Joyful Noise

On the 6th day there was Joyful Noise

December 18, 2018
Joyful Noise 2015 Pinot Noir with Tuna

On the 6th day of Wine we opened our bottle of  Joyful Noise Pinot Noir made by Deven Morganstern. 

2015 Joyful Noise Pinot Noir

We met Deven and Callie  of Joyful Noise at the Uncommon Wine Festival this summer and spoke with them about the 2015 Pinot Noir.  The grapes for this wine come from Lazy River Vineyard in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA of the Willamette Valley in Oregon.

Joyful Noise 2015 Pinot Noir
Joyful Noise 2015 Pinot Noir

Deven’s pairing suggestions

I reached out to Deven to ask about a pairing for the holiday season and he was kind enough to respond with a pairing that makes things simple so that you can relax and enjoy the time at the holiday with family and friends.


Here is what I thought of when planning out our Christmas Dinner menu….my favorite part is all the excitement and build up to dinner which starts a few days before Christmas so we can best enjoy the crazy!

Deven Morganstern, Executive Noise Maker and Grape Wrangeler at Joyful Noise
Joyful noise quote
The back of the bottle of Joyful Noise says it all

In our house, Christmas Dinner is really an all day affair. Everyone wakes up, we make coffee, have pastries from the shop down the street and do the present thing. That all gets us to about lunch time when friends and other family start to stop by. Either just for a minute or coming early for Dinner you’ve got to have some snacks ready in advance or you will never get out of the kitchen. So, a couple days ahead I’ll bake loaves of Ken Forkish’s Saturday White Bread recipe from Flour Water Salt Yeast, pick up a ton of charcuterie from Chop and Olympia Provisions here in Portland, some pickled and fresh veggies, and then make this tuna spread (see below) with Jacobson canned tuna in oil. All can be whipped up days ahead of time, other than grilling some of that bread, and you can keep those hungry folks at bay while wrapping up the main show in the kitchen. Perfect thing about the 2015 Lazy River Vineyard Joyful Noise Pinot Noir is it can roll with all these snacks and transition straight into dinner time with roasted Duck, Prime Rib, or at our house this year, Smoked Ham. With enough color and structure that your Cabernet drinking Uncle will be cool with it and all the acid and fruit anyone that loves Oregon Pinot Noir will be filling their glass a second time, you can pop open a couple bottles and let the day fill with the noise of friends and family. 

Deven Morganstern, Executive Noise Maker and Grape Wrangeler at Joyful Noise
A Joyfull Noise, Deven & Callie
A Joyfull Noise, Deven & Callie

I didn’t have time to order tuna from Jacobson. But I will be sure to pick some up when I am back on the Oregon Coast.  (We will be heading to a wedding just up the road from there next year).  While I am familiar with Jacobson salts (and have been happily gifted a few), the tuna is new to me and I can’t wait!

I headed to the market and picked up a higher quality tuna than I typically do for sandwiches for this recipe.

The Tuna Mousse recipe

Joyful Noise 2015 Pinot Noir with Tuna
Joyful Noise 2015 Pinot Noir with Tuna mousse

It’s an actual recipe, from Patricia Wells’ Trattoria.
 
Lemon and Oregano Tuna Mousse
 
One 6 1/2 ounce can best quality tuna packed in olive oil. Do not drain (the Jacobson tuna was 7 1/2 ounces, but no big deal)
4 T unsalted butter, at room temp
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 T olive oil
1/2 t dried oregano
1 plump fresh garlic clove, finely chopped
 
Put it all in a food processor and process till smooth and creamy. Taste for seasoning. I usually add salt and pepper.
It’s best served at room temp and will keep for about 3 days. 

We also put together a cheese plate to graze on. filled with a wide variety of cheeses, charcuterie etc. 

Joyful Noise 2015 Pinot Noir with Cheese Plate
Joyful Noise 2015 Pinot Noir with Cheese Plate

The Pairings

I will pull this quote again from Deven

“With enough color and structure that your Cabernet drinking Uncle will be cool with it and all the acid and fruit anyone that loves Oregon Pinot Noir will be filling their glass a second time, you can pop open a couple bottles and let the day fill with the noise of friends and family. “ 

Nothing could be more true.  I think of this as a relatively “big” Pinot.  Full of flavor.  It went beautifully with everything!  Not a single bad pairing.  I was a little skeptical of the tuna spread pairing.  I read the recipe, thought it sounded tasty and was charmed by Deven’s story.  But quite honestly I did not think this would be a spectacular pairing.  Boy was I wrong.  The acid in the wine was brilliant pairing with the lemon in the spread and then contrasting with the fat and and richness.  This was an enlightening pairing for me.

Want some?

Do you want a bottle?  They have a page on their site to tell you “How it Works” They are small, and this was the only wine they made annually, until this year when they added a Pet Nat to their line up (I can’t wait to try that!)

And go check out our interview that we did with them at Deven Morganstern is making a Joyful Noise

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

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

Vista Hills Vineyard and the Uncommon Wine Festival 2018

October 21, 2018
Sunset over the vines at Vista Hills Vineyard in the Dundee Hills

Vista Hills was the setting for the “Uncommon Wine Festival” that we’ve been talking about so much. This years was the 9th annual and before heading down there we had a chance to speak with Dave Petterson, Vista Hills Winemaker about the festival and how it got started.

The Uncommon Wine Festival at Vista Hills Vineyard – The Mega Mix

The day itself was spectacular, not too hot, not too cold. The vineyards were beautiful, the wines were flowing, there was even a group on horseback that stopped by the festival, before continuing their ride through the vineyards.  And of course there were makers of “uncommon” wine there to talk and taste with.  Enjoy our Mega Mix of the day!

While we couldn’t catch Dave during the festival, we did have a chance to taste a few of his “Uncommon Wines”

2017 Fool’s Gold Blanc de Noir

100% Pinot Noir, this blanc de Noir gets pressed and gets no time on the skin, which allows for this lovely light coppery color. They fement it with a champagne yeast. They only made 121 cases of this wine.

The grapes come from their newest vineyard block that was planted just 10 years ago in 2008. Block L sits are around 720 feet. This is all Dijon clone 115.

2016 Rumble Seat Pinot Gris Rose

Rumble Seat 2016 Pinot Gris Rosé from Vista Hills

Rumble Seat 2016 Pinot Gris Rosé from Vista Hills

They call it a Pinot Gris Rosé, but it is really made in the style of an Orange Wine. You can’t find this on their site anymore. It is incredibly popular with their wine club and disappears quickly. Luckily, we snagged a bottle at the festival. As with all their bottles, it comes with a story.

Rumble Seat 2016 Pinot Gris Rosé from Vista Hills

Rumble Seat 2016 Pinot Gris Rosé from Vista Hills label detail and story

2017 Duchess Pinot Noir Rose

Duchess 2017 Pinot Noir Rosé from Vista Hills

Duchess 2017 Pinot Noir Rosé from Vista Hills

This wine is truly “Uncommon” the nose is cotton candy. Not what I normally look for in a wine, but…it was weird and fascinating. So, yeah, we left with a bottle of that too. Here’s it’s story.

Duchess 2017 Pinot Noir Rosé from Vista Hills label and story

Duchess 2017 Pinot Noir Rosé from Vista Hills label and story

The day was truly spectacular and the opportunity to meet and speak with all of these winemakers was once in a lifetime, well, until next year and the 10th annual “Uncommon Wine Festival”.

Take a visit to our page filled with all the fabulous winemakers that we met at the Uncommon Wine Festival filled with photos and interviews.

And for more information on Vista Hills Vineyard visit their website at http://vistahillsvineyard.com/

Update:  As we were finishing up this post yesterday in preparation to release this morning, the news broke that the Coppola Family was buying Vista Hills.  You can read about the acquisition here  https://www.kgw.com/article/money/francis-ford-coppola-buys-vista-hills-vineyard-in-dayton/283-607159415

We wish everyone at Vista Hills all the best and thank them for creating an Amazing Event with the Uncommon Wine Festival, as well as for creating beautiful wines and a magical place in the “Treehouse” to taste them.

read all about the Winemakers

Don’t forget to check back with us here at Crushed Grape Chronicles as we continue to explore Oregon Wine Country. And don’t forget, you can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Deven Morganstern is making a Joyful Noise

September 12, 2018
Joyfull Noise

Joyful Noise…it’s the sound of family and friends coming to table, chairs being pulled up or maybe milk crates, scuffling with a cacaphony of conversation, squeels of children being hoisted up onto seats, clanking of dishes as they are passed, the clinking of glasses and laughter.  That is the inspiration for the name of this winery.

“Deven grew up in a large family in one of those places that there was always another chair, whether it was an upside down milk carton type of thing or something they always figured out another chair at the table and it’s that happy chaos Joyful Noise.”  Calli

We had the opportunity to meet Deven & Calli of Joyful Noise at the Uncommon Wine Festival held at Vista Hill Vineyards in July. This great festival features smaller wine producers and is the place to catch up and coming labels in Oregon.

 

Deven & Calli with Joyful Noise

Deven & Calli with Joyful Noise

The Journey to Wine Making

Deven says he lucked into wine when he went to school in Eugene and started tasting wines at King Estate.

“right around harvest in 2011 I was looking for something new to do, and everyone I asked for a list of who I should go talk to and who should I try to go work for Rob & Maria Stuart were always on that list.  So I was lucky enough to hop in for harvest worked a couple weeks and decided that’s what I wanted to be.  Got to bounce around a little bit and see some other styles, but as soon as a job at R. Stuarts came back open, I went straight there.” Deven

A Joyful Noise

A Joyfull Noise

2015 Joyful Noise Lazy River Pinot Noir

Joyful Noise currently makes just one wine and the 2015 Lazy River Pinot Noir that we were tasting was their second vintage.  They make one ton of Pinot Noir from Lazy River vineyard in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA.  The Vineyard is owned by Ned and Kirsten Lumpkin. (These look like really fun folks, go ahead, visit their website, https://lazyrivervineyard.com/about-us/)

The part of the vineyard that these grapes are growing in is between 450 and 500 feet in elevation.

“This happens to be 100% Wadenswil on 101/14, high elevation of Lazy River, so it’s kind of right at the crest of the hill.  A little band of Jory soil actually goes through vineyard, so not common for Yamhill but part of the makeup.  So really shallow soil, really really dark dark fruit, coming out of the press it almost looks like Syrah it is almost black.  So big big tannins, we try to soften those up a little bit, so de-stemmed into a 1 ton fermenter and punch down a couple times a day.  Wild yeast starts so we make Pied de Cuve* (see explanation at the bottom) at the beginning of the year from vineyard samples.  If we like the fermentation and how it is starting we will pitch that into the fermenter and let it go with that.” Deven

Deven spends his days working for Rob & Maria Stuart of R. Stuart & Co. in McMinnville, and he makes this wine there.  In addition to the Pied de Cuve they also have a cultured yeast strain from R. Stuart & Co.  Four or 5 years ago, they had a wild fermentation that they really liked.  They send it out to a lab in Hood River who broke down the yeast strains into the 3 dominant ones and now yearly cultivate this yeast for them.

“Part way through the fermentation we will délestage the wine so it’s kind of like a rack and return to get some of the seeds out.  We like the tannin but we want the skin tannin more than the seed tannin.  So about 7 brix those seeds start falling out to the bottom so we can basically use like a 3 inch hose almost like a vacuum to pull them off the bottom of the fermenter take the juice away let the juice cool down and put it back.  And then it ages in two neutral French oak barrels and one new French oak barrel.  So 33% new.” Deven

When it comes to barrels, Deven is pretty specific on what he ages his wine in.  The barrels are from Tonnellerie Claude Gillet.  These barrels have a softer tone, so instead of vanilla and bourbon you get more cinnamon and baking spice.  Plus it’s a small family cooper, with people he really likes.  You can see their process on their site at tonnellerie-gillet.com http://www.tonnellerie-gillet.com/our-tradition/index.html

The Lumpkins at Lazy River are getting ready to plant Chardonnay up behind the block of Pinot that Devon pulls from and have pulled out the fir trees that were there last year.   So future vintages will be influenced by a little more breeze and a little more warmth.  It will be interesting to see how the effects on the wine.

When asked what the most important thing about his wine is to him..

“That people have fun and enjoy it. It’s supposed to be drank with friends, have it on the table somewhere, have a dinner party, If it needs to be the excuse for fun and people over than that’s what it should be”

 

Pied de Cuve* (the explanation)

“Basically we take Vineyard samples (clusters of grapes used to test sugar and acid prior to picking) keep them outside the Winery, and allow them to start fermenting.  If we like what we see, that is what gets pitched into the destemmed fruit to start the fermentation.”

Where can you find Joyful Noise?

You can find their wine online on their website https://www.joyfulnoisewine.com/ and they also have a mailing list.

If you happen into Tina’s in Dundee, you will find it on the bottle list.

Michael and Dawn Stiller and Dwight and Karen McFaddin own and run this classic Dundee restaurant that opened as the first fine dining in the area in 1991. We ate here with friends on our first trip to the area.

And then the Valley Commissary carries two kegs of this wine on tap each year.

Jesse Kincheloe is the chef/owner of Valley Commissary, which is a little lunch and catering spot right in the middle of the granary district parking lot in McMinnville. He grew up in Healdsburg in Sonoma.  They serve Lunch and Brunch leaving nights free for time with family.

And you can follow them on facebook, twitter and instagram.

You can also read our piece on the Uncommon Wine Festival, with our interview with Dave Pettersen the Winemaker and CEO of Vista Hills who founded the event, and check out other interviews we did at the festival with Ryan Pickens of Esther Glen Farm and Winery , Ariel Eberle of A Cheerful Note Cellars , Jim Fischer and Jenny Mosbacher of Fossil & Fawn, and Alex Neely of Libertine Wines  We look forward to bringing you interviews and discussions with all of the winemakers from this event, as well as details and visits with wineries in each of the Willamette Valley AVAs.  So check back here at Crushed Grape Chronicles  and don’t forget, you can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

And if you want to dive into details on the Willamette Valley, you can read our recent post Oregon’s Willamette Valley AVAs – a Primer

 

The 9th Annual Uncommon Wine Festival at Vista Hills

July 3, 2018
Willamette Valley Wine Country panorama

While we are visiting the Willamette Valley we will be attending the Uncommon Wine Festival at Vista Hills Vineyard.  Vista Hills Winemaker and GM, Dave Petterson took a little time out of a busy day in the cellar to talk with me about the origins of the event.

John and Nancy McClintock, the owners of Vista Hills started planting grapes in 1997. They started as many vineyard owners do, simply as growers. Around 2006 they started thinking about making wine and building their own label and tasting room. They brought on Dave Petterson as their GM and Winemaker to do just that in 2007.

Dave has been part of the Oregon Wine community for 20 years and he has always seen it as a supportive community. As a small winery, they were constantly looking at ways to get their wines out there and with the tight wine community that the Willamette Valley was at the time (and still is),they knew lots of people who were looking for the same thing.

In 2000 there were 139 Wineries in Oregon, in 2007 about 350 and today 725.

(Information from Oregon Wine Industry Statistics from the Oregon Wine Board)

In 2010 Vista Hills started the “Uncommon Wine Festival” to give themselves and other small producers they knew, a venue to get their wines tasted and seen.

This is a supportive wine community. Producers are generally smaller, in fact 70% of all Oregon Wineries produce 5,000 cases or less annually.

(A little perspective…there are producers in California who make more wine annually than the entire state of Oregon)

Quality has always been really important here. You will notice this in the labeling. Federal Regulations through the TTB allow for a bottle to be labeled from a place if 75% comes from that place. In Oregon, if it says Oregon on the label 100% of those grapes must be from Oregon. With specific AVA listing on a label, the Federal Government says 85% while Oregon says 95%. Same with Varietal labeling. Over most of the world the standard is 75% of a variety in a wine and you can call it by that name. In Oregon, they upped that to 90%. In Oregon, quality matters. 

(Information from Oregon Wine Industry Statistics from the Oregon Wine Board)

The winemakers who participate in the event come from all over the Willamette Valley. Most, but not all, are sourcing fruit. I have to admit that I love this. This gives you the opportunity to try different wines that may come from the same vineyard and see a different interpretation of that fruit by another winemaker.

Dave will be pouring what he calls his “backwards” wines at the event, his orange wine and his white pinot noir. His orange wine he has a love/hate relationship with (orange wines can be notoriously difficult). It is a white wine made in a red style, while the white pinot noir is a red wine made in a white style. He didn’t think he would continue making the orange wine after the first year, but the response from their club to both of these wines has been terrific. I love hearing that there is an interest in these more adventurous wines.

The festival last year was so large and busy, that they expanded it to 2 days this year, running Saturday July 7th and Sunday July 8th.

 

**Just released!  The list of Winemakers for the event include:

A Cheerful Note Cellars, Fossil & Fawn, Leah Jorgensen Cellars, Esther Glen Farm & Winery, Joyful Noise, Maloof, and Libertine!  (Expect to hear all about all of these winemakers when we return!  I’m off now to visit their sites and learn all I can about them!)

Here’s a little from their press release:

“UWF has become a Treehouse Tasting Room tradition and one of the most anticipated events we host all year,” said Dave Petterson, winemaker and general manager at Vista Hills Vineyard. “As a small producer in a big industry, we understand the importance of deserved exposure and creating wines that truly stand out. The UWF excels on both accounts.”

While Pinot Noir will make a prominent showing at the UWF, other varietals like Gamay Noir, Cabernet Franc, and Gewürztraminer will make appearances, often crafted in experimental fashions. Guests can sample wines and purchase bottles to take home. Accompanying the wine will be bento from Phat Cart PDX. Vista Hills will be pouring some of its own micro-production offerings as well, including two vintages of its signature Pinot Gris Rosé Orange wine and the Fool’s Gold Blanc de Pinot Noir.

The Uncommon Wine Festival is a launch pad of sorts, having featured many labels on the cusp of success and expansion. Past featured labels include Teutonic Wine Company, Fausse Piste, Love & Squalor, Jackalope Wine Cellars, Guillen Family Wines, Johan Vineyards and many more.

You can visit the Vista Hills site for information on this and all of their events.  But for the quick details the event runs from 11-4 both days and the $35 tasting fee covers samples sips from several wines from each of the producers.  Come early, cause wines may run out!  Also Phat Cart Asian Fusion will have short ribs and bento bowls for sale when you get hungry!

Sunday July 8th will also be the Wine Country ½ Marathon starting and ending at Stoller in the Dundee Hills. They will be pouring at that event also and look to see many of the participants at the Uncommon Wine Event later that day! So it will be a full day of great events in Oregon Wine Country!

 

***So we attended the event and it was spectacular!  Watch for a post detailing the event and for some in depth interviews with the amazing winemakers who where there!

We look forward to bringing you interviews and discussions with some of the winemakers from this event.  So check back here at Crushed Grape Chronicles . You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram