Crushed Grape Chronicles

Beckham Estate Vineyard – The story

July 18, 2019

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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The chemistry of wine

May 24, 2019
Roussanne grapes at Elephant Mountain Vineyard

Wine. It’s simply crushed and fermented grapes.

Yep, that was me.

That’s the first line in our Crushed Grape Chronicles trailer that we put together….years ago. And it’s true…mostly. (whole berry ferments do happen, but eventually the weight of the grapes on the grapes causes them to be crushed.)

So wine is made of 5 major components that go through some chemical changes, fermenting and such and create the tasty libation that we have all grown to love in all of it’s many forms.

5 major components of wine

Yes, there are other things you might find in your wine, but for the most part it’s these:

So wine is made of 5 major components that go through some chemical changes, fermenting and such and create the tasty libation that we have all grown to love in all of it's many forms.
So wine is made of 5 major components that go through some chemical changes, fermenting and such and create the tasty libation that we have all grown to love in all of it’s many forms.
  • Water
  • Alcohol
  • Acid
  • Sugar
  • Phenolic compounds
So wine's a liquid, right? So as you would expect wine is a good portion (80-90%) good old H2O. This is mostly the water that came in the grapes (thank you mother nature), but upon occasion a winemaker might water down the initial grape juice or add water if the alcohol or phenolic compounds are too high for them.

So as you would expect wine is a good portion (80-90%) good old H2O.

So wine’s a liquid, right? So as you would expect wine is a good portion (80-90%) good old H2O. This is mostly the water that came in the grapes (thank you mother nature), but upon occasion a winemaker might water down the initial grape juice or add water if the alcohol or phenolic compounds are too high for them.

Alcohol

Alcohol makes up 8 - 15% of the volume of wine. On the label you will see the abv (alcohol by volume). 8 % might be a cool climate white wine and 15% a warm climate red.

This is one of the things we love about this beverage, the slight (or maybe not slight, depending on your style of drinking. We encourage moderation.) intoxication that comes with drinking it. That comes from the ethanol which is created in the alcoholic fermentation and is the main alcohol in wine (you will find glycerol, methanol and fusel alcohols in smaller amounts). The ethanol induces feelings of pleasure. As you drink, it is absorbed into your bloodstream and travels to the brain and relaxes you.

Of course too much…and you get drunk, which is rarely fun for the people around you.

Alcohol makes up 8 – 15% of the volume of wine. On the label you will see the abv (alcohol by volume). 8 % might be a cool climate white wine and 15% a warm climate red.

Ethanol is also a volatile compound, so it evaporates really easily and it helpful in getting all of those aromas to your nose.

Alcohol also with affect the “body” of a wine. You know how water and milk feel different in your mouth? Well higher alcohol takes the feeling in your mouth, closer to the milk end of the spectrum. You can see this when you swirl in big thick “legs” or “tears” running down the sides of the glass.

Acid

Acids make up just a bit of wine .5% to .75% by volume and there are two ways of measuring it.Acid keeps wines from tasting flabby. It gives wines that tart zing. Like a bright NZ Sav Blanc that is tart and tangy and so refreshing.

Acids make up just a bit of wine .5% to .75% by volume and there are two ways of measuring it.

  • TA – Total Acidity: which is the total amount of acid by volume
  • pH – the combined strength of the acids present

Keep in mind that some acids are stronger than others so TA is just the amount, and doesn’t give you the strength. So these are typically used together.

When you measure a wine’s pH keep in mind that the lower the pH, the stronger the acid. Wine typically lands between 2.9 and 3.9 on the pH scale, and a wine at 2.9 will be more acidic than a wine at 3.9.

When you measure a wine's pH keep in mind that the lower the pH, the stronger the acid. Wine typically lands between 2.9 and 3.9 on the pH scale, and a wine at 2.9 will be more acidic than a wine at 3.9.

More than one type of acid

There are 6 main acids that can be found in wine. Some of them are found in the grapes themselves and some are created during the fermentation process. A couple straddle that line.

  • Tartaric acid – This is an acid found in both grapes and wine, and it is the most prevalent. It is the strongest acid in wine when you talk pH. If you have ever seen “wine diamonds” little crystals on a cork, that comes from this acid. While not a fault in a wine, winemakers can avoid these forming by using “cold stabalization” or cooling down the wine before bottling.
green apples
green apples
  • Malic Acid – This is a grape acid. It’s sharp taste is like that of green apples. This acid decreases as grapes ripen, so cool climate white grapes and underripe grapes will have high levels of this acid. (Later we will discuss malolactic fermentation, which is used to lower the malic acid in a wine)
oranges
oranges
  • Citric Acid – Yes the acid that you find in citrus fruit. It’s not normally thought of in grapes because the quantities are so small that you can only find it with super specialized fancy equipment. However…sometimes it’s added to pump up the TA in a wine (just not in good wine).
  • Lactic Acid – You don’t find this acid in the grapes, but…remember I mentioned malolactic fermentation? Well…lactic acid bacteria munch on the malic acid and turn it into lactic acid, which is smoother, rounder and less acidic. This malolactic fermentation can be on purpose or not, but it is often used by winemakers to soften a wine. You also might get a buttery aroma and a creamy texture (think some chardonnays)
vinegar

vinegar

Acetic Acid – You will recognize this acid from vinegar (well, most vinegars). This is a fermentation acid, so you won’t find it in grapes on the vine. It can contribute to a wine’s bouquet as it evaporates quickly, but sometimes there is another pesky bacteria, this time acetobacter that can cause a reaction between the ethonol and oxygen that can ruin a wine.

  • Succinic Acid – This guy can be found in grapes and can also be created during fermentation. It’s found in small quantities in either case and is sharp as well as slightly both bitter and salty.

Sugar

There are two main sugars that you find in grapes

One of the measurements winemakers take to determine if a grape is ready to harvest is measuring it’s brix or sugar levels. Typically this will be 15% to 28%.

There are two main sugars that you find in grapes

  • Glucose
  • Fructose

These are both monosaccharides or simple sugars and are, lucky for us, highly fermentable! Those beautiful yeasts convert the sugar to ethanol. If they finish the job, eating up all the sugar, you get a dry wine. If not, you get a little residual sugar, leaving a little sugar in the wine and thus, a little sweetness. Typical detection of sweetness in a wine is at 1% rs, but some people can detect is at lower levels up to .5%.

In some cases, the winemaker might want a little sugar left in the wine to perhaps balance a high acid level. In some cases they are looking to make a sweet wine and in that case they can leave up to 24% rs in the wine (think late harvests, ice wines or Sauternes). Sometimes…in less lovely wines, the sugar might be there to cover up a sucky wine. We are suckers for sugar.

Phenolic Compounds

Okay, here's where the real flavor comes in. Phenolic compounds come mostly from the skins and seeds and stems in the wine. They are also accountable for the color in a wine. These molecules are wide and varied and might be small compared to the other components, but they have a large impact on the taste, smell and texture of a wine.Okay, here’s where the real flavor comes in. Phenolic compounds come mostly from the skins and seeds and stems in the wine. They are also accountable for the color in a wine. These molecules are wide and varied and might be small compared to the other components, but they have a large impact on the taste, smell and texture of a wine.

