Name: Lavender and Earl Grey tea smoked yellowfin tuna on roasted golden beets with rosemary plated with steamed aromas of rosemary and star anise
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Fish
Ingredients: 2-3 Yellowfin Tuna steaks; 2 cloves of garlic; 3 tbs fresh ginger sliced; ¼ cup olive oil; 2 tbs soy sauce; 3 tbs brewed tea; 3 tbs honey; ¼ cup blood orange juice; 1/2 tsp grated blood orange zest; 3 tbs rice; 2 tbs Lavender and Earl Grey tea leaves; 2 tbs sugar; 6 whole star anise; 2 golden beets slice ¼ inch thick; ¼ cup olive oil; 1/2 tsp salt; ¼ tsp pepper; ¼ cup fresh rosemary; 4 large sprigs of fresh rosemary

Tea smoked tuna and roasted beets with an aromatic plating paired with a Utopia 2017 Pinot Noir

Mar 17, 2021

We received this beautiful Pinot Noir from Utopia Vineyards as a media sample. What to pair with it? Tea and umami are notes that are often present in Pinot Noir, it is also noted for its earthy notes. The tasting notes from the winery mentioned rosemary and spice notes, so I wrapped this all up in a dish that made me excited to get cooking.

Lavender Earl Grey Tea Smoked Tuna with Roasted Golden Beets and Rosemary

Rather than salmon, we decided to go a bit bolder with tea smoked tuna. I looked for ahi but was only able to find Yellowfin, which worked beautifully.

I riffed on a recipe by Feasting at Home, for tea-smoked five-spiced salmon, using the Chinese smoking technique she describes. We plated this on a bed of rosemary roasted golden beets.

Utopia 2017 Pinot Noir with Lavender Earl Grey tea smoked Yellowfin Tuna with roasted golden beets with rosemary

It’s easier than you think

I know this dish sounds fancy, and it is! It looks like something they would cook on one of those fancy cooking competition shows! The truth is, this is not hard to do at home. Quite honestly it was easier than most recipes I put together.

You do need a few pieces of equipment: A wok, a metal vegetable steamer, aluminum foil and a set of bowls that you can nest one larger than the other, for individual serving.

The tuna needs to marinate for 30 minutes and while it is doing that, you can get everything else prepped. Start to finish you can do this dinner in less than an hour. Perfect for a romantic dinner!

Tea smoked tuna ingredients with a Utopia 2017 Ribbon Ridge Pinot Noir

Start with the marinade

We began with a marinade of garlic, ginger, olive oil, soy sauce, honey, blood orange juice, and zest with some brewed tea. I incorporated my lavender earl grey tea here. All the ingredients mix up quickly in a blender, then go into a zip lock bag with the tuna steaks. This heads to the refrigerator for 30 minutes (or more).

Preparing your wok for smoking

So let’s get to this smoking in the wok. It’s genius. I love smoked foods, but I am not a big griller, so the idea of a smoker for the patio is just not for me. The idea that I could cook tea smoked tuna and other foods on my stove inside, was very appealing.

In this method, you line the bottom of your wok with aluminum foil. I did an 8 x 8 square that was 4 layers thick. This is important to contain the mess and protect your wok.

In the center of the aluminum foil, I placed my mixture of sugar, tea, rice, and spice (I used 2 broken star anise) This should be in a 4-inch diameter pile. On top of that, you place a metal vegetable steamer. You know, the cute little ones with the feet that fold open like a flower. The feet keep the steamer above the tea mixture, you don’t want this touching the bottom of the steamer.

On to the beets

Ingredients for the rosemary roasted golden beets to pair with the Utopia Pinot Noir

Once this is prepped, you can move on to the beets. I like the golden beets because they are beautiful and have a slightly more delicate flavor than red beets. They are also decidedly less messy.

I preheated my oven to 450 degrees F, then scrubbed and sliced the beets into ¼ inch thick rounds on a mandoline. These get tossed with olive oil, fresh chopped rosemary, and salt and pepper. Lay these out on a baking sheet. I used a silicone mat under them for an easy clean-up and to keep them from browning too much. I wanted them soft, not crispy. Before these go in the oven go back and get your tuna ready to smoke.

Making the tea smoked tuna

Pull the tuna out of the marinade and discard the marinade (after having raw fish in it, it’s no longer safe to eat unless you boil it). Blot just the bottom of the tuna and place them in the steamer basket so that they are not touching.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and top with a lid (ideally a glass lid).

Now you can put your beets in the oven for 20 minutes, but set your timer to start checking on them after 15 minutes.

Place the wok on the stove over high heat for 2 to 3 minutes. You should start to see puffs of smoke. *Tip: turn your vent on! I did not and was watching and watching and not seeing smoke. After 5 minutes, I turned on the vent, and then I could see the smoke. This caused me to slightly overcook my tuna from where I had originally wanted it.

Once you see the puffs of smoke, turn the heat down to medium-low and cook for 5 to 8 minutes (5 gets you rarer tuna).

Prepping your plates

While that is cooking, prep your dish for plating. Turn on your kettle with some water to boil. Pull out bowls that you can nest one inside the other for plating. In the larger bottom bowl place sprigs of fresh rosemary and one or two star anise. Place the bowl for your beets and tuna on top in the center.

When your tuna is done smoking, sear it on each side in a rod iron skillet for 30 seconds to 1 minute per side.

Pull the beets from the oven and layer them in your bowl, place the tea smoked tuna on top.

*While I did not do this, I would suggest adding a drizzle of sauce to the top of this. A mixture similar to your marinade with a bit of miso, warmed on the stove, that you can drizzle on top. Finish this with some julienned strips of orange zest.

The magic of serving this

To serve, put your hot water in a teapot and gently pour the water into the bottom bowl with the rosemary and anise. This will create lovely aromatic steam which will enhance the dish and add to the wine pairing.

Utopia 2017 Pinot Noir with tea smoked tuna with rosemary and anise scented steam

Additional pairings

With this Pinot Noir, we also enjoyed a cheese plate with camembert macerated with ground clove and five-spice topped with black cherry and rosemary and a dessert of mini-pineapple upside-down cakes topped with the same compote. The cherry and rosemary, as well as the caramelized notes on the pineapple, worked wonderfully with the wine.

About the Utopia 2017 Estate Pinot Noir Ribbon Ridge

The Utopia 2017 Estate Pinot Noir is 100% Pinot Noir but from multiple clones (variations on the Pinot Noir variety). This gives winemaker Dan Warnshuis the ability to make a beautiful blended Pinot Noir. You can read more on this wine and winery here.

You can visit Utopia located in Washington’s Willamette Valley, more specifically in the Ribbon Ridge AVA, by booking an appointment on their website https://www.utopiawine.com/visit-us. They also have a cabin on their property, which is perfect for a bit of a getaway!

Lavender and Earl Grey tea smoked yellowfin tuna on roasted golden beets with rosemary plated with steamed aromas of rosemary and star anise

Prep Time: 35 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Additional Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Stick with me here. This sounds really fancy (and it looks really fancy too), but it is really not difficult! A little marinade, a bit of time with a pretty simple stovetop smoking technique. The fancy steam plating? You can make hot water, right?

You do need a few kitchen items to make this work, a zip lock bag, a wok, aluminum foil, a metal vegetable steamer, a skillet to sear the tuna, and a sheet pan for the zucchini. For the plating, you just need 2 bowls that will fit together, one larger than the other, for the rosemary, star anise, and hot water, under the dish holding your tuna and beets.

Cooking time is 20 minutes, add 30 minutes to marinate the tuna and 10 minutes for it to rest.

I've laid the recipe out to cook the beets and tuna simultaneously.

This is so elegant. The flavors and aromas are spectacular. I think I might be hooked on tea smoking tuna! This will also work on salmon.

We paired this with an Oregon Pinot Noir, from Utopia Vineyard that we received as a sample.

Ingredients

2-3 Yellowfin Tuna steaks
2 cloves of garlic
3 tbs fresh ginger sliced
¼ cup olive oil
2 tbs soy sauce
3 tbs brewed tea
3 tbs honey
¼ cup blood orange juice
1/2 tsp grated blood orange zest
3 tbs rice
2 tbs Lavender and Earl Grey tea leaves
2 tbs sugar
6 whole star anise
2 golden beets slice ¼ inch thick
¼ cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ cup fresh rosemary
4 large sprigs of fresh rosemary

Instructions

Mix the garlic, ginger, ¼ cup of olive oil, soy sauce, brewed tea, honey, blood orange juice, and zest in a blender until mixed.
Place your tuna in the zip lock bag and pour the marinade in.
Marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Prep the wok
Make an 8-inch square of aluminum foil 4 layers thick, place in the bottom of the wok
Mix the sugar, tea, rice, and 2 of the star anise together
Place the mixture in the center of the foil flattening to a 4-inch diameter circle
Place the metal vegetable steamer on top, being sure the bottom does not touch the mixture
Prep the beets
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F
Scrub the beets and slice into ¼ thick rounds on a mandolin
Toss with olive oil, chopped, rosemary, salt, and pepper
Place on a baking sheet
Smoke the Tuna Roast the beets
Pull the tuna from the marinade and blot the bottom of the tuna with a paper towel
Place the tuna in the steam basket so they are not touching
Cover the wok with aluminum foil and place the lid on top
Put the beets in the oven for 20 minutes, checking on them after 15
Place the wok on the stove over high heat for 2 -3 minutes (you should see puffs of smoke)
Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 5 to 8 minutes
Prep your dishes for plating.
Turn on the kettle to boil some water
Pull out your nested bowls for plating
Put two sprigs of rosemary and 2 whole star anise in each of the larger bowls
When your tuna is done smoking, sear each side in a rod iron skillet for about 1 minute
Pull the beets from the oven. Layer them in the bottom of your small bowls. Place the tuna on top.
Place the small bowls in the larger bowls with rosemary and star anise
Pour the boiling water into the larger dish
Enjoy immediately with a delicious Pinot Noir, letting the fragrant steam wash over you and add to the experience

Notes

***I did not have the vent hood on and was watching closely for the smoke. After 5 minutes and no smoke, I turned on the hood, and then I could see the smoke rising. As a result, my tuna was a bit more cooked than I would have liked, but it was still delicious.

