It’s easy sometimes to forget that Eugene is part of the Willamette Valley. We hear much about the Northern sub AVAs, Ribbon Ridge, Chehalem Mountain, Eola-Amity, and the rest. But the Willamette Valley AVA is expansive and dips south far below these AVAs into the region around Salem and then even further, stretching 150 miles from North to South, ending in the area around Eugene following the Willamette River.
Iris’ Chalice Estate Vineyard
Here at the southern end of the AVA, you find Iris Vineyards. In the Willamette Valley, most vineyards sit between 200 and 1000 feet in elevation. The Chalice Estate Vineyard at Iris sits between 800 and 1000 feet above sea level and is planted to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Gris.
At this altitude, these varieties are well-suited to creating Sparkling Wines, and winemaker Aaron Lieberman loves creating bubbles.
Traditional Sparkling Wines
There has been much discussion about Sparkling wines in the Willamette Valley over the past few years, with Willamette Valley Vineyards building their Domaine Willamette, which opened in September of 2022. Of course, wineries like Argyle have been creating sparkling wines since Rollin Soles made it cool some 30 years ago.
Aaron has been producing sparkling wines here with Iris since 2015. He had experience creating sparkling wines with his own label Cottonwood which he created with his father and ran from 2002 to 2013.
The making of traditional method sparkling wine is not an easy venture. The hand labor involved is time-consuming. Turning the bottles daily in the riddling racks to allow the lees to settle in the neck of the bottle takes a patient soul.
Aaron is soft-spoken and selective with his words. He is not a person who speaks, just to speak. Small talk is not his style. It’s easy to picture him alone, quietly and carefully turning the bottles in the riddling racks.
When I met Aaron for dinner while he was visiting Las Vegas, he told me that he would love to plant some Pinot Blanc and Pinot Meunier to add to the blend of his Traditional Method Sparkling wines. This would give him all 5 of the major Champagne varieties, and they have another 30 acres available to plant on the property.
Iris Vineyards Brut Willamette Valley
I tasted the Iris Vineyards Willamette Valley Brut Sparkling Wine, available through their distributors. A blend of Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay from the Estate Vineyards, from blocks managed just for sparkling wine.
As I dipped my nose in the glass, it showed sharp apple notes, surrounded by soft dusty yeast notes, the overall effect being enveloping but bright, with Meyer lemon notes following, rounding and blending the aromas. There was an added slight note of crisp tart pear on the palate.
Aaron made just 110 cases of this wine, retailing for $29.99. 11.38% abv.
In addition to this sparkling wine, Aaron makes three other sparkling wines, single varieties; a Blanc de Noirs, a Blanc de Blancs, and a Brut Rosé. They currently produce about 1000 cases of sparkling wine. To really make the program worth it, Aaron would like to increase that to about 5000 cases.
History of Iris Vineyards
The winery is located in Cottage Grove, Oregon, southeast of Eugene, and they have a new tasting room in Springfield, which is directly east of Eugene.
The vineyards are southwest of the city sitting in the Lorane Valley. Their 37 acres share a border with the King Family estate.
Richard Boyles and Pamela Frye purchased this property in 1992. Often it’s not easy to see good land for vineyards in Oregon, as the ground is covered in evergreen. At the time, this property had been clear-cut, exposing slopes & soils ideally suited to wine grapes. They committed to restoring much of the property to native plants and trees and continue to protect woodland areas. They also have meadows that are leased for grazing.
Aaron joined Richard and Pamela in 2008. He was already well-versed in vineyard planting and management and in winemaking. After obtaining a degree in soil science from OSU, he spent several years with the Peace Corps in Guatemala, working with farmers. He returned to Oregon, worked with Amity Vineyards, and then helped plant many vineyards in the Willamette Valley. He then honed his winemaking skills at De Ponte Cellars and Owen Roe and had his own label, “Cottonwood,” with his father for over 10 years.
Iris 2020 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris
The next wine we tasted was their 2020 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris. Again, this comes from the Estate Vineyards and is the Dijon Pinot Gris 146 & 152 clones.
Picked about a week later than usual in 2020. The grapes are whole cluster pressed into stainless steel, let it settle for a day, and racked again into stainless steel. Then the wine was cold stabilized to prevent malolactic fermentation.
The 2020 Pinot Gris has bright, clean fruit notes and is lush with aromas of ripe pear, white florals, and apple.
1301 cases, Suggested Retail Price $15.99. 13.3% abv.
Iris 2020 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir
Next, we were on to taste the 2020 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. This wine is from a blend of vineyards, including the Chalice Estate (21%), Barking Dog, near Newberg (23%), Hidden Rocks in the Eola-Amity Hills (24%), Robinson in the Northeast Willamette Valley20%) and Ten Peaks vineyards, in the foothills of the Coast Range (12%.)
The blend of Pinot Noir clones within this wine is even more extensive, with Pommard, Wadenswil, and Dijon clones 113, 114, 115, 667, and 777.
All the parcels were fermented, pressed, and barrel-aged separately.
With this blend of Pinots from different regions in the Willamette, this wine bursts with red cherry and spice. There are also subtle notes of earth and herbs.
4051 cases produced, $23.99 SRP. 13% abv.
Closures
This bottle is under screw cap, as are most of their wines. Only the Sparkling wines and the Areté are under cork. Aaron feels that cork is a more sustainable closure, but quite honestly, they are expensive. A cork will run $1.00 compared to a screw cap which can run .15 cents. (It makes you look at those wine cork art projects in a different light, doesn’t it?)
Sustainability
From that topic, we wondered into sustainability. When I asked what they were doing along the sustainability lines, the first thing quickly out of Aaron’s mouth was, “Not enough.”
It’s refreshing to have someone admit, first out, that they have a way to go with their sustainability efforts. I don’t know of a single vineyard or winery on the planet that is exactly where they think they should be on this topic. Still, most will answer first with the litany of things they are doing, eventually coming back to say that they are continuing to try to do more.
Aaron was honest and went the other way around. We discussed the cover crops and how they work with green manure crops that are temporary, and they are working toward permanent cover crops.
We discussed bird pressure at harvest, which is not heavy for them. Aaron keeps tabs on the Columbia Gorge to see when the birds are coming through that area. This gives them a few weeks heads up for when they can expect to see migratory birds.
We discussed filtering and fining. They use diatomaceous earth pads for filtering but do no fining, just cold stabilization.
The wines
In addition to the wines we were tasting, they have a Bordeaux-style blend for distribution and an estate Pinot Noir.
Beyond the wines they make for distribution, they have a selection for their wine club. From their Bordeaux blend each vintage, they chose a barrel to make a single variety of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, or Cabernet Franc. They often do a Tempranillo and a Viognier with grapes they source from the Applegate Valley. You might run into these wines if you visit their Springfield tasting room.
Their line of Areté Wines are 100% estate-grown. The word “Areté” is rooted in Greek philosophy and is the concept of excellence or “full realization of potential.”
They reserve this label for their traditional method sparkling wines and outstanding vintages of their estate wines.
Their line of Areté Wines are 100% estate-grown. The word “Areté” is rooted in Greek philosophy and is the concept of excellence or “full realization of potential.”
They reserve this label for their traditional method sparkling wines and outstanding vintages of their estate wines.
2021 Areté Pinot Noir
We wrapped up our evening tasting the 2021 Areté Pinot Noir. This wine is all estate from the Chalice Vineyard. A blend of Wadenswil, Pommard, and Dijon clones 113, 667, and 828.
This wine is from select blocks, and 50% is fermented in 2 500 liter puncheons, one with the head removed. Aaron says this lowers the fermentation temperature, so he retains more volatile aromatics. These are new oak puncheons also, which fix the wine’s color as they round the palate. This half of the wine then goes into tight-grained new French oak with a deep light toast. The light toast and tight grain mean you don’t get too much oak flavor in the wine.
The other 50% of this wine is chosen from the best barrels from the best blocks of the vintage. So yes, this is just 4 barrels of wine.
Compared to the other Pinot, this is richer with darker cherry notes. There is a bit of mint or menthol, clove, and allspice. The mouthfeel is round and lifted, not too heavy on the palate. There are more tannins here, but they are round and velvety. The acidity is bright but integrated, making it a great food wine, but it is also lovely enough to simply contemplate on its own.