  • Anthocyanins – Say that one 3 times fast! These guys give red wine it’s color, from red to purple to blue. Acids do play into this also, the higher the acid, the redder the wine, the lower the more blue.
  • Flavonols – Here’s where white wines get there golden tones. They increase with sun and ripeness. Hence, a wine that is very pale, is likely either from a cooler climate or less ripe, while a golden yellow color might indicate more flavonols (I really love that word) and might be from a warmer, sunny climate and have been more ripe at harvest.
  • Resveratrol – Okay another tricky pronouciation. This compound is thought to have health benefits. You’ve seen those posts on facebook about how red wine is good for you. Well…many studies have attributed this compound to anti-aging, cancer-fighting and disease prevention. (again…remember, all things in moderation)
  • Tannins – When it comes to phenolic compounds, this is probably the one you have heard of. They, like the others are found in the skin, seeds and stems of grapes, but you can also find them in oak. These are the bitter compounds you taste when you bite into a grape seed. They will dry your teeth if you swish them in your mouth, that’s astringency. They have a natural preservative that protects wines from oxidizing. Think about cabernet, a young one is sometimes so bitter and astringent that you almost can’t drink it. But…it can age a long time and gradually round. That’s those hard working tannins that cabernet is full of. This is also a reason for aging in oak barrels as the barrels themselves can help prevent the wine from oxidizing.
  • Vanillin – sound like vanilla right? Yep, vanillin is found in vanilla beans and in oak. That’s why you get that vanilla scent in wines or whiskeys aged in oak barrels!

You can get sediment from phenolic compounds. So you buy a nice bottle of red wine and cellar it for a while (quite a while). You go back and pull it from the cellar and notice, that it looks lighter in color and that you have sediment in the bottom. This is the tannins and pigments (which are phenolics) that have polymerized (they combine into longer molecule chains and get too heavy) and dropped out of the liquid to settle at the bottom of the bottle. With a cabernet again, this is good, it will mean the wine will be less astringent.

Other stuff

There’s more in there. We are just going to talk about a few.

  • Aldehydes – When wine is exposed to air the oxidation produces aldehydes. Sometimes you want that, like when you are making Sherry or Madeira, but most of the time you don’t. If you have ever left a bottle in the heat or just on the counter open too long and come back to find it undrinkable, that would be aldehydes.
  • Dissolved Gases – CO2 in a sparkling wine is a clear example. You might see that in small quantities in a Pet Nat or even in other wines. It will make a wine feel fresh and helps to release the aromas. There are always dissolved gases in a wine, just often not in big enough quantities to notice. We talked above about oxidation, that would be dissolved oxygen. It’s the reason that winemakers add sulfur to wines. Sulfur absorbs those free roaming oxygen molecules to keep the wine from oxidizing.
  • Esters – They create all those wonderful smells in wine. Odiferous compounds that are the result of a little coupling of an acid and an alcohol. Most of the time we like these odors, but at high concentrations, they might not be as pleasant. Take ethyl alcohol, a little bit smells fruity and flowery, truly lovely, but high quantities smell like nail polish remover.
  • Sulfites – Small bits of sulfur are produced during fermentation, but just small bits. But remember I said that they protect a wine from oxidizing? Sulfur is widely used by winemakers out of necessity to protect wines from oxidation. Deal is, some people are really sensitive to sulfurs (not nearly as many as think they are, but a significant enough amount). As a result, here in the US wines with more than 10 parts per million of sulfur dioxide, must be labeled “Contains Sulfites”.

We will be continuing our series of educational posts on wine in all it’s complexity! Join us to explore and learn more about this fantastic and fascinating liquid.

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Yakima Valley Seminar

April 24, 2019
Owen Roe Winery in Yakima Valley Washington

We spent a glorious evening at Owen Roe Winery, tasting wines and meeting winemakers from all over the Yakima Valley.  Now it was time to get into the nitty gritty geeky stuff.

Wine Yakima Valley,  set us up with a morning seminar for a video flyover of the Yakima Valley with Co Dinn and Kerry Shiels to orient us on the layout of the valley.

Co Dinn and Kerry Shiels talk Yakima Valley Wine
Yakima Valley with Co Dinn and Kerry Shiels

Co Dinn

Co Dinn Cellars

I had met Co Dinn on the first evening in Yakima.  As the party was winding down, and the table emptying out, he came to my end of the table and introduced himself.  We spoke for quite awhile in the shadows, my shot of the wine I tasted with him, with attest to that.

Co has been a winemaker in Washington for over 20 years.  A UC Davis master’s grad, he worked in Napa and then came to Washington in 1996.  Since then he has worked with vineyards all over the state to make his wines.

He spent 12 years working with Côte Bonneville before diving into his own label Co Dinn Cellars, where he makes wines of the Yakima Valley and is devoted to learning everything about this areas soils and climates.  His knowledge is expansive as you will see as he speaks with us.

Kerry Shiels

Côte Bonneville

We mentioned that Co had spent time working with Côte Bonneville.  The Côte Bonneville estate vineyard is Du Brul Vineyard.  It was planted by Hugh and Kathy Shiels back in 1992 with the winery founded in 2001.  Kerry Shiels, daughter of Hugh and Kathy and the current winemaker at Côte Bonneville joined us for this conversation.

DuBrul Vineyard

Did I mention that Co was devoted to learning about the climates of the area.  Yes, that was plural climates.  When you talk about DuBrul vineyard, they have multiple microclimates within their 45 acre site. 

“In distance measured by hundreds of feet or less, we observe different growing conditions and tailor our farming practices to provide for the individual needs of the vine.

Quote courtesy the Cote Bonneville website https://www.cotebonneville.com/vineyard

This vineyard is recognized as one of the top in the state.

Part 1 – Overview and comparisons

In Part 1 below, we begin with Barbara Glover, the Executive Director of Wine Yakima Valley giving us an overview of the Yakima Valley AVA, it’s sub AVA’s and some of the surrounding area.  She then turns it over to Co Dinn. Co gives us a little perspective on the size of the wine region here compared to other regions. He and Kerry move on to a comparison of Washington to Burgundy and then moving on to talk about the soils and geology within this region.

Part 2 – Soil overview and Union Gap to DuBrul Vineyard

Part 2 continues with details on the soils and top soils.  They don’t have clay here, the soils here are gravel or sand.  As they don’t have clay, they don’t have phylloxera.  They are also in a rain shadow.  We zoom in and begin our flyover where Kerry details some of the vineyards that we will be driving by shortly on our way first to Elephant Mountain and then on to Walla Walla.

Kerry mentions the world class vineyard research happening here in the Yakima Valley.  She also tells us about the Red Willow Vineyard.  They focus on Syrah here and have a replica of the Chapel at Hermitage on the hill at the vineyard.  They also are looking deeply into the nuances of the different microclimates of the vines on different sides of their hill. Red Willow is a vineyard and at least 18 wineries source fruit from this iconic vineyard.  Our flyover takes us from Union Gap on the western end of the valley discussing areas and vineyards as we travel east.  We get to DuBrul Vineyard in Rattlesnake Hills AVA, where Kerry takes over speaking of their vineyard.

Kerry gives us a great quote from Bob Betz, Master of Wine

“Every grape would be red if it could.  Every grape would be cabernet if it could, and the best cabernet in the state of Washington is DuBrul Vineyard merlot.”

Part 3 – DuBrul to Red Mountain

 In Part 3 Co continues us east from DuBrul ending in Red Mountain.  This hill is an extension of Rattlesnake Ridge.  Red Mountain provides excellent structure and tannins and is used often in blends.  This is a southwest facing slope, not an entire mountain.  It is one of the warmest grape growing region in the state, so the cabernet grown there always ripens fully. 

We had a little time for questions which got into climate change. Kerry says the hillsides help to protect them according to most projections, but they are working on water management.  (She goes into some great details on why this is so)

Thanks to the Wine Media Conference https://www.winemediaconference.org/ (then known as the Wine Bloggers Conference) and Wine Yakima Valley https://wineyakimavalley.org/  for setting us the enjoyable and informative Pre-Conference tour.

Next up – Elephant Mountain Vineyard

From here we head out to Elephant Mountain Vineyard in the middle of the Yakima Valley

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Owen Roe’s Union Gap Vineyard – A tour with David O’Reilly

April 3, 2019
Owen Roe Winery, in Yakima Valley Washington

Glasses were clinking, wines were being poured, great conversations were happening, the weather was perfect and Flavor Camp was about to begin.