*** I left mine smoking for 8 minutes and it was just slightly pink inside. If you would like your tuna steak to be closer to rare, go with 5 minutes.

A sauce might have been nice….

Looking back, I would have made a light sauce to pour on top of this. Use similar ingredients to the marinade and make a sauce on the stove. If you do this, I might suggest adding some miso to it for extra flavor.

Garnishes

I totally meant to top this with small curls or julienned slices of orange zest, but in the fray, I forgot.

More on Utopia!

We also did a pairing with the Utopia 2017 Estate Chardonnay. You can find that recipe and pairing here!

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

Robin Bell Renken I have always loved people’s stories. I spent a career in Theatre helping to tell stories, as a Stage Manager. Daily enabling artists to freely and safely tell stories through their art. Then I fell in love with wine. There are so many details, so many nuances, not just in the glass, but in the vineyard, the region and the people. As I met winemakers and vineyard owners and even the people in the tasting room excited to pour me a glass and tell me the story of this wine, I knew these were stories I wanted to share. I completed my study and became a Certified Specialist of Wine and continue learning daily as I meet and interview people in this industry.

Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

Rainbow Root Vegetable Gratin and Baked Rainbow Trout paired with 2 Youngberg Hill – Pinot Noirs

Jan 25, 2021

Rainbow Root Vegetable Gratin and Baked Rainbow Trout Recipes

I guess we are on a rainbow theme here!

These dishes were for our pairing menu, to go with 2 Pinot Noirs we received as samples from Youngberg Hill.

We did the main course of Baked Rainbow trout. This is a fish that is a little meatier and fattier to stand up to the Pinot. For our side, this rainbow root vegetable gratin, that brings in earthier notes to pair with the Pinot Noir. I know, fish and cheese? It might be a little out of the box, but it worked.

This “Rainbow” was made with beets in red and yellow, sweet potato, and parsnip.

The baked rainbow trout with its distinctive flavor and fat stood up to both of the wines, even the brooding Natasha. The rainbow root vegetable gratin really worked well, much credit should be given to the Gruyere topper for pulling the pairing together. With the blend of 4 vegetables, I found I preferred the parsnips with the Cuvée and the beets with the Natasha. Overall, a very satisfying pairing.

Scroll to the bottom for the recipe cards.

Youngberg Hill

I have a connection with this winery. Years ago, Michael and I ventured to Oregon on our first trip to explore the Willamette Valley. An old friend of mine, Adam, met us and made sure we visited Youngberg Hill, where he and his wife had recently been married. We had a lovely day and I have great memories from visiting the winery.

2016 Youngberg Hill Natasha Pinot Noir

Our notes

This wine had a very integrated nose. It was heavier than the Cuvée with more brambles and bramble fruit. It was lively in my mouth with tartness, like tart blackberry and good acid. Notes of red currant, with bits of smoky vanilla, popped up as I paired it. The finish was lengthy and mouth and gum warming.

This wine is a bit more brooding and earthier than the Cuvée.

2017 Youngberg Hill Cuvée Pinot Noir

Our notes

The nose was full of red fruit with a waft of dustiness then brambles and spice. Baked strawberry came to mind. It was bright in my mouth with med/high acid and light drifty tannins that evaporate. A medium finish that brought up bits of cola.

Rainbow Root Vegetable Gratin and Baked Rainbow Trout

Rainbow Root Vegetable Gratin

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

We adapted this recipe for my vegetable with our Pinot Noir pairing. I went earthier choosing a root vegetable gratin, in a rainbow of colors, with red beet, sweet potato, golden beet, and parsnip.

Ingredients

2 red beets
2 golden beets
1 sweet potato
1 parsnip
1 cup of cream
4 oz of grated parmesan
1 tbs+ fresh thyme
1 clove of garlic minced
1 oz of shredded gruyere
Salt & pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 F
Grease a baking dish (2-quart size)
Peel and slice the vegetables thinly into rounds and place them in separate bowls. (How perfect and fancy you want to get depends
on your style. I hand cut these and was not concerned about having them all look the same size, but you could use a cutter to make all of your circles uniform if you chose)
To each bowl add bits of the cream (4 tablespoons each to the beets, 2 tablespoons each to the potato and parsnip you should end
up with about ¼ cup left)
Divide your parmesan in ½ and then divide that into 4 parts and sprinkle this on each of your 4 bowls.
Divide the thyme 4 ways over the 4 bowls.
Stir up each bowl seasoning with salt and pepper and make sure all the slices of vegetables are coated.
In the base of your buttered baking or gratin dish, pour the rest of the cream, add the minced garlic, and ½ of the remaining parmesan.
Now, layer your gratin, start with a bunch of the parsnip (5 or 6 slices) followed by the yellow beet, followed by the sweet potato, and finally the red beet, standing them on edge making rows. Continue until your dish is full. (Feel free to play with your patterns and colors artistically as you see fit).
Top this with a bit of S & P and the rest of the Parm.
Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes.
Uncover and top with the gruyere
Bake another 20 minutes. (Cheese should be melted and lightly brown)
Sprinkle with a bit more thyme and serve)

Nutrition Information

Yield

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 419Total Fat 32gSaturated Fat 19gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 10gCholesterol 99mgSodium 705mgCarbohydrates 21gFiber 3gSugar 9gProtein 14g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

Baked Rainbow Trout

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Salmon & Pinot are so traditional, we stepped just a bit outside the box. The key to red wine with fish is choosing a fatty fish and so we chose rainbow trout. The trout with its distinctive flavor and fat stood up to both of the wines, even the brooding Natasha Pinot Noir from Youngberg Hill.

Ingredients

2 trout (scaled and gutted)
1 lemon
Dill
Green onions (chopped)
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 450 F
Rinse the fish and pat dry
Sprinkle the inside with salt and pepper
Add half the dill and green onions inside
Drizzle with Olive oil
Do the same to the other fish
Cut 3 shallow diagonal cuts in the top of each fish
Drizzle olive oil on top of each fish
Stick a ½ lemon slice in each of the cuts.
One last sprinkle of salt and pepper and pop them in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
Pop them back under the broiler for a couple of minutes to crisp up the skin and serve.

Nutrition Information

Yield

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 193Total Fat 12gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 9gCholesterol 46mgSodium 192mgCarbohydrates 5gFiber 1gSugar 1gProtein 17g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

Read the whole piece on our pairing dinner for more details on the wines and this winery

Youngberg Hill – Reminiscing and Making New Memories with 2 Youngberg Hill Pinot Noirs

How to find Youngberg Hill?

The Willamette Valley is a beautiful place to visit and has so much wonderful wine!

You can find Youngberg Hill at 10660 SW Youngberg Hill Road, McMinnville, OR 97128

Tastings are appointment only 10-4 daily, call them at 503-472-2727 or drop them an email at [email protected]

For more information on this region visit

https://www.oregonwine.org/

https://willamettewines.com/

Or check out some of these pieces right here on Crushed Grape Chronicles

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

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

Roasted Cornish Game Hens with Savory Berry Drizzle

Jan 18, 2021

This recipe for Roasted Cornish Game Hens was an elegant dish that we paired with a Pinot Noir from Oregon’s Willamette Valley. We wanted something that would not be too heavy, but would match the elegance of this wine. Incorporating Pinot Noir into the dish as well as adding a savory berry drizzle, help to match notes in the wine and make this pairing extra delicious.

Roasted Cornish Game hens with savory berry drizzle

Feeds: 4

Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Scroll to bottom for Recipe Card

Ingredients for Cornish Game Hens

2 Cornish Game Hens
4 tbs of olive oil (divided)
½ lemon quartered
4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
8 cloves of garlic
3 tbs of wine (choose to match your pairing, we used Pinot Noir)
3 tbs of chicken stock
Rosemary and lemon slices for garnish.

Directions

Preheat your oven to 450.
Rub the Cornish Game Hens with olive oil (about 2 tbs spoons)
Season with salt and pepper
Place 1 piece of lemon inside the cavity, followed by a sprig of rosemary and another piece of lemon.
Line a small roasting pan with aluminum foil
Place the 2 Cornish Game Hens in the roasting pan, breast up.
Add your whole garlic cloves around the birds, and the remaining 2 sprigs of rosemary.
Roast in the oven for 25 minutes.

While this is roasting make the berry drizzle

Savory Berry Drizzle

Ingredients for Berry Drizzle

1 cup of frozen berries (ours were blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries) * you can also use fresh berries if you have them.
1/3 cup of chopped dried cranberries
½ lemon juiced and zested
2 tbs frozen orange juice
2 tbs wine (again we used Pinot Noir)
1 tsp of rosemary chopped
Salt & Pepper

Directions

Place all items in a saucepan, warm over medium heat stirring regularly.
Cook until the berries break down. Season to taste

*You can make this ahead if you like and just warm it before drizzling on the hens.

After 25 minutes of roasting the hens…

Whisk together your wine, chicken broth and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Remove the Cornish Game Hens from the oven, lower the heat to 350 and pour the mixture of wine, broth and olive oil over the hens.

Return to the oven to roast an additional 25 minutes, basting with the juices every 10 minutes. The hens should be at 165 degrees with an instant read thermometer inserted at the thigh.

Take the birds out and let them rest on a cutting board under foil. Carefully pour out any juice that is inside the birds into the pan.

In the meantime prepare the sauce…

Pour the juices from the pan into a saucepan with the garlic, boil until the liquid is reduced by half.

Cut the birds in half lengthwise and arrange on a platter, spoon the sauce around the base of the Cornish Game Hens with the garlic.

Drizzle the berry sauce over the hens.

Garnish with lemon slices and rosemary sprigs.

What sides to pair?

We did a side of minted pea mash and roasted baby potatoes with burrata, basil, spinach and radicchio with lemon.

Paired with an Alloro 2018 Pinot Noir from Oregon

All of these paired beautifully with the Pinot Noir. Which we received as a sample from Alloro Vineyard.

This is the genius of Pinot Noir, it is filled with flavor but is light enough to meld well with a variety of dishes. With this dish, it was beautiful with the acid of the wine, cutting through the fat in the hens, the fruit notes, enhancing the berry sauce and rounding it out with accentuating the rosemary and garlic.

