Willamette Valley – iOTA Cellars
Willamette Valley Sub-AVA Tour Continues We’re nearly done with our tour of the sub-AVA’s of the Willamette Valley AVA. Today we visit the Eola – Amity Hills AVA through our friends at iOTA Cellars. (click on any of the maps to see full size in a slide show) Eola-Amity Hills AVA Traveling due south from … Continue reading
Thanks to Corking Wines for Top 101 Wine Writers 2020
Bloggers Love Readers I had a nice surprise this week with an email telling me I’m in Corking Wines list of Top 101 Wine Writers 2020! I appreciate knowing friends read the blog and love every comment. When good news comes from someone I don’t personally know, and from England no less, that’s an extra … Continue reading
Willamette Valley – Maysara with a Brick House Guest Appearance
Willamette Valley Wines Sub-AVA Tour McMinnville is our next sub-AVA on our virtual tour through Willamette Valley. Today we’re exploring McMinnville through biodynamic grower, Maysara. We’ll also touch on biodynamics at both Maysara and Brick House Vineyard. (click on any of the maps to see full size in a slide show) McMinnville AVA From Willamette … Continue reading
Pairing Graham’s Six Grapes Reserve Port with Campfire
The Douro River and Port The Douro River runs from Spain (where it is called the Duero River) through Portugal, finally meeting the sea at the coastal city of Porto, Portugal. Port wines are made from grapes grown along the Douro river starting about 50 miles upriver from Porto and extending all the way to … Continue reading
A Fistful of Beaujolais Rosés to Enjoy Before the Summer Departs
Rosé All Year? Not for Me! Do you drink rosé all year long? Not me, I’m a summer (ok, extend that into September) rosé fan. Not because I have anything against rosé, it’s just the cold Minnesota winters encourage drinking those big reds that languish in the cellar in July and August. I had … Continue reading
Moving Closer to “All Are Welcome Here” in Wine
All Are Welcome Here In all walks of life, opportunities are needed for people who perhaps don’t look like “us”. Recently, the wine community has started to face the unflattering fact that we are not as diverse as we need to be. One of the big things to help is for businesses to create opportunities … Continue reading
Willamette Valley – Beacon Hill Winery & Vineyard
Willamette Valley Wines – Sub AVA Tour – Soil As we virtually tour the sub AVA’s of Willamette Valley, we’re finding that each of the AVAs shows a unique character. One of the variables is the soil common in that AVA, there being 3 main types in the Willamette Valley: volcanic, marine sedimentary, and windblown. … Continue reading
Willamettte Valley Wines – Sokol Blosser
Willamette Valley Wines – Sub-AVA tour As we drive around the Willamette Valley (virtually) we see the rich soil of the valley floor is great for lots of agriculture, but not grapes. Grapes grow best on the hillsides in poor soil. We start to see the smaller AVA’s defined by a minimum altitude contour line. … Continue reading
Willamette Valley Wines – Carabella
Willamette Valley Wines Tour – Kickoff We’re starting our Willamette Valley virtual tour by trying some moderately priced ($30-45 generally) estate wines from different sub-AVA’s within Willamette Valley. For this first look, we’ll concentrate mostly on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. First up: Chehalem Mountains AVA and Carabella. (click on any image to see in a … Continue reading
Willamette Valley Wines – Be Careful What You Wish For!
Would You Like to Review Some Willamette Valley Wines? This spring, I received an email from Willamette Valley Wineries Association inquiring whether I would be interested in sampling some wines. I’m a big fan of Oregon wines in general so of course I agreed, anticipating 3-4 bottles of wine. I posted a video with the … Continue reading
