McMinnville/Oregon hosts Howie NY

Had a nice time today with Howie H who was visiting his new grandaughter Issabella up in Washington. Our group was Howie, his son Peter, Chef, Alice and Suzanne from Boston. Suzanne is a "vocationer vacationer" - that means she is going to test drive her passion and work with our team over the next few days and see what the inside scoop is really like in the winebusiness. I LOVE this program and have had several folks come through our doors and all have been delightful, so can't wait to share our world with her ( the reality is far less pretty and elegant than one might imagine, and much harder, dirtier and competitive than most want to admit ).
So first, thank you to the wineries that welcomed us with open arms and no tasting fees ! The folks in the industry for the most part just rock up here !
We started at Eyrie which of course is one of our oldest and well known, most know Papa Pinot (David Lett) who was the pioneer for all of us that followed. David passed away this year at harvest but the winery is in sound hands with his son Jason at the helm. David was staunch about pinot being balanced, delicate and nothing like the big over the top things we have seen of late. My favorites were the 2006 and 2007 Pinot Noirs - I have tasted both before but today reinforced my thoughts that this is truly one of the best wineries in the valley. Gentle, well balanced and no high alcohol ! When I finally getting around to posting our tasting notes we did a few months ago, this winery again will shine. I suspect anything Eyrie has released is well worth the tariff.
We then went to a newer winery, which started as a vocation vacation with us in 2004. It is Sol et Soliel, (soleil) ?, the Mason family. They are delightful and made a major change to follow the dream, moving the family from the Seatlle area and down to the valley. They made wines in our facility from 2005 thru 2007 and moved to thier own urban winery just prior to the 2008 vintage. They were pouring both the 2005 and 2006 Pinot Noir, of which thier cuvee A's both were stellar, plus a lovely 2007 pinot gris. They have a roomate in the winery, Remy wines. I only tasted one of her wines because it was touted as being an obscure varietal that I had never heard of before - 2006 Lagrein - the nose was interesting and once I put it in mouth I could see why it was obscure, an easy pass at $60.00. I will let the others comment about the rest of the line-up.
Next up, Walnut City Wineworks or Wineworks Oregon. Several labels, but the common thread is that all the fruit is farmed by the same group, so they really know these wines from the "Ground Up". In typical wineworks MO, many wonderful wines. My two favorites were the 2006 Robinson Cellars PN and the Bernard-Machado 2004 Pinot Noir. The Robinson had a lovely sweet feel to it, yet was dry. The Bernard-Machado is all from old vines in the Dundee Hills from a vineyard call La Cantera (which I have some in the cellar) and it is just so complex and interesting - it reminds me just how much a vineyard, a vintage and a winemakers skill can all come together to create something very special.
So, once we finished that adventure, we came back to the winery and had a fabulous all american lunch preprared by chef and alice - fried chicken, potatoe salad and of course GRAPES ! Thanks you two, it was wonderful and perfect for Memorial Day !
During lunch Howie shared with us his first attempt at Pinot Noir, and a swell first out of the shoot for this fickle grape. He also brought another Pinot from a producer in NY that I have left for me to try in the morning- Gee, this is a tough job, wine for breakfast !
I had a great time visiting with old friends, making new ones and sharing our world.... all this was made possible by our wonderful team that was able to take the helm so Mama Wolf could go play ! I am sure they will remind me most of the week just how kind they were to let me out - I am sure at a minimum this is going to cost a trip to the ice cream parlor.
Sharing wine, sharing good times is about as good as it gets !
L

...Sharing wine, sharing good times is about as good as it gets ! L

Truer words were never spoken. And Chef's down home fried chicken and potato salad weren't half-bad either. My first impression of the McMinnville wine growing region is how similar it is to the Finger Lakes, with rolling hills, covered with vineyards. Beautiful country! At Eyrie I tasted everything but at all the other wineries, with a few exceptions, I stuck with tasting Pinot Noir. I had an ulterior motive for this, as the theme for this year's NiagaraCOOL picnic will be Burgundy and new world variants. One of whites I tried was the 2007 Z'Ivo Riesling. It was a pretty good wine, but seemed to be lacking something I'm used to in Finger Lakes and Ontario versions. The other white was the 2006 Walnut City Viognier. This was the first time I had ever tried a Viognier and I found it impressive enough to buy a bottle. Intense fruity characters, not unlike an East Coast Riesling, but a totally different experience in the mouth - bracing acidity and a mouthful of minerals. I think my overall impression of the Pinots we tasted is that I preferred the 2006 vintage across the board. However, the exceptions were the 1999 Bernard Machado, the 2002 Z'Ivo and the Eyrie 2004 Reserve, all of which are exquisite. Meanwhile, back at Stone Wolf, Linda led us on barrel tasting that included a secret "surprise" wine . I'm looking forward getting back home so that my package of wines, including a selection of Stone Wolf wines arrives. Before the day started, my son, Pete, who lives in a one bedroom apartment, had no wine glasses. Now, thanks to Linda and the freebees he picked up on the tour, he now has 11, and a cute, pink onesie for Isabella with a wine label theme. It was great to see Linda again and to meet Chef Carey in person (he graciously signed my copy of "Chef On Fire". Thanks again Linda for a great day.
EDIT: I forgot to add the picture

it was touted as being an obscure varietal that I had never heard of before - 2006 Lagrein - the nose was interesting and once I put it in mouth I could see why it was obscure, an easy pass at $60.00.

It's up to you, but you might want to try a lagrein from the Südtirol/Alto Adige in northeastern Italy before you write off the grape. Meaty, earthy, great acidity, and they make for amazing rosés as well. Of course, 60 bucks is an order of magnitude higher than the prices I've paid for the Italian versions . . .

It was a great day and Linda was incredibly hospitable. It was also great to finally meet Howie - and his son Peter.