To learn more about this wine and the pairing

Jump to the recipes for…

Roasted baby potatoes with burrata, basil, spinach, and radicchio with lemon

Minted pea mash

Roasted Cornish Game hens with savory berry drizzle

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

This was an elegant dish that we paired with a Pinot Noir from Oregon’s Willamette
Valley. We wanted something that would not be too heavy, but would match the elegance of this wine. Incorporating Pinot Noir into the dish as well as adding a savory berry drizzle, help to match notes in the wine and make this pairing extra delicious.

This recipe was inspired by a recipe by Moon and Back on Allrecipes. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/8938/cornish-game-hens-with-garlic-and-rosemary/

We adapted the recipe for 2 game hens rather than 4 and made a few other adjustments like adding the berry drizzle.

Ingredients

1 cup of frozen berries (ours were blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries) * you can also use fresh berries if you have them.
1/3 cup of chopped dried cranberries
½ lemon juiced and zested
2 tbs frozen orange juice
2 tbs wine (again we used Pinot Noir)
1 tsp of rosemary chopped
Salt & Pepper
2 Cornish game hens
4 tbs of olive oil (divided)
½ lemon quartered
4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
8 cloves of garlic
3 tbs of wine (choose to match your pairing, we used Pinot Noir)
3 tbs of chicken stock
Rosemary and lemon slices for garnish.

Instructions

Alloro 2018 Pinot Noir and the ingredients for Roasted Cornish Game Hens

1. Preheat your oven to 450

2. Rub the hens with olive oil (about 2 tbs spoons)

3. Season with salt and pepper

4. Place 1 piece of lemon inside the cavity, followed by a sprig of rosemary and another piece of lemon

5. Line a small roasting pan with aluminum foil

6. Place the 2 hens in the roasting pan, breast up.

7. Add your whole garlic cloves around the birds, and the remaining 2 sprigs of rosemary.

8. Roast in the oven for 25 minutes.

9. While this is roasting make the berry drizzle

Savory berry drizzle ingredients in a pot

10. Use ingredients 1 through 7

11. Cook until the berries break down.

12. After 25 minutes of roasting the hens

13. Whisk together your wine, chicken broth and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

14. Remove the hens from the oven, lower the heat to 350 and pour the mixture of wine, broth and olive oil over the hens.

15. Return to the oven to roast an additional 25 minutes, basting with the juices every 10 minutes. The hens should be at 165 degrees with an instant read thermometer inserted at the thigh.

16. Take the birds out and let them rest on a cutting board under foil. Carefully pour out any juice that is inside the birds into the pan.

17. In the meantime prepare the sauce

18. Pour the juices from the pan into a saucepan with the garlic, boil until the liquid is reduced by half.

19. Cut the birds in half lengthwise and arrange on a platter, spoon the sauce around the base of the hens with the garlic.

20. Drizzle the berry sauce over the hens.

21. Garnish with lemon slices and rosemary sprigs.

Notes

What sides to pair?

We did a side of minted pea mash and roasted baby potatoes with burrata, basil, spinach and radicchio with lemon.

Nutrition Information

Yield

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 574Total Fat 38gSaturated Fat 9gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 27gCholesterol 169mgSodium 187mgCarbohydrates 27gFiber 6gSugar 16gProtein 30g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

Alloro Pinot Noir Recipe Pairings

Here you will find all of our wine pairing Recipes

Roasted baby potatoes with burrata, basil, spinach and radicchio with lemon

This is one of those dishes that you see on pinterest and can’t get out of your head.

Inspired by this recipe from Half Baked Harvest, we updated to include different greens and
potatoes that were available in the winter.

https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/roasted-mixed-potatoes-with-spring-herbs-and-burrata/

Roasted Cornish Game hens with savory berry drizzle

This was an elegant dish that we paired with a Pinot Noir from Oregon’s Willamette
Valley. We wanted something that would
not be too heavy, but would match the elegance of this wine. Incorporating Pinot Noir into the dish as
well as adding a savory berry drizzle, help to match notes in the wine and make
this pairing extra delicious.

This recipe was inspired by a recipe by Moon and Back on Allrecipes. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/8938/cornish-game-hens-with-garlic-and-rosemary/

We adapted the recipe to feed 2 rather than 4 and made a few other adjustments.

Minted Pea Mash

Sometimes you look at a plate and it just needs some green. What if you
really DON'T feel like a salad? I found a quick and easy recipe for
Pea Mash on Sprinkles and Sprouts and updated it adding fresh mint to
brighten the dish.

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

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

Alloro – Stunning Wines from Oregon’s New Laurelwood District AVA

Jan 14, 2021

“Alloro”

It’s the Italian word for laurel. When David Nemarnik purchased this now 130-acre site, he named it after the Laurelwood soils found on the site.

He grew up nearby in Portland, making homemade wine in his garage. He searched the area for the right site, testing soils to find the best for growing the Pinot Noir that he loved. When he found this site, it wasn’t even for sale. The owner who lived in Shasta allowed him to dig test pits and agreed to sell him 40 acres in 1999.

They planted the first 20 acres of grapes in 1999. Since then they expanded the property from the initial 40 acres to 130 acres and now have 34 acres of vineyard.

The Russian Doll AVAs of Oregon

Willamette Valley Map courtesy of Willamette Valley Wine Association Map data by everyvine.com, design by John Fisher, geologic cross section by Timothy A. Cross, special thanks to Patrick Reuter.”

Willamette Valley AVA

We mentioned Pinot Noir, so you probably immediately think of Oregon, and beyond that the Willamette Valley AVA. This overarching AVA covers the Northern part of the state from Eugene near its southern border to Portland on its northeastern border. It is defined by the Cascade Mountains to the east and the Coast Range to the West.

This massive AVA is filled with 9 sub-AVAs from North to South they are Tualatin Hills, Laurelwood, Yamhill-Carlton, Chehalem Mountains, Ribbon Ridge, Dundee Hills, McMinnville, Eola-amity Hills, and the Van Duzer Corridor.

Chehalem Mountains AVA

The Chehalem Mountains AVA is the largest sub-AVA in the state, covering over 100 square miles. 20 miles long and 5 miles wide the AVA was established in 2006 and sits within the larger Willamette Valley AVA.

There are around 150 vineyards, many family-owned and averaging just 12.5 acres. It was here that in 1968 Dick Erath first purchased land, he was followed by David Adelsheim, Dick and Nancy Ponzi, and Paul Hart of Adelsheim, Ponzi, and Rex Hill respectively.

But this is not as small as we go. Within the Chehalem Mountains AVA is the Ribbon Ridge AVA that sits on the Northwest end of the Chehalem Mountains and the brand new Laurelwood District AVA which encompasses 33,600 acres on the northeast-facing flank of the Chehalem Mountains.

Laurelwood District AVA

This AVA was just approved in June of 2020! The topography here can reach more than 1,600 feet. This AVA is defined by the Laurelwood soils, windblown loess that came with the Missoula Floods. This AVA was a decade in the works.

Of course, as this was just approved, you will not see this on bottles until 2020 vintages are released.

Alloro Vineyard

Alloro was a part of the push for this new AVA. In 2018 they were part of a group of winemakers who gathered for a blind tasting of Chehalem Mountain wines all from within the Laurelwood AVA. So today, the raised laurel on their label takes on even more meaning.

Their vineyard sits at between 450 and 700 feet and is wind-blown loess (Laurelwood) over basalt.

On the property, in addition to grapes, they raise cattle and sheep. They are LIVE certified (Low Impact Viticulture & Enology). David’s philosophy is to look at the overall health of the farm, minimize inputs, use beneficial insects, and leave natural areas for biodiversity. He looks at the farm as a complete system. The idea is to leave the soil and ecosystem better than when he found it. LIVE is a science-based approach that does not eliminate synthetic products. As he uses beneficial insects, he tries to avoid sulfur which can harm them.

All their wines are estate wines.

David Nemarnik, Vineyard Manager and Proprietor

David Nemarnik loves the land. He helped to build his family’s produce company, in Portland while he was in college. He still heads that company as CEO. Here at the vineyard, he is the proprietor and also the Vineyard Manager. He hired a winemaker to make the wine in 2009. In 2010 Tom Fitzpatrick joined the team and they have a synergy. The team here is small. David, Tom, David Lopez the Vineyard Foreman, Andrew Ward the Cellar Master.

Tom Fitzpatrick, Winemaker

Tom has a master’s in viticulture and enology from UC Davis and has worked in wine all over the world. He began in Washington State, working with a small winery, spent time in New Zealand and Napa, where he worked at Pine Ridge. His Masters Thesis was “Variation in the Phenolic Composition of California Pinot Noir Fruit and Wines: Analysis and Explanation.” (Just the kind of fascinating geeky thing I would love to read!). So Pinot Noir is a grape he has looked at in-depth.

He spent some time in Bourgogne before returning to the US and settling in Oregon. He worked at Hamacher Wines, before coming to Alloro. He is also the Proprietor and Winegrower for Élevée Winegrowers where he studies Terroir.

Alloro 2018 Pinot Noir

This is one of the 3 Pinot Noirs the produce annually.

Medium red-ruby in color

Pronounced nose of red cherry, sweet tobacco, cola, forest floor a slight floral note, and a hint of eucalyptus.

Dry with medium to light tannins and body, medium to high acidity, Pronounced flavors of black plum deep red ripe fruit, spice, cola, and red cherry.

A wine that will age well. This is one of their largest production wines with 1850 cases produced.

100% Pinot Noir – 14.2% abv – SRP $45.00

*This wine was received as a media sample. No other compensation was received. All opinions are our own.*

Alloro 2018 Pinot Noir from the new Laurelwood District AVA

Pairings with the Alloro 2018 Pinot Noir

To pair with this Alloro Pinot Noir, we settled on Roasted Cornish Game Hens with a savory berry drizzle, Roasted baby potatoes with burrata, basil, spinach, and radicchio with lemon and a Minted pea mash.

We ran the gamut with herbs in these dishes; mint in the peas, rosemary in the game hens, basil in the potatoes. The wine paired well with all of these.