This wine will continue to evolve with some cellaring.
116 cases produced. $49.99 SRP. 13.5% abv
Pairing the 2021 Areté Pinot Noir
Aaron gave me a bottle of this wine to take with me. I promptly went home to put together a pairing. Here is what I came up with.
A salad of roasted beets, goat cheese, fresh greens, and toasted baguette croutons in honey, Dijon, and balsamic dressing.
Prosciutto-wrapped pork loin with roasted shallots, & red grapes in a red wine sauce with black cherries, on a bed of roasted, mashed butternut squash with clove, allspice & nutmeg.
The earthiness of the beets and the goat cheese were brilliant with the wine. A bit of the pork, with a bit of the butternut mash with the wine, brought forth the spice notes. And the wine with the shallots…well, that was a delicious bite.
All in all, this was a great pairing, and this wine will just get better with a bit of age.
( You will find the recipes below and watch for our reel on IG and FB!)
Prosciutto-wrapped pork tenderloin with roasted shallots and grapes and a wine and cherry sauce
Tender pork loin roasted in prosciutto to keep it juicy with roasted grapes and shallots. The shallots in the pan are deglazed with red wine and black cherries. I paired this with a butternut squash mash. I first roasted the squash, then mashed them with butter, nutmeg, clove, and allspice.
Ingredients
- 1 lb pork tenderloin
- 3 ounces of thinly sliced prosciutto
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp whole-grain mustard
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3 shallots
- 6 small bunches of red grapes
- ½ tsp salt divided
- 1 cup of pitted dark cherries (fresh or frozen)
- ½ cup of wine (ideally the Pinot Noir you will be serving with the dish)
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Trim the fat and silver skin from the tenderloin
- Lay out the prosciutto overlapping on a sheet of parchment paper
- Place the tenderloin down the center
- Mix the honey, mustard, and balsamic and paint over the loin and the exposed prosciutto.
- Using the parchment, roll ½ of the prosciutto tightly over the loin, then repeat with the other half.
- Use 1 tbsp of olive oil to grease the bottom of a cast iron skillet with a paper towel.
- Lay the wrapped loin in the pan.
- Clean and quarter the shallots and mix in a bowl with 1 tbsp of olive oil and ¼ tsp of salt. Place these in the pan around the loin.
- Mix the bunches of red grapes with the remaining olive oil and salt and place them also in the pan.
- Place the pan on the middle rack and cook for 12-18 minutes until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 140 degrees.
- Remove from the oven and carefully flip the tenderloin.
- Increase the oven to broil and return the pan to the top rack for 2 to 3 minutes to crisp the prosciutto.
- Remove from the oven, and place the tenderloin on a cutting board under aluminum foil to rest.
- Remove the grapes to a separate plate for garnishing.
- Place the rod iron skillet with the shallots on the stove over med-high heat.
- Add the wine to deglaze, scraping up any tasty brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Add the cherries and any juice and cook down for a minute or two.
- Add the butter and whisk into the mixture.
- Cut the loin into medallions and serve on a bed of the butternut squash mash.
- Drizzle with the sauce, shallots, and cherries.
- Serve the grapes as garnish on the side.
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 449Total Fat 22gSaturated Fat 7gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 14gCholesterol 113mgSodium 976mgCarbohydrates 19gFiber 2gSugar 14gProtein 37g
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
Roasted, mashed butternut squash with clove and allspice
Perfect to use as a side with our Prosciutto wrapped pork loin. To add extra flavor and sweetness, we roasted the butternut squash before mashing it with butter and spices.
Ingredients
- 1 lb of butternut squash cubed
- 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme
- 1 tsp salt divided
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter softened
- ¼ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ground clove
- 1/8 tsp ground allspice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
- Toss the butternut squash with Olive Oil.
- Sprinkle with ½ tsp of salt
- Place on a lined baking sheet in the top third of the oven.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until soft and lightly browned
- Mash with the butter and spices, and salt to taste.
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine and WSET 3 Certified. 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.
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