
Annedria Beckham July 2018
But
the point wasn’t to taste the clay, the point was to get a purity of
place. So he tweeked the clay body again
and settled on one in 2015 that he has moved forward with. He know feels that you get that textural
component, but it’s not so overt that the clay is what stands out.
On to the Winery and fields of amphorae
The Beckham Winery through the vines
At this point Annedria pours us a little of their Syrah/Viognier and we head up to the winery and studio. The Winery is modest, with the views they have the majority of tastings are done in the tasting room or on the patio, but they can do tastings in the winery. The building was filled with barrels and amphorae in multiple shapes.
Tasting in the Beckham Winery
Tasting in the Winery at Beckham
Annedria spoke to us about the amphorae, the progression and the process, going through Andrew’s experiments with firing temperatures and how they change the oxygen exposure and can even impart reductive qualities to the wine if fired very hot.
She also mentioned some other vintners who were using Andrew’s amphorae.
We had seen a couple of these amphorae when we visited Montinore and spoke with Rudy Marchesi. I also remember seeing later that Ross & Bee of Maloof wines had picked up an amphorae, and I look forward to tasting the wine they make in this.
We continued on and met Andrew in the studio where he was in the process of making another amphorae. I think that you can look forward to tasting many wines aged in his amphorae in the future, from winemakers around the region and beyond.
Wine tasting at Beckham Vineyard with a view of the Chehalem Mountains
You can reach them at 971.645.3466 or by emailing Annedria at [email protected]
They are open typically for drop in tastings on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm. Outside of that time you can feel free to contact them in advance to schedule a tasting by appointment.
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It was early morning of our last day in the Willamette Valley and we drove North from (where we were staying) heading toward the Chehalem Mountains. The road into Portland was moving fast and we came up a hill, with the side of the roads deeply forested. There was our turn. We had to make it fast. And suddenly, from the whirl of fast trucks, we turned and turned again into the quiet of the forests on Chehalem mountain. This is timber country. Deep forests with early morning mist. It was a magical escape from the fast morning pace on the road behind us.
We were running early (it’s in our nature), so we had time to drive and explore the mountain. When you reach the top, you find clearings, fields with houses or sometimes, giant pink painted adirondack chairs, between bunches of Douglas fir. We followed the google maps and ended up on a gravel road at one point, but found our way back around to Beckham which actually sits on Parrett Mountain on the South west end of Chahalem Mountain. We knew we were in the right place before we could read the sign, because of the clay amphorae at the gate.
Discovering Beckham
I came upon Beckham in the usual way, at least for me. When researching where to go in a region, I head to the regions site, in this case the Willamette Valley Wine and one by one, I click through the links and check out the sites for each winery. The Beckham site stopped me as I saw their Amphorae Project video. I read on, and knew that these were people I wanted to meet.
Tasting with a view at Beckham
The patio by the Beckham tasting room
Vines at Beckham
Chehalem Mountains
We arrived and met Annedria Beckham who walked us to their tasting room, that sits just down from their home, next to the garden. We met Ruby Tuesday, their dog and Annedria set us up at the picnic table on the patio for a tasting.
She and Andrew bought this property in 2004 to build an art studio. Andrew is a high school art teacher and a ceramics artist. He teaches in Beaverton at the High School. They bought this little house in the woods to grow a garden and raise a family.
Directly across the street there was a little 2.5 acre vineyard. The owners were in their late 70’s early 80’s and had 20 year old pinot noir and chardonnay vines back in 2004. They farmed the fruit and had someone else make the wine for them and then on Saturdays they would sell their $11 pinot noir out of their garage.
… we were there quite often, fell in love with the idea of growing something on our property. Andrew went and helped Fred prune the vineyard that first year, came back with a truck load of Pinot Noir cuttings and said “Hey hun, how ‘bout we plant a couple rows right over here for fun.” I humored him thinking he will get over this crazy notion, we didn’t know anything about growing grapes. Next thing I know we are propagating vines on the coffee table in the living room.
Annedria Beckham, Beckham Estate Vineyard July 2018
As the tale goes, the vines then went to heat mats in the garage and then a timber company was called to see what the 60 year old Douglas Fir on the property was worth. They negotiated and had the company come and cut the timber, but they were left with the stumps, limbs and the mess. They cleaned that up themselves with a rented track hoe and a cat. There were some pretty big bonfires and they have been using the limbs for firewood ever since. Finally, after some grading, the first block was ready to be planted in May of 2005.