Wine Yakima Valley treated those of us who attended the WBC Pre Conference tour to 2 incredible days exploring the Yakima Valley. (You can catch our overview here). This first evening was spent at Owen Roe Winery.  We managed an impromptu winery tour with Co-Owner David O’Reilly and now we were on to Flavor Camp. 

The Yakima Valley is an agricultural region and in addition to grapes for wine, they also produce apples for cider and hops for beer.  We were treated to an in-depth look at these with Flavor Camp.

You will get to hear about the Cider and Hops also, but we are about wine here, so….

David O'Reilly with Owen Roe Vineyard explained that we are about as far West in the Yakima Valley as you can go.
David O’Reilly With Owen Roe Vineyard

Vineyard Tour with David O’Reilly

We are at the Owen Roe Union Gap Vineyard in the Yakima Valley.  As we climb into the back of the all-terrain vehicle with about a dozen wine writers, David explained that we are about as far West in the Yakima Valley as you can go.

“From east to west there is not a big temperature difference.”  David tells us, but Walla Walla, where we would be going the following day, was at 30 degrees the night before, where as Yakima was at 40.  The cold air rushes down the valley.

For a bit of perspective, take a look at this Wine map of Washington State, Courtesy of Washingtonwine.org you can see Yakima about at center east/west in the state, with the cascades to the west, compared to Walla Walla to the east.

Washington AVA Photo Courtesy of washingtonwine.org
Washington AVAs Photo Courtesy of washingtonwine.org

Here on this map of the Yakima Valley courtesy of WineYakimaValley.org you can see the Union Gap Vineyard all the way west.

Map Yakima Valley 2019 courtesy of WineYakimaValley.org
Map Yakima Valley 2019 courtesy of WineYakimaValley.org

This tour would take us through 3 of the distinct soil types on the vineyard and we would taste the flavor profile from each.

Missoula Flood Loess and Bordeaux varieties

We drove up the hill and stepped out at the top, into soft loose dusty soil that immediately covered my shoes. As people walked, little puffs of dust erupted in their footsteps. “Loose soil” is your clue here. This is loess.

Loess soil at Owen Roe's Union Gap Vineyard.
Loess soil at Owen Roe’s Union Gap Vineyard.

David pulls out his altimeter app to check the altitude (we all scrambled to find this app).  We were standing at 1199 feet.

Remember those Missoula Floods?

Now it’s time to talk a little soil history.  If you read our piece on Montinore, you may have some of this history! If not, you can find it here, where Rudy Marchesi explains the Missoula Floods.

This property sits at the convergence of Glacial Lake Missoula.  We would pass the Wallula Gap tomorrow as we headed to Walla Walla.  This is where the Ice dam backed up the water, eventually lifting and flooding the valley, creating the Columbia River Gorge and impacting the land and soil all the way into Oregon.

The water here in Yakima came up to about 1150 feet, so the soil we were standing on was above the glacial flood.  The soil here are silts (really fine). David pointed out the hillside where you could see the sub soils of basalt and ancient rock that are about 22 million years old.

Owen Roe 2014 Bordeaux Blend.
Owen Roe 2014 Bordeaux Blend in the vineyard

Soils here on top are shallow making it good for Bordeaux varieties.  At the top of the hill where we are standing, they grow their Cabernet Sauvignon.  This is clone 47, David tells us, a clone with small berries, this wine retains it’s fruit and has beautiful acid.  We are tasting the 2014 bordeaux Blend with is a Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot & Malbec blend, with Cabernet Sauvignon from this vineyard block.

In the summers, up here, the sun is up at 6 am and the soils tend to stay warm overnight.  They have less of a diurnal (day to night temperature) shift then Red Mountain.  Photosynthesis is maximized when the soil is warm so the grapes here ripen earlier and the wine is less tannic and more textural.

We strolled down the hill, creating little dust storms and ending at the block of Cabernet Franc.

Elevation, terroir and matching varieties

Owen Roe Winery in Yakima Valley Washington
Owen Roe Winery in Yakima Valley Washington

David explained the planting method.   The soils that are most shallow are planted to the latest ripening grape varieties (cabernet sauvignon), the deeper soils toward the bottom of the hill are planted to merlot, which has big clusters that ripen early.  Here in the middle is where the cab franc grows, ripening later than merlot and before the cabernet sauvignon.

Cabernet Franc at Owen Roe

Owen Roe Winery, in Washington State
Owen Roe Winery, in Washington State

Cabernet Franc is a favorite of mine and of David’s it seemed.  He spoke of this ancient grape, father to cabernet sauvignon and how it likes cooler temperatures.  In hotter years it gets finicky.  This end of the Yakima Valley is about 4 degrees cooler than other sites in the valley during the day, but it stays warmer at night.  This gives the cabernet franc “gorgeous texture and keeps that perfume in the grape”.

We taste the 2015 Cabernet Franc.  This year was warmer and the cabernet franc was finicky.  They had to pluck out the green berries by hand from the bunches.  The first major heat will shut photosynthesis down.  The 2014 by comparison was very Bordeaux in style and was chunky and tannic.

Irrigation in the Yakima Valley

We noticed the irrigation drip.  Washington is extremely dry and they must irrigate here to keep the vineyard growing.  The water here comes from wells from the Ellensberg Formation Aquifer.  Due to the soil type, it tends to be slightly acidic.  The soils are basic and low in nitrogen so this is one of the nutrients they will add in the winery.  (We talk about that in our winery tour)

Drip Irrigation, a necessity when growing in the high desert conditions in the Yakima Valley
Drip Irrigation, a necessity when growing in the high desert conditions in the Yakima Valley

In so many wine regions we are trained to think of irrigation as bad and dry farming is good. That would be to stress the vines and keep those roots digging deep.  Here, with the lack of rain fall, it is necessary.

The region gets only 7 to 8 inches of precipitation each year, and the definition of a true desert is anything less than 10.

http://wineyakimavalley.org/climate/

The cherries in the valley, David tells us, use 10 times the amount of water as the vines here.

Into the glacial soils & Rhône varieties

Calcium Carbonate in the rocks at Owen Roe Vineyard.
Calcium Carbonate in the rocks at Owen Roe Vineyard.

Further down the hill we get into the glacial soils where you find calcium carbonate, the white substance we had seen above.  These glacial silts have a little deeper soil and give you rock and minerality, the wines are finer than if they were grown in loess & deeper soils, that present as more aromatic and textural.The Oldest soil type here is the Ellensburg Formation, which is old Columbia Riverbed.  This predates the Yakima River & the basalt activity.  These are actually “anti-clines” that formed through earth movement.  The upthrust that we were standing on at this point was at almost 1200 feet.  This is not glacial.  Anything lower than this was not upthrust, it was just washed away.

Ellensburg is found in high elevations.  In Walla Walla the famous Rocks AVA is all on riverbeds at the Valley Floor.

What makes this great for Grenache is that Grenache is cold sensitive, so you want it high in the vineyard so the cold air rushes down.  Sounds counter intuitive, it’s at one of the highest elevations & yet it ripens early. 

Okay…all this talk about soils and wine, are you thirsty now? Search out a bottle of Washington wine, Owen Roe if you can find it, and enjoy our video tour with David O’Reilly.

Washington Tasting room

Open Daily from 11-4 in the Yakima Valley, they do require reservations for more than 8 guests.

They also offer Barrel Room Tastings on the weekends started each day at noon. You can reserve this for a fee on their reservation page. It includes a tour, private tasting, an expanded flight and a cheese and charcuterie platter.