It pulled forward the mint in the peas in a lovely soft way, like a mother gently nudging a shy child into a well-deserved spotlight. The acid in the wine played nicely with the fat on the hens and then elevated the berries in the sauce. The lemon zest and acid as well as the savory notes in the roasted potatoes were brightened and accentuated by the wine. Even the bitter notes in the radicchio were elevated and rounded to a perfect level.

Alloro 2018 Chardonnay

This is the one Chardonnay that Alloro makes annually. This is a barrel-fermented Chardonnay that does full malolactic fermentation with Bâtonnage then ages for 11 months in French Oak (20% new). Only 290 cases were produced.

Pronounced nose of Meyer lemon, with notes of mineral, saline, and toasted bread.

On the palate, it is dry and full-bodied with pronounced round flavors of Meyer lemon that sweep over your mouth, making your gums tingle and a long finish.

This is a wine that is as much at home in winter as summer and can pair well with the dishes of either season.

100% Chardonnay – 13.7% abv – SRP $39

*This wine was received as a media sample. No other compensation was received. All opinions are our own.*

Alloro 2018 Chardonnay from Chehalem Mountains Oregon

Pairing the Alloro 2018 Chardonnay

We paired this with a Scottish chowder with potatoes and pollock.

This dish came to us from SunBasket but is a simple and delicious dish to recreate.

With onion, potatoes, paprika, pollock, cream, and bay leaf, this dish is warming and goes beautifully with the wine. The wine pulls forth the richness of the fish and the broth with the paprika playing well with the Meyer lemon notes in the wine. The salinity and minerality of the wine round out the pairing with the dish.

We added a side salad and toasted ciabatta to complete the meal.

Visiting Alloro

In 2019 Alloro broke ground on a new tasting room. The previous tasting room had been converted from an apartment David had built on the property. This new tasting room which just opened in mid-December has an outdoor space, where you can do a reserved tasting. It is set up as a 75-minute experience.

Be aware that this is an outdoor tasting, so you might be exposed to wind and/or rain. They do have heaters but dress warmly. They are working with the best practices to keep everyone safe at this time.

To book your experience you can visit their website or call them at (503)625-1978.

They are located at 22075 SW Lebeau Road Sherwood, Oregon 97140

I look forward to the future when this beautiful facility with a wood-burning oven, demonstration and commercial kitchen, and a barrel room for small events will be able to open fully.

Sources and Resources

More on Oregon wines and Pairings from Crushed Grape Chronicles

Alloro Pinot Noir Recipe Pairings

Here you will find all of our wine pairing Recipes

Roasted baby potatoes with burrata, basil, spinach and radicchio with lemon

This is one of those dishes that you see on pinterest and can’t get out of your head.

Inspired by this recipe from Half Baked Harvest, we updated to include different greens and
potatoes that were available in the winter.

https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/roasted-mixed-potatoes-with-spring-herbs-and-burrata/

Roasted Cornish Game hens with savory berry drizzle

This was an elegant dish that we paired with a Pinot Noir from Oregon’s Willamette
Valley. We wanted something that would
not be too heavy, but would match the elegance of this wine. Incorporating Pinot Noir into the dish as
well as adding a savory berry drizzle, help to match notes in the wine and make
this pairing extra delicious.

This recipe was inspired by a recipe by Moon and Back on Allrecipes. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/8938/cornish-game-hens-with-garlic-and-rosemary/

We adapted the recipe to feed 2 rather than 4 and made a few other adjustments.

Minted Pea Mash

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When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

Bailey Family 2017 Chardonnay – Day 10 of the 12 Days of Wine 2020

Dec 22, 2020

Earlier this fall I wrote a piece about Youngberg Hill. In 2019 they created Bailey Family Wines. It was a place we had visited years ago with a friend and tasting through the Pinot Noirs they had sent, I got a bit nostalgic. You can read that piece here Youngberg Hill – Reminiscing and Making New Memories with 2 Youngberg Hill Pinot Noirs.

Youngberg Hill is a beautiful property. They have a gorgeous Inn as well as an Event Center set within the vines. With the winery, they have 2 labels. One is the Youngberg Hill label, which those two beautiful Pinot Noirs fall under. The other is the Bailey Family Wine label.

*We received this wine as a media sample. No other compensation was received. All opinions are our own.*

Bailey Family Wines

Last year, in 2019 they created Bailey Family Wines. They had worked with their Youngberg Hill label to make the vineyard Organic Certified and are working toward Biodynamics, mostly looking out for the land and the soil and sourcing from other like-minded vineyards.

Bailey Family Wines focuses on exclusive wines from the 23 acres of vines on their Estate Vineyard. Of the 23 acres, 18 are planted to Pinot Noir, 2 ½ to Chardonnay, and 2 ½ to Pinot Gris. So this bottle of Estate Chardonnay is indeed rare.

View of the vineyard at Youngberg Hill – photo courtesy of Youngberg Hill

The Youngberg Hill Inn in Oregon’s Willamette Valley – photo courtesy of Youngberg Hill

Wayne Bailey of Youngberg Hill and Bailey Family Vineyards – photo courtesy of Youngberg Hill

Bailey Family 2017 Chardonnay

The Aspen block was planted with Pinot Grill in 2006. In 2014 they grafted over ½ of the black to Chardonnay Clones 75, 76, 95, and 548. The block is on Marine sediment and sits at between 500 and 600 feet.

The 2017 vintage was warm with an early bud break and a dry growing season. Then cooler temperatures gave great acidity and mineral notes as well as rich deep fruit at harvest.

This wine was aged for 8 months in neutral oak and they made just 229 cases, which are sold by allocation only.

100% Chardonnay 12.5% abv SRP $85

My notes:

This wine pours a pale lemon and has an intense nose of floral, crushed gravel, citrus leaf, fresh herbs, citrus pith and zest, and Meyer lemon.

It is dry in my mouth with flavors of lemon pith, lemon thyme, and Meyer lemon with lifted floral notes.

I felt like I was standing in a citrus grove with scents of citrus flowers, fruit, leaves, and pith all at once.

This was round but bright. I would luxuriate in this wine for hours.

Roasted Chicken with root vegetables

Michael was on kitchen duty for this one with a meal from Sun Basket. The chicken breast was roasted with lemon juice and lemon zest which paired beautifully with the lemon notes in the wine. The roasted vegetables included golden beets, potatoes, and Brussels sprouts. I was concerned about how the Brussels sprouts might pair, but they were lovely.

Bailey Family 2017 Chardonnay with Roasted Chicken and Root Vegetables

Smoked Gouda Mac & Cheese

Youngberg Hill Pinot Noirs paired with rainbow trout and root vegetable gratin bottles in the background

Youngberg Hill Pinots paired with rainbow trout and root vegetable gratin

I think this wine might really sing with a creamy dish, it has great acid to cut through a creme sauce. It would also be great with homemade mac and cheese, like the smoked gouda and white cheddar one I recently made (link) or perhaps with a baked brie. Quite honestly, I think it would have been brilliant with grilled rainbow trout that we enjoyed with the Youngberg Pinot Noirs.

Cannolis with lemon curd crème

Michael bought cannoli molds back on Amazon Prime Day and it was evidently time to try them out. I was at first, an unwilling participant (I have a fear of hot oil). Nonetheless, we put these together and they worked! Most importantly, I came out unscathed by the hot oil! YAY!

We filled them in an unorthodox way with a lemon curd crème, that paired beautifully with the wine.

You can find the recipe here.

Cannolis ready to face the oil!

The finished Cannolis with lemon curd creme

Sources and Resources

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When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

Youngberg Hill – Reminiscing and Making New Memories with 2 Youngberg Hill Pinot Noirs

Nov 13, 2020

Years ago, Michael and I ventured to Oregon on our first trip to explore the Willamette Valley. An old friend of mine, Adam, met us and made sure we visited Youngberg Hill, where he and his wife had recently been married.

I remember, having a joyful conversation with Adam in the backseat and me in the passenger’s seat. We had already stopped at one winery and Michael was being the designated driver. We were chattering away on the small roads leading to the winery. These were the days before in-car navigation systems and Adam was directing us. Of course, he and I kept getting distracted in conversation, and to Michael’s dismay, we had to turn around and backtrack, more than once.

We made our way to Youngberg Hill and Adam was greeted warmly as we arrived. He has a way of making friends wherever he goes. We tasted wine and toured the property, getting the play by play from Adam on the wedding, as he blissfully (and adorably) reminisced.

Recently we received samples from Youngberg Hill. The memories took me back to this earlier visit and I looked forward to opening the wines.

*We received these wines as samples, but all opinions are our own.*

An Arial view of Youngberg Hill – photo courtesy of Youngberg Hill

View of the vineyard at Youngberg Hill – photo courtesy of Youngberg Hill

View of the Valley from Youngberg Hill – photo courtesy of Youngberg Hill

The Youngberg Hill Inn in Oregon’s Willamette Valley – photo courtesy of Youngberg Hill

The History of Youngberg Hill

This property had been a family farm since the 1850s. Back then a Swedish immigrant named Youngberg established a 1600-acre homestead here. The family lived off this land for 130 years.

In 1987 the family sold 700 acres. The new owner planted vines in 1989 overseen by Ken Wright. These vines were sourced for wines at Panther Creek, Wright’s winery at the time.

The Bailey family arrived at the property in 2003 and began the process of making this a sustainable vineyard as well as an event venue, the views here are stunning.

They produce 2 labels, Youngberg Hill and Bailey Family Wines.

The approach to growing grapes was informed by Wayne Bailey’s youth in Iowa on a farm. He takes his stewardship of the land seriously. His career path, from mechanical engineering to supply chain management dropped him into the beverage field. That led to a bit of time in Burgundy which led him to want to grow Pinot Noir.

Bailey’s farming here, at Youngberg Hill, began with sustainable methods and a non-interventionist approach. He moved to organic and then beyond. The goal wasn’t certifications, the goal was the best way to take care of the land. They employ various organic and biodynamic practices to suit the site. They farm by the farmers’ almanac via the phases of the moon, as farmers have done for centuries. This practice is often considered “biodynamic”, but it has been used long before biodynamics was a thing. He’s pragmatic in his approach to farming.

“It’s like raising children,” he says. “You can’t make a rocket scientist out of a child who’s born to be a musician.”

The Youngberg Hill estate is 50 acres with 20 acres planted to vine. This is in the Western portion of the Willamette Valley which receives significant maritime influences sitting just 25 miles from the Pacific as the crow flies. While the maritime climate doesn’t come straight through, it sweeps it’s way up through the Van Duzer Corridor south of them. They don’t get as much rain here as the rest of the valley and the temperatures tend to be cooler overall. The original 11 acres are own-rooted.

We tasted two of the Youngberg Hill Pinot Noirs, one a blend of non-estate and estate fruit and one from the very specific Natasha Block.

2017 Youngberg Hill Cuvée Pinot Noir

This 2017 blend comes from fruit from the Bailey Block on the Youngberg Hill estate, as well as some fruit from Yamhill Valley Vineyards.

The Bailey block was planted in 2008. This is 3 acres of 777 clones. Soils here are well-drained mixed Steiwer/shale and the vineyard sits at 660-700 feet in elevation.

The rest of the fruit is from Yamhill Valley Vineyards and from Dijon 667 & 115 clones. This is a 150-acre estate. They are the oldest winery in the McMinnville AVA. We met their winemaker Ariel Eberle a few years ago pouring her own label “A Cheerful Note”.

Soils here are sedimentary clay with basalt.

The details:

100% Pinot Noir
14 months is 25% French Oak
Case production: 660
ABV 13.1%
SRP $35

Our notes

This wine is a bit more brooding and earthier than the Cuvée.

2016 Youngberg Hill Natasha Pinot Noir

The Natasha Block is a Bailey Estate Block, planted in 1989 and named after Wayne’s eldest daughter. Facing southeast this 6.6-acre block gets great sunlight and sits at 600 feet. The soil here is the Willakenzie series of Marine sedimentary and volcanic rock.

The details:

From 40% Wadenswil and 60% Pommard clones
14 months in 37% New French Oak
Case Production 859
ABV 14.3%
SRP $60

Pairings for these Youngberg Hill Pinots

Salmon & Pinot are so traditional, we stepped just a bit outside the box. The key to red wine with fish is choosing a fatty fish and so we chose rainbow trout. For my vegetable, I went earthier choosing a root vegetable gratin, in a rainbow of colors, with red beet, sweet potato, golden beet, and parsnip.

How did the pairings go?

The trout with its distinctive flavor and fat stood up to both of the wines, even the brooding Natasha. The gratin really worked well, much credit should be given to the Gruyere topper for pulling the pairing together. With the blend of 4 vegetables, I found I preferred the parsnips with the Cuvée and the beets with the Natasha. Overall, a very satisfying pairing.

Rainbow Root Vegetable Gratin and Baked Rainbow Trout with Youngberg Pinot

One more unexpected pairing!

We did not finish both bottles in one sitting, so we had some left over to pair with lunch. Youngberg Hill mentions that the Cuvee will pair with everything!

“You can even pair this with PB & J or spiced tacos.”

Challenge accepted! We paired with PB & J to our delight and it was wonderful, the acid in the wine cutting through the fat in the Peanut Butter and melding beautifully with the fruit in the grape jelly! Do It! Preferably in your jammies on the couch with a good book or a great movie. This is genius for a nesting day!

Rainbow root vegetable gratin

Cutting red beets for Cheesey Root Vegetable Gratin — Cutting red beets

Cutting Sweet Potato for Cheesey Root Vegetable Gratin — Cutting Sweet Potato

Cutting Parsnips for Cheesey Root Vegetable Gratin — Cutting Parsnips

Preheat the oven to 400 F
Grease a baking dish (2-quart size)
Peel and slice the vegetables thinly into rounds and place them in separate bowls. (How perfect and fancy you want to get depends on your style. I hand cut these and was not concerned about having them all look the same size, but you could use a cutter to make all of your circles uniform if you chose)
To each bowl add bits of the cream (4 tablespoons each to the beets, 2 tablespoons each to the potato and parsnip you should end up with about ¼ cup left)
Divide your parmesan in ½ and then divide that into 4 parts and sprinkle this on each of your 4 bowls.
Divide the thyme 4 ways over the 4 bowls.

Rainbow root vegetable gratin

2 red beets
2 golden beets
1 sweet potato
1 parsnip
1 cup of cream
4 oz of grated parmesan
1 tbs+ fresh thyme
1 clove of garlic minced
1 oz of shredded gruyere
Salt & pepper

Stir up each bowl seasoning with salt and pepper and make sure all the slices of vegetables are coated.
In the base of your buttered baking or gratin dish, pour the rest of the cream, add the minced garlic, and ½ of the remaining parmesan.
Now, layer your gratin, start with a bunch of the parsnip (5 or 6 slices) followed by the yellow beet, followed by the sweet potato, and finally the red beet, standing them on edge making rows. Continue until your dish is full. (Feel free to play with your patterns and colors artistically as you see fit).
Top this with a bit of S & P and the rest of the Parm.
Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes.
Uncover and top with the gruyere
Bake another 20 minutes. (Cheese should be melted and lightly brown)
Sprinkle with a bit more thyme and serve

Cheesey Root Vegetable Gratin ingredients

grating Parmesan for Cheesey Root Vegetable Gratin — grating Parmesan

Mixing Sweet Potato for Cheesey Root Vegetable Gratin — Mixing Sweet Potato

Baked rainbow trout

2 trout (scaled and gutted)
1 lemon
Dill
Green onions (chopped)
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper

Preheat your oven to 450 F
Rinse the fish and pat dry
Sprinkle the inside with salt and pepper
Add half the dill and green onions inside
Drizzle with Olive oil
Do the same to the other fish
Cut 3 shallow diagonal cuts in the top of each fish
Drizzle olive oil on top of each fish
Stick a ½ lemon slice in each of the cuts.
One last sprinkle of salt and pepper and pop them in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
Pop them back under the broiler for a couple of minutes to crisp up the skin and serve.

Youngberg Hill Recipes

Salmon & Pinot are so traditional, we stepped just a bit outside the
box. The key to red wine with fish is choosing a fatty fish and so we
chose rainbow trout. For my vegetable, I went earthier choosing a root
vegetable gratin, in a rainbow of colors, with red beet, sweet potato,
golden beet, and parsnip.

Baked Rainbow Trout

Rainbow Root Vegetable Gratin

We adapted this recipe for my vegetable with our Pinot Noir pairing. I went earthier choosing a root vegetable gratin, in a rainbow of colors, with red beet, sweet potato, golden beet, and parsnip.

How to find Youngberg Hill?

The Willamette Valley is a beautiful place to visit and has so much wonderful wine!

You can find Youngberg Hill at 10660 SW Youngberg Hill Road, McMinnville, OR 97128

Tastings are appointment only 10-4 daily, call them at 503-472-2727 or drop them an email at [email protected]

For more information on this region visit

https://www.oregonwine.org/

https://willamettewines.com/

Or check out some of these pieces right here on Crushed Grape Chronicles

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

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

Oregon Wine & Biodynamics with Troon and Winderlea

Sep 22, 2020

A couple of weeks ago we attended the Virtual Wine Media Conference, the in-person event was originally supposed to be held in Oregon. Sadly this event was canceled due to COVID so Zephyr Conferences decided to create a virtual conference. They partnered with the Oregon Wine Board to have a virtual tasting.

We received two samples one from Troon Vineyard in Applegate Valley AVA and one from Winderlea in Dundee Hills AVA, in the Willamette Valley.

Wine Conferences during a pandemic

We usually get to take our own pictures of the vineyards and the people we talk to, but since we were on the computer, we have access to the pictures from the presentation to give you some perspective. The real bottle shots are ours. SO that being said, let’s get going!

These were samples sent to us for this tasting, however all opinions are own.

Biodynamics in farming

First a little about Biodynamics and why it should matter when you look for a bottle of wine. We have created a page where you can read more about biodynamics. Now for the short version. There are a couple of ways people talk about Bio-dynamics. Most critics use the Voodoo and spiritualism of the creator Rudolf Steiner to discredit the whole practice.

Rudolf Steiner lectures on biodynamics and the treatments were brought about in response to the bad soils that had been created by the chemical companies. These lectures advocated for a return to a more naturalistic form of farming. These lectures were meant for farming in general, and not really for wine farming, but the practice was meant to return health to the soil.

The theory of Biodynamics was truly developed after Rudolf Steiner’s death and is really based on past farming practices, very much like the Farmers Almanac, when you get down to its timing and Farm Practices. We have found that most people who go Biodynamic do so because it creates an Ecosystem that creates a healthier environment not only for the vines and the soil but insects and pest control systems that thrive and keep the entire Farm Healthy, including the people. There is a spiritualistic side but that is a topic for more in-depth analysis at a later date.

As I said you can read more on our page. But for this discussion, we will tackle just a couple of reasons for going biodynamic that these two wineries use. The first concept is you farm better. The way biodynamics really shines is the attention to detail, the use of organic manure, which created healthier soil and in turn healthier vines, in turn, healthier grapes, better wine.

Lavender at Cowhorn supporting pollinators and biodyversity — Lavender at Cowhorn supporting pollinators and biodiversity

Cowhorn Biodynamic Vineyard

Biodynamic Oregon Wines

Sally from the Oregon Wine Board was the host for this wine tasting, and she was hosting from Troon Vineyard.

Sally is a 4^th Generation Oregonian. She started us off with a little background on the Oregon wine region as well as their two newest AVAs.

She then introduced Craig Camp from Troon Vineyards who has spent 35 years in the Industry, as well as Bill and Donna of Winderlea.

She talked to us about each of the AVAs where these wine were produced.

Oregon Wine Map Applegate Valley AVA from Oregon Wine Board

Oregon Wine Map Dundee Hills AVA from Oregon Wine Board

Oregon Wine Region Stats

Oregon now has 800 wineries within 21 AVAs with the addition of Tualatin Hills and Laurelwood District AVAs both in Willamette Valley AVA approved in June 2020.

We head first to Southern Oregon to Troon, to taste the Kubli Bench Amber.

Troon is in the Applegate Valley, which is a nested AVA within the larger Rogue Valley AVA. It was established in 2000.

There are 20 wineries in the Applegate Valley, 2 of them are biodynamic; Troon and Cowhorn. These two vineyards encompass 10% of the AVA’s area.

Applegate Valley Stats

Applegate Valley’s wine history began in 1852 when an early settler named Peter Britt planted wine grapes. In 1873, he opened Valley View Winery, Oregon’s first official winery. Valley View closed in 1907; then Prohibition hit.

It wasn’t until the 1970s after modern pioneers began discovering the neighboring areas’ quality wine growing conditions, that the Applegate Valley experienced a resurgence of winemaking. According to Dr. Gregory Jones, climatologist and director of Environmental Science and Policy Program at Southern Oregon University where he focuses on suitability for viticulture,

“The Southern Oregon American Viticultural Area (AVA) offers the most diverse growing conditions in Oregon and arguably in the United States.”

From Oregon Wine Board

Oregon AVAs

Willamette Valley
Yamhill-Carlton
Chehalem Mountains
Tualatin Hills
Laurelwood District
Ribbon Ridge
Dundee Hills
Mcminnville
Eola-Amity Hills
Van Duzer Corridor
Southern Oregon
Umpqua Valley
Red Hill Douglas County
Elkton Oregon
Rogue Valley
Applegate Valley
Columbia Gorge
Columbia Valley
Walla Walla Valey
The Rocks District of Milton Freewater
Snake River Valley

Troon Vineyard in Applegate Valley

First, we spent some time with Craig Camp as he explained his history, a little about why Troon went Biodynamic, and then about their Amber (orange Wine)

Craig Camp

“Troon Vineyard is dedicated to regenerative agriculture and Biodynamic® agriculture in our quest to put back more than we take from our plants and soils. We believe the only route to memorable wines, that reflect the terroir of where they were grown, is to be found in the healthy soils and vines that are the foundation of Biodynamic® agriculture.”

Craig Camp is GM of Troon Vineyards and has worked in the fine wine industry for over thirty-five years. He co-founded Direct Import Wine Company in Chicago, an importer, and distributor of estate wines from France, Italy, Spain California, Oregon, and Washington.

Craig moved to the Applegate after having worked in Napa for 10 years. He moved north to grow Rhone’s.

The Troon vineyard is one of the oldest in the area, planted in 1972 by Dick Troon. The Troons sold the property and it was farmed Industrially and ended up with hard soils as hard as concrete and vine diseases.

Craig joined the vineyard and began farming biodynamically to help the vineyards recovery and they were certified biodynamic in 2019.

Craig Camp with Troon Vineyard in Applegate Valley Oregon Photo Courtesy of Oregon Wine Board

Craig came into biodynamics as a skeptic. They look at this as a “framework to regenerative agriculture”.

The heart of the process is compost to use as a probiotic. Luckily there is a large organic dairy farm next door. They just ordered 800 yards of manure. They make 200 tons of compost.

Troon Vineyards have this Planting Video on their Site.

see more Videos

“The Klamath mountains surround the valley to the west protecting it from the cooling air and rain from the Pacific Ocean”

The Applegate river greatly influenced the development of soils in the region, resulting in deep, well-draining stream sediments, including granites.

They sit at 1400 feet and the season is shorter, but on the longest day of the year, they get 70 minutes more sun than Napa Valley.

During harvest, the days shorten causing photosynthesis to stop allowing them high acid and lower sugar levels.

Soils here are not volcanic, rather the movement of the tectonic plates influences the geology of the region. You find decomposed granite and well as river and ocean sediment.

The Vineyard had red blotch virus and has to be completely replanted. They did soil pits and had scientists come in (Biomakers from Spain) to do genetic sequencing on the soils. They do this now every year, keeping the data to set a benchmark for the science of biodynamic farming.

Doing this over the next several years they can then track the science behind Biodynamics. The soil is changing here, the microbiology increasing. The plant biology is increasing and the fermentations much healthier.

They will replant every vine.

Troon Vineyard Kubli Bench Amber courtesy of Troon Vineyards

We are tasting the Kubli Bench Amber tonight. This is a blend of Riesling, Vermentino, and Viognier. The first Amber they did was from Riesling, then they did another from Vermentino and found that this blend works best. The Riesling is not long for this world. It is not meant for the climate and will soon be torn out and replaced.

This wine is 13.3% abv, pH 3.51, TA 6

2019 Troon Kubli Bench Amber, Estate Orange Wine, Applegate Valley

Food pairings with this wine range from Sushi to steak. Ambers are very food-friendly and can pair with a wide variety of foods.

We paired this with Sushi while we tasted and of course, this paired perfectly. Riesling generally pairs well with most foods.

It is 74% Riesling, 16% Vermentino and 10% Viognier.

The Riesling has high phenolics, encouraged by ripening the grape skins.

The Kubli Bench is a small 5-mile by 2-mile plateau. It is the bench of the old river with a 25 to 30-foot cliff down to the Applegate River.

The pH levels here are low. Their pet nat of Tannat has a pH of 2.9 with 9 grams of TA (acid).

This wine is part of their Kubli Bench Blend series of red, white and now amber. The varieties for this blend are fermented separately and are farmed as you would red wines. These are in 1-ton fermenters on the skins and native yeast fermentation. They foot trod them and it is 3 to 4 days before fermentation kicks in. In 3 weeks this wine is fermented to dryness.

They use neutral oak and age 6 months on the lees, then blend them.

They also do an amphorae amber. This is also on the skins and stems for 10 months. At the time of our tasting, this had just to press. It is done in a Georgian style, not excessive VA. They like their wines clean, from healthy grapes and these go into the Tuscan Amphorae.

Beckham Vineyard amphora - a NOVUM as Andrew calls them.

The amphorae is more aggressive and tannic and ageable, while this one is more forward and fruity. The Riesling has one more year.

They just planted Grenache Gris and Terret Blanche, that they ordered 2 years ago.

With the dry climate, they have fewer pest issues.

They have 3 amphorae from Andrew Beckham and will get 2 more next week.

They replant 10 acres each year. In 3 more years, they will be completely replanted.

Winderlea Vineyard in Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley

Winderlea is in the Dundee Hills. Donna Morris and Bill Sweat

There are more than 500 wineries in the Willamette Valley. The first of which was planted in 1965 right here in the Dundee Hills by David Lett, his Eyrie vineyard.

The Dundee Hills became an AVA in November 2005.

Winderlea Vineyard, Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley Oregon Photo Courtesy of Oregon Wine Board

This is the only wine that they produce at the Winderlea Estates Vineyard. It is made under the tasting room in the garage. The wine pump and press are powered by a garden hose. Their main facility is in McMinnville.

They began making this wine in 2009 using whole clusters. At that time, most of the Pinots in the area were destemmed. This is made from one block from their vineyard.

This is from one block of Coury Pinot Noir (Chuck Coury had a nursery biz and did some midnight suitcase cuttings, so who knows, they all might be different).

Planted in 1974 and originally named Dundee Hills Vineyard, there was phylloxera in the vineyard when Donna and Bill bought the property. They asked around to see who might be able to help prolong the life of a vineyard with phylloxera and they were pointed to Doug Tunnell of Brickhouse, Rudy Marchesi of Montinore, and Beau Frere all biodynamic vineyards.

They hired Philippe Armenier as their biodynamic consultant and he consulted with them for 3 years.

They try to work on the biodynamic calendar. Bill grew up in New England where they farmed by the farmer’s almanac, so this was intuitive.

This is practical, as a winegrower and a business. You are on the ground spraying, you go by each vine and you can see differences in the vineyard and know if something does not look right.

Biodynamics provides better carbon sinks, microbial diversity, and activity.

Bill finds that the vines are more consistent, and the canopy stays healthy through harvest.

For the 2017 vintage they had good water and snowpack. Budbreak was normal, then they had heat in May and the hottest August on record. This was a big vintage with 4.3 tons per acre. It allowed them to pick the fruit that was the most robust and drop the clusters not up to snuff.

This is 100% whole cluster. Part went into Amphorae 500 liter from Tuscany with a stainless steel top with added dry ice. This fills the amphorae with CO2, so you get carbonic maceration bringing out the red fruit notes. Gases can escape but not air cannot get in.

Another part went into 4 puncheons (400-600 liters, like a mini fermenter) and part in 2 Macro Bins.

Fruit was harvested on 9-26-17. The puncheons and macro bins were pressed on October 17^th, the amphorae went to press on November 8^th.

The 2017 vintage was the first Amphorae. This then went into neutral French oak barrels for 18 months. Abv 13%, pH 3.6, TA 5.4, bottled 3-15-19, and just 229 cases made.

Bill finds the whole cluster to be more aromatic. With the stems, the potassium in the must raises the pH.

Wine Media Conference Winderlea Pinot Noir courtsey of Winderlea Vineyards

Elevage: 18 months in French Oak Barrels 0% new

pH: 3.6

TA: 5.4

ABV: 13%

Bottling date: 3.15.2019

Production: Certification: Demeter Biodynamic® Certified

WINE DESCRIPTION

The only wine produced onsite at the Winderlea Estate Vineyard, the Demeter certified Biodynamic® Imprint Pinot noir is made by owner Bill Sweat using old-world winemaking techniques and 100% whole cluster fermentation.

TECHNICAL

Harvest Date: 9.26.2017

Clones: Pommard, Coury

Fermentation: 100% Whole Cluster

1⁄2 ton Clay Amphora, pressed on 11.08.17

4 Puncheons, pressed on 10.17.17 2 Macro Bins, pressed on 10.17.17

2017 Winderlea Imprint Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills

These both were great wines. Both wines had complexity and Nuance. I return to the basis that when you have a healthy vineyard, you have better grapes and therefore better wines. It matters how you get there.

Troon is keeping data on there journey of taking a chemical and diseased vineyard and transforming it using Biodynamics. In the future, you can see at least some of the science behind the process.

These are both vineyards we will be following, and we hope to get back to Oregon when we are allowed to travel, to speak with each of these vineyards and get you some more in-depth pictures and stories and about how these Oregon Wines are really a cut above.

We have many more stories from Biodynamic vineyards that tell the same tale and produce some excellent wines. As they say, why drink bad wine? Search these winemakers out and you really will taste the difference.

Visit These Links for more on these wines and Biodynamics

Michael and Robin Renken travel and chronicle stories from wine country. While Robin does much of the writing, Michael typically captures the visuals via video and photos to showcase the region, the wine and the people.

Michael Renken

42 Aspens Productions LLC
Photography & Video
Production
702.604.8101

42 Aspens Productions Web Site
[email protected]

After years of putting together
shows, lighting them and making
everyone look good, Michael turned
his skills to the camera, capturing
moments and telling stories
through photos and video.

Spring, Pappardelle and an Illahe Viognier

Apr 21, 2020

What to pair this week? Maybe an Illahe Viognier. The sun was out this morning. We spent a bit of time in the backyard, planning our upcoming #travelinabottle trips, and letting Loki enjoy the great outdoors for a bit. I may have even taken on a bit of a pink tinge. It was the perfect day to have the windows open and feel the breeze, a rare thing in Las Vegas.

Today’s bit of travel in a bottle

Today, we were traveling to Oregon, to a spot in the Willamette Valley west of Salem in what is on it’s way to being the Mt. Pisgah/Polk County AVA.

Illahe Panorama — Illahe vineyard Panorama view

ILLAHE, pronounced Ill-Uh-Hee, is a local Chinook word meaning “earth” or “place” or “soil”
From Illahevineyards.com

Illahe Vineyards

We visited Illahe Vineyards a bit ago and spent a morning with Owner Lowell Ford, tasting through the wines, touring the winery and cave and taking in the view in front of the tasting room.

This glorious spring day was perfect for a spring pasta! We made a Pappardelle from Sun Basket that was perfect for the day and the wine!

Spring vegetables and pasta

Fresh pasta, shallots, lemon juice and zest, parsley, spinach and peas, get topped with crushed hazelnuts and ricotta salata. The dish is beautiful, as you can see. It also tastes as good as it looks. Bright and fresh without being overly acidic.

Spring, Pappardelle with a Illahe Viognier

Illahe 2017 Viognier

The same can be said for the wine. The nose has stone fruit, as it says above, but I also get Meyer lemon and lemon zest which of course made it perfect with this dish. This wine was Re-Fresh-Ing! It is nuanced with the citrus notes, a bit of chalk, stone fruit pit (like a crisp white peach). There were pits of beeswax in the background. For a 2017 it was remarkably crisp and fresh and rounded beautifully.

With the food, it was bright with the green notes, had great acid for the pasta, was perfectly matched with the lemon and lemon zest, and picked up the notes from the hazelnuts.

While they no longer have this vintage, you can find their 2019 in their online store at a most reasonable $19.00 per bottle. This is perfect for lunch with the alcohol sitting at just 12.5%.

5 more Articles on Illahe

You can read more about Illahe in the pieces below (you’ll also find great video of our visit)

***On a side note…as I was writing this my best friend called me from Yorktown Virginia. I had visited a few months ago and we were in a wine shop in Williamsburg. Looking for a bottle I saw and Illahe Pinot Noir on the shelf and pointed it out to her. She picked it up, planning for us to enjoy it together, which we ran out of time for. She opened it, as I was writing this and called me immediately to tell me how good it was. Another Illahe convert!

Visit us again for more on wine, wineries, amazing people as well as some food and wine pairings!

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

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

Beckham Estate Vineyard – The story

Jul 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.

Beckham Vineyard wines 3035 — Tasting with a view at Beckham

Beckham Patio 3089 — Tasting with a view at Beckham

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 Vineyard panorama 1 — 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.

Beckham Vineyard 3197 — 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

Beckham Vineyard Lawn mowing sheep 3216 — 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.

Beckham Vineyard Dows Pinot noir 2015 3042 — 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

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

It’s Oregon Wine Month

May 9, 2019

It’s no secret that I’m kinda infatuated with Oregon wines. More than just the wines…it’s the people behind them. That whole “Keep Portland Weird” thing, kinda speaks for much of Oregon. But then again, with all the delicious weirdness, there is a simple, elegant classy side also. I love it so much, let’s delve in a little.

The Oregon Wine Trailblazers

This is a relatively new region for wine. The first winery, post prohibition, appeared in southern Oregon’s Umpqua Valley back in 1961, thanks to Richard Sommer who refused to listen to the UC Davis folks who told him it wouldn’t work. There were a couple of other UC Davis grads who bucked the trends in the mid to late 60’s and headed North including David Lett (Eyrie Vineyards), Dick Erath (yep, you guessed it, Erath) and Charles Coury (which is now David Hill Winery). If you have been into a wine store (or a grocery store) you will recognize Erath. Obviously growing grapes here worked.

My Introduction to Oregon Wine – At Home in the Vineyard

I’ll admit that my knowledge of early Oregon wine history came from reading Susan Sokol Blosser’s book “At Home in the Vineyard”. this memoir is her personal story of the struggle to build the Sokol Blosser Winery in the Dundee Hills. These were not people with money looking to invest and have a retreat in a vineyard. They were idealists and they struggled with the weather and the soils as they figured our this new area for wine.

This was the way for many of the early vineyard owners and winemakers and it’s still that way for many today. (I had a wonderful conversation with Annedria Beckham of Beckham vineyards in the Chehalem Mountains that I will share with you soon, about the continuing struggles of planting and growing their vineyard and winery).

I encourage you to visit the fantastic site of the Oregon Wine Board and read all about the history of this great region.

Early visit circa 2011

My introduction to Oregon wine came with a visit back in 2011. We came to spend 3 or 4 days, visit wine country and catch up with an old friend of mine. We stayed at the cottage at Winter Hill. Winter Hill Winery is in the Dundee Hills, the cottage was over the hill with a separate entrance. There were chickens running about and an amazing view of the area and the stars from the porch.

On this visit we took in, Winter Hill Winery, Erath, Youngberg Hill, Stoller Family Estate, Lange Estate, Argyle, Cana’s Feast, Willakenzie, Rex Hill, Trisaetum, Domaine Drouhin Oregon, Sokol Blosser, Torii Mor, Vidon & Vista Hills. It’s a list, I know!

I remember them all. Here are a few of the stories…

Winter Hill

Winter Hill at the time was tasting in the middle of the working winery on a folding table. It was a humble for a tasting room, but warm and friendly, and we got a first hand look at the wines with the people who were putting their heart and soul into the endeavor.

Youngberg Hill

Michael was driving to get to us Youngberg Hill and Adam (my friend who had been married there just a year before) was giving directions. Adam and I got busy talking and we missed a turn, and then another. We arrived to views and VIP treatment thanks to Adam. The views here are wedding worthy that’s for sure!

Stoller

At Stoller, Adam was also a member, and he was doing a pick up, so we got a little extra special treatment. I remember a Tempranillo they had that I wish we would have taken home with us. And I remember a story about the honey that they were hoping to get from hives in a black berry patch part way up the hill.

Lange

Up on the hill at Lange, we were greeted by Jack, the vineyard cat and stepped into the tiny tasting room where they were boxing up their wine club shipment. I remember a moving experience tasting their Pinot Noir (if I close my eyes, I can still taste it).

Argyle

At Argyle we enjoyed some bubbles and I got hooked on their Black Brut. This was back when Rollin Soles the pioneering vintner was still the winemaker. I remember thinking how cool it was that Lyle Lovett was his friend from college. They are two unique and iconic individuals in their own right.

Vidon

When we visited Vidon, we met Don the owner, when he came in off the tractor. Don was still busy in the vineyard back then. He was a particle physicist by training and worked with NASA before he purchased the property in the Chehalem Mountains in 1999. We also visited Vista Hills. It was late in the day, and close to the cottage and they snuck us in as their last tasting. The views are stunning and the wines delicious. We returned to them on our last trip again, just before the announcement that they had been purchased by Coppola.

We’ve waxed poetic on some of this before…

You can read a little about the Stoller Tempranillo, the Lange Pinot Noir and the Argyle Black Brut in our piece Wines I can’t forget Part 1

Or about that Trisaetum Coastal Riesling in Wines I Can’t forget Part 3.

And in our piece on Gravity flow wineries, we talk a bit about Willakenzie.

Returning to Oregon in 2018

Last year we returned to this region that had so enchanted us. We spent 5 days exploring AVA’s within the Willamette Valley. Actually trying to visit each of the AVA’s and the proposed AVA’s. We gathered so much content, that we are still putting out pieces! We also were able to enjoy the last “Uncommon Wine Festival” at Vista Hills, where we spent a day tasting and talking with up and coming wine makers.

Winemakers setting up for the Uncommon wine Festival at Vista Hills
Deven & Calli with Joyful Noise
Vista Hills Uncommon Wine Festival Ryan Pickens
Libertine Wines, Alex Neely
Libertine Bottle Shots
Libertine Pouring Botrytis Reisling
a Cheerful Note, Ariel Eberle
A Cheerful Note with Ariel Eberle, the story behind the label
Ross & Bee Maloof
Maloof 2017 Where ya Pjs at?
Leah Jørgensen Wine – inspired by the Loire Valley
2016 Oregon “Tour Rain” Vin Rouge
Fossil & Farm Jim & Jenny

You can see Mega Mix Video and read about the day at Vista Hills Vineyard and the Uncommom Wine Festival.

Willamette Valley AVAs

We did a Primer on this that you can read here. We managed to visit most of the AVAs.

Current Willamette Valley AVAs

We managed to visit a winery or tasting room representing each of the current AVAs

Chehalem Mountains AVA from Beckham Vineyards
Trisaetum Vineyard in the Ribbon Ridge AVA
Sunset in the Willamette Valley (Vista Hills Vineyard in the Dundee Hills AVA)
View of Yamhill-Carlton from Fairsing vineyard
Johan Vineyards in the proposed Van Duzer Corridor AVA
Vineyards in the McMinnville AVA
Brittan Vineyards in the McMinnville AVA
The Eola Amity Hills

Chehalem Mountains AVA – est 2006 where we visited Beckham Vineyards and met both Annedria and Andrew.
Dundee Hills AVA – est 2005 where we visited Vista Hills to taste their wine as well as enjoy the hospitality of the Uncommon Wine Festival
Eola-Amity Hills AVA – est 2006. We visited the Evening Land tasting room in Dundee and then drove to see the vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills.
McMinnville AVA – est 2005. We visited Brittan Vineyards tasting room and then did a drive by of the McMinnville vineyard on the way to the coast.
Ribbon Ridge AVA – est 2005, where we revisited Trisaetum.
Van Duzer Corridor AVA – est 2019, actually established after we visited! We visited Johan here and fell in love.
Yamhill-Carlton AVA – est 2005. We spent a wonderful evening enjoy the sunset view at Fairsing Vineyard (along with smores!)

Proposed Willamette Valley AVAs

In addition there are 4 more proposed AVAs, which include:

Illahe Panorama view
Lowell Ford on the patio at Illahe Vineyard
Montinore Vineyards
Rudy Marchesi of Montinore Estate
Panorama from Ponzi

Mt Pisgah/Polk County AVA. Located near Salem, we spent 1/2 a day with Lowell Ford owner of Illahe Vineyard.
Laurelwood AVA. We visited Ponzi Vineyards in this proposed AVA which is the Northern facing slopes of the Chehalem Mountains.
Tualatin Hills AVA. Located North of Yamhill-Carlton and West of Chehalem Mountians, we visited with Rudy Marchesi of Montinore Estate.
Lower Long Tom AVA. Okay…we didn’t make it here. It is far south between Corvalis and Eugene and there was just not enough time.

Do it!

Our trailer on Willamette Valley AVAs and proposed AVAs

Get yourself to Oregon. You won’t regret it. Be it the Willamette Valley or further south in the Umpqua, Applegate or Rogue Valleys. Or maybe you head to some of those border areas that share AVAs with Washington. (they are good about sharing in Oregon)

You can find great information on Oregon from the Oregon Wine Board, Willamette Valley Wineries and the Southern Oregon Winery Association to get you started!

And don’t forget to check back here! We have loads of posts on our last trip and there will be more as we head back again this July!

More on Oregon wine Country

Here are a few you might want to check out:

And there are more, check the bottom of each page for other related pieces.

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

Illahe into the Cellar, out to the vineyard and back in time

Mar 21, 2019

We continue our visit with Lowell Ford of Illahe Vineyard in the proposed Mt. Pisgah/Polk County AVA in the Willamette Valley, by leaving the upper level of their gravity flow winery and heading into their new wine cave completed in 2015. Both the winery with it’s barrel shaped ceiling and the wine cave, set into the hill behind the winery, were designed by Laurence Ferar and Associates from Portland.

Illahe Vineyard-Cellar
Illahe Vineyards Cellar
Illahe Vineyards Cellar Skylight

The Cave is cool and the walls are lined with barrels and our voices echo as we enter it’s dark interior. Once inside the cave, even before Kathy turns on the lights, you find there is still light, due to an skylight at the end of the cave inset into the ceiling. There is a sense of reverence in here. While the cave can hold around 200 barrels, at this time of year there are fewer, so we have ample room to quietly walk in and take in the space.

Lowell tells us how the cave was installed in three sections that were precast, with rebar sliding into place to fit the puzzle pieces together. There are wall sconces to light the space, although those get turned off when they are working on the 1899. The Bon Sauvage, Percheron and 1899, all barrel age here before release.

Vineyard Practices

We leave the cool confines of the cave to walk out to the Vineyard, where Lowell shows us some bunches that are still full of bright green hard berries (it was early July when we visited). These bunches are filled with evenly sized berries, something he’s pretty happy about. “I don’t see any hens and chicks!” “That’s good news!”

We proceed to talk about vineyard maintenance, the use of sulfur to prevent downy mildew and other practices. They are LIVE Certified, and they have 6.5 acres that are farmed organically. The difficulty with that, it that to keep away the downy mildew, and other issues, they must spray every 7 days, which means they have to run a tractor through. These are the difficult choices in agriculture do you use the organic sprays which must be used more often to be effective, but then cause you to get out the tractor twice a week and burn fossil fuels?

They also use no coppers here. They are Salmon Safe and were named the Hero of Salmon in 2018.

We take in the view again as we move to the beautiful front patio, where we sit down and talk about the 1899. (I promised to give you some insights on this wine right?)

Illahe 1899 Pinot Noir

Lowell Ford, Illahe Vineyards — Lowell Ford on the patio at Illahe Vineyard

What he came up with was the process in which we take the winemaking activity and break it down very distinctly into it’s individual components. And there’s the genius of it.
Lowell Ford, speaking of his son and winemaker Brad Ford and his idea to create the 1899 Pinot Noir

Illahe Vineyard 2015 "1899" Pinot Noir — Illahe Vineyard 2015 “1899” Pinot Noir

The 1899 is made with the resources that would have been available in 1899. That means, without modern equipment and without electricity. Bea and Doc, the Percheron Draft Horses do a bit of work helping to get the grapes to the winery. In 2017 Bea had a lame leg on the day they were harvesting, and couldn’t pull the wagon. So while the harvest crew kept harvesting, the winemaking team got busy hauling the small buckets of ripe berries up the hill from the vineyard into the winery.

Once in the winery, everything gets de-stemmed by hand and goes into their wooden fermenting tanks. Here they are foot stomped.

illahe fermentation tank — Illahe wooden fermentation tanks

After a 10 day soak they have a wooden basket press and then it is pumped into barrel. They have a bicycle that provides the power for the pumping and there are races to see who can fill a barrel fastest.

Illahe Vineyard Tasting room, 1899 Bike Pump

Bottling, corking and labeling are done by hand. The label is printed by a letterpress.

Then how to get it to market? They don’t skimp on this process either. It travels by Stagecoach to the river, by canoe 96 miles on the river and then by cargo bike into Portland.

We got the story from Lowell, but if you want to check out Brad (Lowell’s son and the winemaker at Illahe) you can watch this great video that they produced. Illahe 1899 Pinot Noir

For more details on Illahe you can check out these additional pieces we have done on this remarkable vineyard and winery.

Where and how to find them!

Illahe Vineyards is located at 3275 Ballard Rd, Dallas, OR 97338.

Give Kathy a call for an appointment at 503-831-1248 or drop her an email at [email protected].

Tastings are $25 per person and are waived with a $100 purchase.

While they don’t serve food, they have a lovely patio with tables overlooking the vineyard, where you can bring your own lunch and enjoy the view.

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

Illahe Vineyards – Into the Winery

Feb 28, 2019

Last July we made the drive out to Illahe Vineyards in the southern part of the Willamette Valley. The vineyard is south west of Salem, Oregon, in the proposed Mt. Pisgah/Polk County AVA. Kathy Greysmith, the tasting room manager, took us through a tasting of the white wines and then Lowell the owner and grape grower walked us out front to look at the view of the vineyard. We then made our way back into the winery space.

Wines for the people

Here at Illahe they have a wide range of wines and one of the things they find important is keeping their wines at a price point that makes them accessible. They want people to be able to buy 2 bottles rather than just one and they wanted the wines to be at a price point that their neighbors could afford.

When they released their 2004 vintage in 2006 they priced their Estate Pinot Noir at $19 and the price has only increased to a still very affordable $25 for their Estate Pinot Noir. The white wines across the board are $19. Do they have more expensive wines? Well yeah! These are the specialty reds and the block designates. But even so, these wines are affordable.

2016 Bon Savage

Illahe Vineyard 2016 Bon Sauvage Pinot Noir

At this point we were tasting the 2016 Bon Savage, https://www.illahevineyards.com/our-wine/illahe-bon-sauvage-estate-pinot-noir-2015 which spends 16 months in barrel. It was bottled in the spring so it was still quite new as we tasted it. This is a barrel select wine from the lower vineyard sections. This lower section is less influenced by the summer sun and is lighter. They age in 25% new oak and get a more Burgundian style from this wine. There is oak influence but you get a lovely cedar on the nose. This does have some tannins that will make this wine age worthy.

Simple Gravity Flow

Kathy gave us the tour of the winery, with the Barrel room to the side, the tasting room is on the winery floor. During harvest the tasting bar is rolled away, the barrel room emptied and the winery floor is busy. The winery is a very simple gravity flow design with the grapes coming in at the higher back level and sorting tables there, they come down into the winery floor through a garage door high on the back wall and drop into bins for fermentation.

Gravity flow is just smart design. It allows for less energy use (use gravity to move things), it’s easier on people, (again gravity is your friend, moving things down is less work) and it tends to be easier on the grapes. For more on Gravity Flow Wineries, check out the article below.

https://www.crushedgrapechronicles.com/wine-education/gravity-flow-wineries/

The Percheron and the 1899 Pinot Noirs are foot stomped in the wooden fermentation tanks. Everyone takes a turn. Well almost everyone, there is a height requirement for safety sake and Kathy sadly is not tall enough to see over the top of the tank when she is stomping…so she is out when it comes to stomping.

Games you don’t really want to win at harvest

We mentioned that this is a family affair, with the extended team included as family. During harvest they have a team board and have a bee sting contest, which Assistant Winemaker Nathan won easily. They also have the beer board. If you do something stupid, you are required to bring a 6 pack. Sadly, Nathan won this also this year. (Rough year Nathan).

We headed up the steps to the upper level and Kathy pointed out the wooden basket press they use for the 1899.

Feel like you are standing in a barrel!

As we got to the top the open-air crush pad was stacked with bins and equipment as well as a tank that was doing cold stabilization on the 2017 Estate Pinot Noir.

The shape of the roof is curved and immediately you feel as if you in a giant wine barrel.

I asked about bottling, did they bring in a bottling truck? Up to this year they had hand bottled. This year with the growth they have seen they updated to a bottling system. A bottling truck is limiting. You have to schedule in advance and who knows if that is really when the wine is just right for bottling?

So they had a local company design a bottling rig on a trailer. They keep it in a storage building below the vineyard and bring it up when they are ready to bottle. It can be easily moved and allows them control on their bottling.

Next we will head over to the cave!

Where and how to find Illahe Vineyards!

Illahe Vineyards is located at 3275 Ballard Rd, Dallas, OR 97338.

Give Kathy a call for an appointment at 503-831-1248 or drop her an email at [email protected].

Tastings are $25 per person and are waived with a $100 purchase.

While they don’t serve food, they have a lovely patio with tables overlooking the vineyard, where you can bring your own lunch and enjoy the view.

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