Beckham Estate Vineyard Panorama
They began with own rooted, dry farmed Pommard and Wadenswil. They added on and planted about 2.5 acres the first year and another 1.5 the next. This was a gradual slow process, bit by bit as their budget and time could allow. This is a labor of love, that grew out of a passion. They dove in headfirst into farming.
So once we put our little baby sticks in the ground we had to keep them alive. So when I mentioned dry farming, we hand water about 15 lengths of hose and a few beers and me after work every day, watering just to keep them alive that first year, and then after that they were on their own. Just a little in 2005 and spot watered some stressed areas in 2006 but since then they haven’t seen a hose.
Annedria Beckham, Beckham Estate Vineyard July 2018
At this point they were focused on the farming, so they sold their first tiny batch of fruit to a winery in Dundee in 2007.
But we had those first few babies, we were really excited for and at that point you’ve hand rooted every vine, pounded every post, run every wire, hand hung every cluster and then at that point to give them away to someone else was nearly heartbreaking. But Andrew got to stay and help with crush deliver the fruit and help with processing and then went back every couple of days. He came home and said “I don’t know that I can continue to farm with this much energy and effort and then just hand it off to someone else. I think we should make wine.”
Annedria Beckham, Beckham Estate Vineyard July 2018
They did spend another year selling off fruit, while Andrew apprenticed for a few years with different wineries. In 2009 they kept the fruit to make their own wine. The first year it was 250 cases of one wine. In 2011 they opened the tasting room. At the time it had a roof, but no sides, only one light and no running water.
.. but people came and they got to taste one wine about 5 different times, because that was all I had. And they came back and they bought and they came back and they brought their friends.
Annedria Beckham, Beckham Estate Vineyard July 2018
All this time Andrew was still teaching as well as working for a couple of different winemakers and they now had 3 children. Annedria began working for the Chehalem Mountain Wine Growers Association in 2008. Their executive director went on maternity leave and Annedria was asked to fill in, and the previous director never returned. She found this to be a wonderful way to immerse themselves in the community.
When we speak about Oregon wine country, you always find people speaking about the generosity of the community, with people happy to share their time, resources and knowledge.
To have David Adelsheim on speed dial? How lucky was I to be in that position. It was a wonderful way to learn how winemaking works and making business decisions….hey this first restaurant wants to have our wine, how do I price it? I have no idea? So asking those important questions and having the right people to be able to talk to while Andrew was working in the vineyard and the winery.
Annedria Beckham, Beckham Estate Vineyard July 2018
At this point we tasted the first of the wines. It was the 2015 Estate Pinot Noir, which is a composite wine from the entire site. They make about 300 cases of this. It’s 30% whole cluster with native yeast fermentation.
Growing Organically
They farm organically here and have been farming organically since 2013. They are not certified. It’s expensive and time consuming to become certified, and they are looking into that now. They would need to hire someone just to deal with all the paperwork for this and they are a small operation.
Chickens in the vineyard at Beckham
A lot of folks are like “how do we know that you are doing everything organically unless you are certified?” I’m not doing something for someone else, we are small enough that I’m not putting it on my label, we still sell the majority of our wine direct to consumer. You can walk around and see that we farm things organically. I grow for my family. My kids are running around these vines, our chickens are running around these vines. That we are eating the eggs from, we have sheep around the vineyard the majority of the year. We do it for us.
Annedria Beckham, Beckham Estate Vineyard July 2018
The sheep at Beckham Estate Vineyards
They’ve started some biodynamic practices, burying their first 500 cow horns in 2017 with their first sprayings of the solution in 2018.
Annedria poured us the Dow’s 2015 Pinot Noir, which is from Andrew’s favorite couple of barrels from each vintage.
Their first vintage was in 2009 and all they had was the Estate bottling. Of course it’s tough to do a tasting with just one wine, so she asked Andrew how they might make a second wine, and that is how the Dow’s came about.
2015 Dow’s Pinot Noir Beckham Estate Vineyards
Dow is a family middle name in the Beckham family with over 20 Beckham sons carrying the name. In 2011 they added their wine club and Annedria asked how they might get a 3rd release. They only had Pinot Noir, and rosés were just becoming popular again so Andrew made her the Olivia’s Rosé and Sophia’s Pinot Noir. Sophia’s is the first release, elegant and delicate, the Estate follows with more complexity and then the Dow with a little new oak and a darker fruit profile.
This was all of their estate wine until 2013 when they started the Amphorae Project.
We will continue our visit with Annedria and Andrew Beckham with a pod cast speaking with her about the addition of their riesling, their inspiration in the Jura and the Amphorae Project
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