The Union Gap Vineyard and tasting room can be found at 309 Gangl Rd in Wapato WA 98951. 509-877-0454

Oregon Tasting Room

Again open daily from 11-4 their tasting room off Hwy 219 outside of Newberg requires reservations for more than 6 guests. You can bring snacks, or contact them ahead of time and they can have a snack plate ready.

Here they have a Cellar Table Experience that you can reserve to do a more private tasting geared toward your palate. Contact them ahead of time to set this up.

The Willamette Valley tasting room is located at 2761 E 9th St. Newberg OR 97132. 503-538-7778

More to come!

Watch for more on Yakima Valley Wine, coming out soon!

And visit our Yakima Valley Wine page on our site for more details on this great region.

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

On the 8th day…a Cabernet..well a Cabernet Franc…a Blanc de Franc at that.

December 20, 2018
Leah Jørgensen Cellars, Blanc de Cabernet Franc

Day 8 of our 12 Days of Wine found us doing a late night pairing.  We met Leah Jørgensen of Leah Jørgensen Cellars this summer and had a wonderful conversation with her about her wines and so many other things.  You can find all that info here.

Leah Jørgensen Cellars, Blanc de Cabernet Franc,
Leah Jørgensen Cellars, Blanc de Cabernet Franc,

One of the unique wines that she makes is a Blanc de Cabernet Franc.  She had run into one of these in the Loire Valley and decided to make one from Oregon.

What to pair?

We searched and found a recommendation thanks to Opening a Bottle https://openingabottle.com/blanc-de-cabernet-franc/ 

Tasting notes: A most unusual white wine that first comes across as quirky, but then mellows into a truly distinctive beauty. Offers aromas of lemon, rosemary,beeswax and gradually gives way to deeper fruit aromas as it is exposed to air— ripe nectarine, blood orange and honey. There is even a note that recalls lilacs. Ultra-smooth texture and medium body, with some minerality on the finish. A wine with a lot of grace. Drink young.
Recommended for: Summer sipping on the back patio. With food, I’d aim for roasted chicken or cedar-planked salmon.

Opening a bottle – What is Blanc de Cabernet Franc Like? May 11, 2016

While it wasn’t summer, we wanted to enjoy this bottle young.

I had to work, but when I returned at almost midnight, Michael had a feast set with a cedar-planked salmon in maple and spices, rosemary bread with goat cheese, and a fruit and cheese plate complete with two goat cheeses, one honeyed, the other herbed, gouda, grapes, prosciutto, blood orange slices and some of that lovely gooey haymarket goat cheese.

Leah Jørgensen Cellars, Blanc de Cabernet Franc, with Cedar planked Salmon
Leah Jørgensen Cellars, Blanc de Cabernet Franc, with Cedar planked Salmon

The wine

This wine is really fascinating.  You put your nose in the glass and you get tart citrus and pith.  It was blood orangey, but after tasting my blood oranges, it was a little more tart, drifting toward pink grapefruit. And then you get peppers, green, but not bell. It really is that a roasted pickled poblano pepper.  On the back there was a bit of salinity, and there is that touch of tannins.

This is a wine that starts like a white and ends like a red with a lingering finish.

The pairings

Leah Jørgensen Cellars, Blanc de Cabernet Franc,
Leah Jørgensen Cellars, Blanc de Cabernet Franc, with goat cheese and blood oranges

Maybe it’s just channeling the Loire Valley traditions, but I found that this wine went spectacularly with all the goat cheeses most especially the honeyed goat cheese.  With the gouda?  Not so much. With the salmon it was great, holding it’s own against the heavy spices on the salmon, the wood, with the maple helping to round and soften each bite. 

Want some?

You can find her wines available on her squarespace site

And this beautiful bottle will set you back only $30.

Or check out her page with her distributors to find a place near you.

Want more?  Click through to all of our 12 Days of Wine posts!

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The 7th day Pizza & wine in your PJ’s

December 19, 2018
Maloof Wines. Where ya Pj's at, with Blaze Pizza

On the 7th day…well we rested! Eating Pizza and Sucking Glass with Maloof Wines.

Eat pizza, suck glass.

The Mantra from RossandBee at Maloof Wines

 We have been cooking a lot lately, and these 12 Days of Wine are keeping us busy.  Today on the 7th day of Wine, we rest. We pick up a white pizza, make a bowl of popcorn and watch a movie, thanks to the recommendation of Ross & Bee of Maloof Wines.

We met them this summer and tasted their wines while in the Willamette Valley.  You can read the piece we wrote on them here https://www.crushedgrapechronicles.com/ross-bee-maloof-wines/

2017 Where Ya PJ’s at?

This wine is a blend of Pinot Gris and Riesling, they consider it their version of a rosé.

Maloof Wines. Where ya Pj's at
Maloof Wines. Where ya Pj’s at

“Ross: (This) wine is our fun little spring blend, this is what we think of as our answer to a rosé.  This is a blend, it’s 55% Pinot Gris and the Pinot Gris was fermented on the skins, kind of as you would traditionally ferment a red wine.  So we ferment that, on the skins in two different fashions; we do half of it with full skin contact and daily punch downs and then the other half we actually do carbonic masceration.  Then that’s pressed off and blended with Riesling. So it’s like 55% skin contact Pinot Gris and 45% Riesling.  And this wine is called “Where Ya PJs at?”

Ross Maloof at the 2018 Uncommon Wine Festival

Pairing Suggestion

So what to pair?  On the Maloof site they suggest”

Serve chilled or at cellar temp with white za pies or with a bowl of popcorn over your favorite John Cusak movie.  Ours is Grosse Point Blank.

From the Maloof website http://rossandbee.com/wines/

We pulled out the “Where Ya PJ’s at” and donned our PJ’s for pizza popcorn and wine (no lounging in your underwear here).  We could enjoy the tree, the lights, a movie and rest a bit.

Maloof Wines. Where ya Pj's at, with Blaze Pizza
Maloof Wines. Where ya Pj’s at, with Blaze Pizza

The pizza I will give a shout out to Blaze Pizza. 

Maloof Wines. Where ya Pj's at, with Blaze Pizza
Maloof Wines. Where ya Pj’s at, with Blaze Pizza

This was quick, easy, and just the right size to pair with our bowl of popcorn.  We ordered the “White Top” signature pizza, which is white cream sauce with mozzarella, applewood bacon, chopped garlic, oregano and fresh arugula, which they add at the end after it has baked for all of 3 minutes in the high heat pizza oven, while I watch.

Trust me there was plenty of garlic! (they people making the pizza are generous with toppings and always check to be sure if they’ve added enough or if you want more!) 

We popped up some buttered popcorn to go with the ‘za, popped the bottle of “Where Ya PJ’s At?” and curled up on the couch with a movie.

The wine

The Where Ya PJ’s At? is coppery in the glass from that pinot gris with skin contact. The pinot gris gives it a rich nose also. There is a bit of sediment in the bottom of the bottle (which I kinda like).  The flavors are rich and the bit of effervescence tickles your tongue and your taste buds. 

Maloof Wines. Where ya Pj's at
Maloof Wines. Where ya Pj’s at

The pairing

We actually watched Sofia Coppolas “Marie Antoinette”and the wine channeled that everyday luxury kind of feel for me. It was a day of lounging about, enjoying tasty bits and wine, like lounging at court. Overall the food and wine pairing was perfect. The movie…hmmm. (maybe we should have gone with a Cusack film)

Want some?

Want to find a bottle of this stuff?  Well, they don’t yet ship, but if you are in one of the lucky areas where their wines can be found… here’s the list. 

Perhaps there is a bit of the 90 cases of this wine that they made, left out there in the universe. You can hope!

Maybe you should drop by and see them?

Maloof Wines. Where ya Pj's at
Maloof Wines. Where ya Pj’s at

If you want to visit them…drop a note from the website where you can join the Maloof Tang Clan

Or drop them an email at [email protected]

You can find them at Day Camp

 21080 N Highway 99W, Dundee, OR 97115

Tastings are almost anytime by appointment only.

From the Maloof Site http://rossandbee.com/contact/

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On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a Gerwürvignintocloniger!

December 13, 2018
fossil and Fawn, with potato chips and cheese

Okay, well he didn’t really give it to me, he pulled it out of the cellar (“cellar” being a fancy word for the wine rack downstairs).

When we thought about how to celebrate the holidays and to share them with you, the first thing that came to mind was Wine (of course).  So we raided the cellar and pulled out 12 bottles to pair and enjoy in the run up to Christmas. Here is the first of our “12 days of Wine”.

Day 1 – Fossil and Fawn 2017 Oregon White Wine (aka Gewürvignintocloniger)

Gerwhat?  Okay, so we tasted this wine at the “Uncommon Wine Festival”

The 2017 Oregon White Wine is a blend of 50% Riesling, 20% Savagnin Rose, 15% Gewürztraminer, 6% Fruilano, 6% Melon de Bourgogne, 3% Kerner (Yep, that’s a blend!).  They fondly refer to it as the Gewürvignintocliniger.

Here is how Jim and Jenny of Fossil & Fawn described it then.

 

Jim  So this is predominantly from one vineyard here where they have what I would call a bunch of kooky varieties, very uncommon white wine varieties, for example…

Jenny  A very technical term…(Kooky)

Jim  For example, in the Willamette Valley to my knowledge there are 14 plants of Kerner, which is a German grape and that makes up 3% of that wine.  All 14 plants of Kerner are in there.  And so there is a collection of unusual things, Also a collection of not so unusual things. 50% is Riesling which is fermented in an egg shape vessel.  And the next is 20% Savagnin Rose, which is a relative to Gewürztraminer.

Jenny  Which is also in there

Jim  Which, Gewürztraminer is in there at 15%.  It is 6% Fruilano, 6% Melon de Bourgogne and 3% Kerner, those 14 plants.  So the Riesling as I mentioned is fermented in egg the other 50% was fermented on it’s skins for about 4 days and we pressed off and then it went into a mix of Acacia wood barrels and French oak barrels, totally unfiltered native yeast fermented, we use that yeast that exists naturally on the skins of the grapes to carry out the fermentation.  We wanted to make something that was dry but rich and textural but aromatic, something kind of fun, food friendly.

From our July 2018 Interview with Jim and Jenny at the Uncommon Wine Festival at Vista Hills Vineyard.

Pairing a Gewürvignintocloniger

We reached out to Jim Fischer of Fossil and Fawn to ask about a perfect pairing for the holidays.  Remember he described the wine as “something kind of fun, food friendly”?  He also mentioned it as “summery” and well, it’s less than that right now.  But in true Fossil and Fawn form he responded with a perfect pairing for the season!

“As far as pairings go, I’m a fan of elevated lowbrow food. Recently, we had the opportunity to include our gewurvignintocloninger with this incredible Wisconsin brick cheese (from Widmer’s Cheese Cellars) that our friend and cheesemonger Sarah stuck under a Raclette cheese melter. The cheese slowly dripped over a bed of Wavy Lay’s potato chips. The way the aromatic elements in the wine played off the rich, slightly funky cheese was delightful. Also, melting cheese on chips is incredibly fun and a great holiday party activity. We highly recommend it!”

Jim Fischer, II Vice President of Wine Things, Fossil & Fawn

I think my response to Jim was “Brilliant!”  and it really is.  This wine has plenty of those Alsatian varieties in it, so a raclette is pretty perfect there, but going with a Wisconsin brick gives it a twist and then over Wavy Lay’s potato chips adds just the right “Fossil and Fawn” funk.

We will add a little typical raclette accessories: cornichons, a little smoked meat (ours will be Proscuitto to make the Fruilano feel at home), gherkins and instead of the traditional fingerling potatos, the wavy chips!

I don’t have a raclette cheese melter and in lieu of running out and buying one, we found an internet hack by Cook the Story

If you have a raclette grill you can go the fancier route.  Here’s a great post by eat, little bird with ideas for a dinner with raclette.

We couldn’t find a Wisconsin brick cheese, but our cheese monger suggested the Dubliner as a good substitution. (see the photo above)  We also picked up a raclette.

The wine had a bit of funk on the nose and then lots of different aromatics!  This wine is unfiltered. You can see that it is cloudy in the glass and you can see the sediment in the bottom of the bottle.  The first sip started off feeling simple and pleasant and then all the different parts of my mouth erupted with a little “hey what’s that and what’s that!”.  I won’t say this wine is complex in depth, it doesn’t necessarily evolve in the glass, but it has alot going on and is highly entertaining on your palate!  It is fun and funky…I’m channelling a little “Commodores” here with a little “Brick House” and “Play that funky music”.  The wine went well with everything, taking the pickles, cheese, chips and prosciutto out on the dance floor for a spin, each to a different song.

All in all, a really good time! It’s just $20 a bottle…that is if they have any left.

Join us again tomorrow for our Day 2 pick!

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Oregon Wine Country

November 29, 2018

Join us on our exploration of Wine from across the Oregon Wine Region. Interviews with winemakers. Wine Festivals. Explore the AVA’s and discover the Terroir, The stories, The Wine, all across Oregon Wine Country beginning in the Willamette Valley. Follow us at Crushedgrapechronicles.com for your Oregon Wine Adventure.

A little Sleight of Hand with dinner at Doubleback

November 14, 2018

As we rode in the van, I tried to figure out which direction we were heading, watching the rolling brown hills outside of Walla Walla roll by. The anticipation was intoxicating. Then I stopped trying to figure it out, and I surrendered to the journey.

I’ve always liked surprise trips. I am a planner and this throws my plans to the wind. It’s freeing. Sometimes Michael will head out to the car, and I will just follow, climb in, let him drive and see where we end up. I relish these trips.

This time there were a few more people involved. Typically this is everyone’s favorite event at the Wine Bloggers Conference. When we picked up our badges for the conference we were given a colored ticket. Mine was a golden yellow. A golden ticket. We gathered in the side lobby of the Marcus Whitman, lining up behind signs whose color matched our ticket. One by one the groups headed out the door. One group I think was in antique cars.

We were one of the last groups. As we headed out we were told to load into either the limo or the two luxury vans. We popped in a van (I’ve been in my share of limos and with a bunch of people never actually found it comfortable, usually just awkward). The van had “Bottleshock” playing on the screen. Conversations bantered around the van and we headed off into the Walla Walla Hills.

The Doubleback Winery

The Doubleback Winery

At last we seemed to be arriving. The winery as you pull up looks like a big barn. Dark wood and the name Doubleback on the side. As we pulled in and disembarked, we were greeted by a food truck. “Andrae’s Kitchen” was cooking away. This was Andrae of the “gas station” that Thaddeus, of the Minority Wine Report, (Yeah, that’s a shout out to you Thad) had been raving about. You could tell this was all set to be a great evening.

Andrae's Kitchen

Andrae’s Kitchen of the Gas Station fame in Walla Walla

The landscape here was stark and stunning. While we were a chatty bunch, it made me go quiet. The rolling hills with their severe browns and blacks, scorched and sepia tones, demanded a reverence. This evening the sky was washed in grey. The view is wide and it makes you feel very small. One should be silent with nothing but the sound of your own breath, with this view, at least for a moment.

The starkly beautiful hills of Walla Walla as viewed from Doubleback Winery

The starkly beautiful hills of Walla Walla as viewed from Doubleback Winery

After taking in the hills, I turned to look again at the winery. The building is beautiful but understated. Clean lines and rustic wood blend to create a place that is elegant and welcoming.

Doubleback Winery the glassed off rooftop deck
Doubleback Winery.
Doubleback Winery rustic with modern elegant finishes
Large Garage doors open the space to the vineyard at Doubleback Winery

Inside large glass garage doors keep the space open to the view. We passed though the room set with tables, were handed a glass of wine and proceeded into the winery itself where we met our hosts. Josh McDaniels the Winemaker and General Manager for Doubleback and Jerry Solomon and Trey Busch of Sleight of Hand Cellars

The tank room at Doubleback
Doubleback Winery concrete eggs

 

Mr. Pink Rosé from Underground Wine Project
2017 Elizabeth Chardonnay from Bledsoe Family Winery
Grilled flatbread, babganouj, charred tasso, parsley and pickled fresno chili.

Trays of Grilled flatbread with babaganouj, charred tasso, parsley and picked fresh chili and Tuna tartare, sesame ailo, picked cucumber, wonton chip, with shaved endive paired with Underground Wine Project’s 2017 Mr. Pink Rose and Bledsoe Family Winery: 2017 Elizabeth Chardonnay.

I have to take a moment to tell you a bit about the Underground Wine Project.  This is a collaboration between Trey Busch of Sleight of Hand Cellars and Mark McNeilly of Mark Ryan Winery.  These guys have been friends for a while and collaborated to make a 100 cases of a wine called Idle Hands back in 2009.  It became a cult favorite and caused the creation of the Underground Wine Project.  They now make 4 wines, including the Mr. Pink rosé.

Doubleback Dinner with Friends

A table set for 8 with soooo many glasses! Wine would flow in abundance!

We headed back in to dinner and we were lucky enough to sit with Sleight of Hand Winemaker Trey Busch, as well as Thaddeus of Minority Wine Report, Sarah Tracey of The Lush Life, Miki & Tom Joe of The Vineyard Trail and Leeann Froese of The Vineyard Birder, and I’ll admit, I think we were the rowdy table. Regardless, we had fun and enjoyed the wines, and were close enough to the plating table to get the scoop (and some great photos) of Chef Andrae and his team putting together the exceptional dinner that we enjoyed.

Doubleback Dinner with Friends

Doubleback Dinner with Trey Busch winemaker at Sleight of Hand, Thaddeus Buggs of the Minority Wine Report and Leeann Froese of the Vineyard Birder

Are you ready to drool?

Doubleback Dinner Menu

Doubleback Dinner Menu

1st course: Smoked pork belly rillette, banana bread pudding, shaved fennel, watercress and maple mustarda. Sounds a little weird? Weirdly and amazingly delicious. Go ahead, get a napkin, and maybe a snack, you are going to get really hungry as you gaze at these photos.

Smoked pork belly rillette, banana bread pudding, shaved fennel, watercress and maple mustarda.

Smoked pork belly rillette, banana bread pudding, shaved fennel, watercress and maple mustarda.

2nd course: This was the pièce de résistance. Ask anyone at the dinner.

Lobster bisque, parsley and sunchoke

Lobster bisque, parsley and sunchoke

Everything was amazing, but this….

Lobster bisque, parsley and sunchoke.

…..lobster roe dried, baked and ground to add that punch. This was a thin milky broth that was so infused with flavor…I was sitting with Sarah Tracey of The Lush Life http://www.thelushlife.xyz/ and we both ate this almost silently, except for the quiet groans of pleasure and with our eyes closed. We savored ever single drop and are still talking about this bowl of heaven.

3rd course: Poached pear and frisee salad, goat cheese, roasted lemon vinaigrette.

Poached pear and frisee salad, goat cheese, roasted lemon vinaigrette

Poached pear and frisee salad, goat cheese, roasted lemon vinaigrette

This was the perfect contrast to the bisque, a brightness, with a softness that set us up for the …

Entrée: Seared lamb loin, local corn succotash, butternut squash pave.

Seared lamb loin, local corn succotash, butternut squash pave

Seared lamb loin, local corn succotash, butternut squash pave

Succotash, seems like a homey comfort food, and it was, but elevated.

Finally and sadly, it was time for dessert: huckleberry upside down cake with corn and cashew gelato.

Opal Blackberry upside down cake with corn and cashew gelato

Opal Blackberry upside down cake with corn and cashew gelato

The Chefs!

Through out the evening, the wine was flowing. Michael and I shared glasses, because dumping one to make room for the next just didn’t feel right. The wines were spectacular. From the Sleight of Hand 2014 Archimage Cab Fran/Merlot to the Doubleback: 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon….I remember looking at the menu card and trying to figure out which wine we were on. Trey said something about the wine listed not being the one that they were pouring. The one problem with a wine dinner is with all the wine, you often lose track. I look forward to returning to revisit all of these wines.

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The evening ended, with new friends made, an extraordinary meal and tons of great wine. Mystery Dinner Win!

And we left with tunes! Sleight of Hand Cellars puts out their +Sub Pop music download annually. “Punk Rock Wines for Punk Rock Minds” oh, and the remnants of a bottle of the Doubleback Cab Sav, that we in turn took to share at an after party back at the hotel.

Oh, and I think I neglected our celebrity link. Doubleback winery is owned by former NFL Quarterback Drew Bledsoe. But you will have to wait for the story about that. Watch for additional pieces on Doubleback, Sleight of Hand and Andrae’s Kitchen.

Don’t forget to check back with us here at Crushed Grape Chronicles for more great wine country experiences in Washington, Oregon and beyond. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

How to find them

Doubleback Winery is located at 3853 Powerline RoadWalla Walla, WA 99362 They are open for tastings by appointment only. This is an allocation winery, so if you want a bottle, you will need to join The List.
[email protected]
509-525-3334

Sleight of Hand Cellars has 2 tasting rooms

Walla Walla

1959 J B George Road
Walla Walla, WA 99362

(509) 525-3661

Where they are open Saturday to Thursday from 11-5 and Fridays when they stretch it a little further from 11-6.

In Seattle you can find them at

3861G 1st Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98134

(206) 582-1878

Where they are open Thursday to Sunday from 12-5 and Friday and Saturday from 11-6.

Andrae’s Kitchen can be found at the Gas Station at

707 Rose Street, Walla Walla, WA

They are open daily from 6 am to 8 pm, with the exception of Sundays when they close at 4 pm.

Go to his site and check out the video! http://andraeskitchen.com/

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* We attended the Wine Bloggers conference and promised to do 3 posts on the events. Whatever…I will only post about things I enjoyed, so there will be dozens of posts on the things I enjoyed from this trip. Washington is a wine region to visit.

Don’t forget to check back with us here at Crushed Grape Chronicles for more great wine country experiences in Washington, Oregon and beyond. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

You can look forward to more in depth pieces on the 3 wineries that we featured here in the future!

Dinner with a view – Cadaretta

October 31, 2018
The Glasshouse at Southwind Vineyard by Cadaretta

We got in a van not knowing how long the drive might be.  I suppose I could have looked at a map, but I’m not sure that would have helped.  We actually ended up in Oregon.  Walla Walla AVA is a border AVA with part of the AVA in Washington and part in Oregon.

We were headed to Cadaretta’s Glasshouse on their Southwind Vineyard for dinner.  We arrived as the sun was setting to amazing views.  We were greeted with a glass of wine and trays of passed hors d’oeuvres.  The food and wine were lovely, but that view…

Sunset through the lens of the 2016 Cadaretta SBS (Sauvignon Blanc Semillon) from the Columbia Valley
The North Slope at Cadaretta’s Southwind Vineyard. These are the Glasshouse blocks of primarily Cabernet Sauvignon
The Glasshouse at Southwind Vineyard by Cadaretta
Southwind Vineyard, Cadaretta Glasshouse Blocks our sunset view.
Cadaretta Glass house and tent at sunset with the tent that kept us warm from the Southern winds at the top of this beautiful site.

Cadaretta

The name comes from the name of the schooner that carried the Anderson & Middleton lumber products to market in the early 20th century.  The family has a history in Washington having been in lumber on the coast since 1898.  That’s 120 years in business in WA this year, which is no small feat.  The timber company was based on the coast in Aberdeen WA (of Nirvana fame).

Getting into Grapes

Issues came up with the decline of old growth and the family, always looking to preserve the land, closed their mill. In the 70’s issues with the spotted owl came up and many companies went out of business. The family bought property in California’s central valley and started growing table grapes.  This led them to Paso Robles where they have been growers of wine grapes at their Red Cedar Vineyard for 30 years.

They started Clayhouse wines in Paso Robles.  Their roots were in Washington though, and they returned to purchase this piece of property in the Walla Walla AVA.

Back to the ship

The Cadaretta carried lumber to San Francisco and LA.  Kris’ father used to ride on the ship as a kid on it’s journeys.  During WWII the ship was requisitioned by the Government.  Family lore tell the tale that on the final trip as the Cadaretta the ship was followed down the coast by a Japanese submarine.  The ship was later renamed Southwind, which is where this particular vineyard derives its name.

Southwind Vineyard

This vineyard sits just west of Milton-Freewater on the Oregon side of the Walla Walla AVA.  L’Ecole, Doubleback and Sleight of Hand also have vineyards nearby.  The view and the company are impressive, but what makes this place special for wine is the soil.

Soil at Southwind Vineyard

Most of the soil in the surrounding area is loess (blown dust) from the Columbia and Missoula Floods and you find that in the soils on the Northern slope. Those are the relatively young 15 million year old soils.  On the South slope you find fractured basalt soils.  These are ancient soils.  They were just behind the tent we were sitting in.  You find them only on steep hillsides above 1250.

When they bought the property they spent 2 years digging test plots.  After soil analysis they planted 1 acre test plots. Digging into the basalt is difficult, time consuming and expensive.  The vines have to work harder and dig deeper, but the characteristic they were getting in the wines from this soil made it worth it.

They have been working on this for 8 years and only 2 years ago release the first of the Southwind wines. Kris said that as a timber family they have a saying…

“It takes 40 years to grow a tree, we have patience.”

They wanted to get it right.  They find Syrah and Malbec do best in this soil.  There are few other vineyard grown in fractured basalt. These Southwind wines are pretty rare also with just 50 cases of each released.

Sustainability is common sense

The family comes from timber and it was always just common sense to take care of the land.  It’s no different with the vineyard.  Being salmon safe and sustainable isn’t something they advertise, they just do it.  They have falconers from Paso that they used in the vineyard there who come in to help keep the vermin down, as well as owl boxes on the property.  They use arugula for cover crop and have a bee keeper who comes in with the bees.  It just makes sense to be sustainable.

Artifexs

With that idea in mind, they also didn’t see the need for a big showy winery.  Instead they worked with Norm McKibben and  JF Pellet and created Artifex in Walla Walla which is a custom crush facility for small lot, high end wines.  The name comes from a Latin term meaning “Made skillfully” and it is a state of the art facility.  The facility houses multiple wineries and they are customers to themselves.

The Glasshouse

So they had determined that they didn’t need an extravagant tasting room, but her brother still wanted a place to entertain.  The view here from the vineyard was stunning and he wanted to create a place to enjoy that view.  He had seen a building at the Santa Rosa Airport and honed in on the idea of a glass house with garage doors to open to the view.  The timber is recycled, of course.  To keep this a “special” place they limit it to just a few events.  We were lucky to be one of those few events.

Our tables in the tent, protected from the wind at Cadaretta.
The menu for our dinner at the Glasshouse by Olive Catering in Walla Walla
Wild Canadian Arctic Char with Yukon potato emulsion, chanterelle mushrooms and plum relish by Olive Catering at the Dinner at Cardaretta’s Glasshouse

The Dinner

Over the course of the evening, Kris spoke to us between courses and we enjoyed dinner from Olive Catering in Walla Walla to compliment the wines.

The 2014 Cadaretta, Windthrow

This wine was paired with Wild Canadian Arctic Char with Yukon potato emulsion, chanterelle mushrooms and plum relish.

The Windthrow is a Columbia Valley Rhone Style Blend (76% Syrah, 15% Mourvedre and 9% Grenache) sourced from Stonetree, Southwind and Monetta’s Vineyards.  Aged 22 month in 50% Hungarian Oak, 40% New French Oak and 10% Neutral French Oak.  Unfined they made just 259 cases.

The 2015 Cadaretta, Southwind Malbec

Paired with maple braised lamb shank with black truffle risotto, foraged mushrooms and dates.

The Southwind Malbec is a Walla Walla Valley wine specifically from the Southwind Vineyard.  2015 was a warm vintage with an early bud break. This was a wine that opened in the glass.

The 2014 Cadaretta, Springboard

Our dessert pairing of petite fours & truffles.

The Springboard is a Columbia Valley wine and is a Bordeaux style blend of 81% Cab Sav, 10% Malbec and 9% Petit Verdot sourced from Obelisco, Southwind, Red Mountain and Alder Ridge Vineyards.  It is aged in 60% new french oak with the remainder in more neutral oak.  Only 249 cases of this wine were made.

The evening was beautiful, the hosting was warm and the wines were truly stunning.  Getting to speak with Kris and being so warmly welcomed to the place that is so special to their family was a wonderful experience.

You can taste them at their tasting room in Downtown Walla Walla at 315 E. Main Street Thursday through Sunday.  Visit there website here for details.

Don’t forget to check back with us here at Crushed Grape Chronicles for more great wine country experiences in Washington, Oregon and beyond. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

 

 

 

Are you baking blueberry pie? Nope, that’s my Malbec.

October 17, 2018
2015 Malbec from Leah Jørgensen Cellars

We’ve been talking about the wines we tasted with Leah Jørgensen at the Uncommon Wine Festival back in July at Vista Hills Vineyard.  And we have come to the end of our tasting.  The 2015 Malbec is deep and rich and Leah tells us it smells like blueberry pie when it ferments.  Mmmmm….now I’m hungry.

Leah sources most of her grapes from Southern Oregon’s Rogue and Applegate Valleys, but she makes her wines at Raptor Ridge in the Chehalem Mountains.  She is a brilliant ambassador of Cabernet Franc, and while this Malbec may not be her signature grape, it really is delicious wine.

As this was the last wine we would taste with her, I wanted to savor it.  She poured, and while I stuck my nose into the glass, she told me about the wine and how we had come full circle.

2015 Malbec from Leah Jørgensen Cellars

I have one more wine and it is a book end. The Sav Blanc that we started with and this wine are from the same vineyard.  The Crater View Vineyard with all that Ancient marine material I was telling you about.  So this is not like an Argentina Malbec, it’s got incredible acidity, it’s actually got one of the lowest pH’s of all the red that I bring in.  So you get incredible acidity from this and it’s all bright brambly fruit.  It doesn’t go as leathery, it does get plummy, but it just a very pleasant drinking Malbec.

It has a lot of structure and a lot of tannins and it’s really bright now, I wonder if you will get more of that leather and bottom that’s going to come out of it as it ages? 

Well because there is so much acidity in this, I think it’s going to stay in a nice balance and I think that’s what makes the difference.  So a lot of reds that we think are ageable reds, like cab savs from California, they don’t have the same acid profile, unless they add it.  But it doesn’t naturally have the same acid, so they are going to have all that tannin structure and not as much acid, it’s gonna go in a certain direction.  But when you already have berry fruit flavors on the palate and you have acid that’s already there it’s kinda like cab franc, it’s going to carry that wine.

Tell me how you make this then.

We pick it, it’s one of the last things that come through the door. The berries are big, they look like blueberries and when people come down in the cellar, they are like, “what is that smell?”. It is the most fragrant, aromatic, beautiful ferment in all of the cellar.  It’s like blueberry pie, because you know that fermented yeasty and then the blueberry..it smells like blueberry pie, it’s delightful.  It’s my favorite smelling ferment.

When we finish fermentation, we press it and we go straight to neutral barrel, so again, I used mostly neutral barrels.  8 months in oak just like the others, but we reserve in the bottle, I bottle age this a little longer.  Just because I think it benefits from a little more time.  We don’t make much of it, it’s not a flagship wine like the cab francs that we like to quickly release, cause we like to stay in business.  But I can reserve this one a little bit.  It’s not a one off but it’s something that we do that’s an extra.  It happens to be my dad’s favorite.  My dad love’s grilling and he does amazing dry rubs.  He will do like a marionberry barbeque sauce with it, and it’s pretty good.

Marionberries…they are a Northwest thing and they are actually a variation on a blackberry.  I had a slice of Marionberry pie the other night that was delightful and would have really been great with this wine and the thought of a marionberry barbeque sauce had my mouth-watering.

On other things

In between all of our discussions that you see on the video we also spoke about her 2016 Cab Franc, about Virginia, where she grew up and the amazing Cab Francs coming out of that region these days.  She told me about working at Chrysalis Vineyard in Middleburg, the home of Norton.  She and Asa got married in Middleburg and had their rehearsal dinner at Chrysalis.  (Michael and I visited the area last year). We talked about their “Côte Clos Rogue Valley”, their homage to Clos Roche Blanche and their Grande Reserve which gets a little extra time in the barrel.  We talked about neutral oak.  Any new oak she gets is puncheons to allow for less surface area and she only uses those for the reserves.

Aging Cabernet Franc

We also discussed Cab Franc and it’s ageability.

When you compare it with other grapes it’s one of the few that have both (intense acid & tannins) and so that’s what makes a grape super ageable, it’s structure building, it adds structure and ageability to those blends.  So Cab Francs on their own will age forever.  You can put these down and they get more and more interesting over time.  So even just seeing more time in the barrel then we hold the wines we reserve them for 9 months before we release them.  So all that little extra time,  you have to be patient, it’s hard to be patient when you are a new business, but it does make a difference in the quality of these cab francs.

Equestrian Wine Tours Oregon

Equestrian Wine Tours Oregon

At one point we got all distracted as a group of people on horseback arrived to the tasting.  It was enchanting.  And that was our conversation with Leah, just enchanting.  Almost as enchanting as the thought of a fermentation room filled with the aroma of blueberry pie.

Find this wine and other details on LJC

Want to find a bottle?  You can find it at Leah Jørgensen Cellars squarespace or look for one of the smart establishments that carry her wine.  There is a list here.

This wraps up our conversation with Leah but you can check out our previous episodes with her that include: Leah Jørgensen – Pirate Princess & Winemaker, Grapes of Southern Oregon with Leah Jørgensen, Southern Oregon Sauvignon Blanc with Leah Jørgensen, Blanc de Cab Franc…What? Leah Jørgensen Cellars 2017 Rosé of Cabernet Franc and “Tour Rain” Vin Rouge – Leah Jørgensen Cellars

Check out Leah’s updated website at https://leahjorgensencellars.com/

You can find her on on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram too!

And join us back here at Crushed Grape Chronicles  as we continue sharing our conversation with Leah!  And don’t forget, you can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

 

 

Leah Jørgensen Cellars 2017 Rosé of Cabernet Franc

October 15, 2018
2017 Rosé of Cabernet Fran

We’ve been talking with Leah Jørgensen of Leah Jørgensen Cellars about her wines.  Today’s discussion is about her 2017 Rosé of Cab Franc.  If you know Leah Jørgensen, it will not surprise you that her rosé is made of Cab Franc.  She is kind of putting Cab Franc on the map in Oregon.  As they poured us a glass of this beautiful light pink/copper wine…I’ll let her tell.

2017 Rosé of Cabernet Franc

Asa pouring the 2017 Rosé of Cabernet Franc

Leah Jørgensen Cellars 2017 Rosé of Cabernet Franc

This is our Rosé of Cab Franc and you notice it’s very very light pink.  Ballet slipper pink is what I call it.  If you do a saignee, you’re going to get a darker color.  I don’t.  In the Loire Valley they do more whole cluster and that’s what we’ve done here and so when you just dump it right into the press, you’re gonna get a very very fine pale pink.  When you have Loire rosés from Cab Franc, they are always going to be this sort of onion peel skin, just a very light ballet slipper.

I love it, it’s coppery, it’s pretty and it’s very savory, it’s very dry and it’s….pink grapefruit and then savory, like herbal.  Sometimes I get a  little tarragon on it or elder flower, lime blossomy, orange blossom I guess, marmalade? I don’t know, it depends on my mood, what I’m tasting.

So you say that this is full cluster?

Yes, whole cluster, just dump it right in the press.

So with that, is it a really gentle press.

Yes, we do a white wine press.

So you are really not getting off of the whole clusters that way.  Not a lot off the stem inclusion.

No and the truth is, red wine gets it’s color from the skins and that’s really from fermenting and getting deep extraction and doing cold soaks. So the berry is getting macerated slowly and naturally and you are getting more extraction.  We’re not doing any of that, so we’re not fermenting on any of that.  So we are literally pressing it to get this salmon color pink juice and then we basically rack into a tank that we chill for about 24 to 48 hours and then we rack back into, with the rosé, another tank, a stainless steel, this is all stainless steel and then it ferments in that tank.  So you’re letting things just settle out but you’re still retaining a little color and it tends to get just lighter and lighter when fermentation completes.

Buxton Vineyard in the Rogue Valley

So what is special about that vineyard for you?

While the other vineyards that we work with in the Rogue have inter-marine shellfish this particular place is on a different part of the Rogue Valley it’s closer to Del Rio Vineyards, it’s on the other side of I-5 basically.  It used to be under the Rogue River, so there’s River stone everywhere.  It looks like Bordeaux basically, there’s just smooth river stones throughout the vineyard, but it’s still that clay, silty loam, river bottom soils.

Buxton Ranch and Vineyard sits just Northwest of the Rogue River near White City and Eagle Point.  In addition to the 25 acre vineyard, they are a ranch and raise grass fed Angus/Wagu beef.

The winemaker’s description from her site

What is this lovely ballet slipper colored pink wine like? My first Rosé of Cabernet Franc! Coppery, Renaissance pink, Degas dancer, Cape Hatteras sunset, Valencia heirloom rose petals… smells like pink grapefruit meets cotton candy, marshmallow, marzipan, and ripe apricots, tastes that way, too, plus orange marmelade, green strawberries, summer fruit salad. Deeelightful! Pairs with anything, really.

2017 Rosé of Cabernet Franc

2017 Rosé of Cabernet Franc

More than just delicious

The 2017 Rosé of Cabernet Franc runs $22 and this is a wine with a mission.  Leah donates a portion of the retail sales of this wine to women’s academic scholarships.

Want to find a bottle?  Head to Leah Jørgensen Cellars squarespace or look for one of the smart establishments that carry her wine.  There is a list here.

We are going to continue our chat with Leah Jørgensen.  Next up is her 2016 “Tour Rain” Vin Rouge And check out our previous episodes with her Leah Jørgensen – Pirate Princess & Winemaker, Grapes of Southern Oregon with Leah Jørgensen, Southern Oregon Sauvignon Blanc with Leah Jørgensen, and Blanc de Cab Franc…What?

Check out Leah’s updated website at https://leahjorgensencellars.com/

You can find her on on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram too!

And join us back here at Crushed Grape Chronicles  as we continue sharing our conversation with Leah!  And don’t forget, you can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram