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Troon Vineyard Whole Grape Ferment Riesling 2017

Troon Vineyard Whole Grape Ferment Riesling 2017

Limpid, shimmering copper in the glass, 2017 Troon Vineyard Whole Grape Ferment Riesling is a fabulous orange wine—a delicious romp through ripe apricots, orange zest, almond paste, linden blossom, and dried honey. In the mouth, skin contact lends textural dimension, there are beautiful oxidative tones offset by pink grapefruit infused acidity. All in all, Troon […]

Ledger David Rogue Valley Southern Oregon Sangiovese 2014

Ledger David Rouge Valley Southern Oregon Sangiovese 2014

A well-made Sangiovese from Southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley—an appellation that shows great promise, turning out Spanish and Italian varieties of focus and depth. The 2014 Ledger David Sangiovese offers up a sumptuous bouquet of black plums, and blackberries, all resting beneath a garland of violets. In the mouth, it’s plush and open knit with black […]

Troon Whole Grape Ferment Riesling 2016

Troon Riesling Whole Grape Ferment 2016

Southern Oregon wines never fail to surprise me, such is the case with Troon’s 2016 Whole Grape Ferment Riesling from Applegate Valley. Burnished gold in the glass, with oxidized notes—baked apple, lemon oil, grilled pineapple, almond skin, and yellow flowers. On the palate, texturally speaking skin contact is quite evident, as is the case in […]

Ledger David Rogue Valley Southern Oregon Tempranillo 2015

Ledger David Rouge Valley Southern Oregon Tempranillo 2015

Ledger David’s 2015 Red Valley Tempranillo displays some hard angles on opening, especially in terms of acid balance. It’s much better on the second day, yielding soft aromas of plums, bing cherries, cedar, and violets. Medium bodied, and tightly-wound, with powdery tannins and a spicy hit of black pepper that charges in the back palate […]

Ledger David Rogue Valley Southern Oregon Sauvignon Blanc 2016

Ledger David Rouge Valley Southern Oregon Sauvignon Blanc 2016

This is my first experience tasting David Leger wines, and I am absolutely blown away by their 2016 Rogue Valley Sauvignon Blanc. It opens with eccentric rings of guava, kiwi fruit, juniper berry, and chervil. On the palate, it’s an acid metronome—an electric, energetic pulse that flows in and out of a tropical and orchard […]

Reustle Prayer Rock Winemaker’s Reserve Tempranillo 2014

Reustle Prayer Rock Winemaker's Reserve Tempranillo 2014

Precise as all Stephen Reustle’s wines are—the 2014 Winemaker’s Reserve Tempranillo is opaque quinacridone violet in the glass, with a swirl one can coax from it classic varietal aromas of earthy sun-warmed terra cotta tile, aged leather and dried herbs, all neatly folded into a background of black cherries and plums. It’s softly textured on […]

Troon Blue Label Longue Carabine 2014

Troon Blue Label Longue Carabine 2014

A bit of a kitchen sink blend, reminiscent of some of the complex whites I’ve run across from South Africa—Troon’s Longue Carabine 2014 is composed of 43.81% Marsanne, 27.35% Viognier, 12.65% Vermentino, 8.79% Riesling, 5.0% Roussanne, and 2.4% Sauvignon Blanc, all from the Applegate Valley—offers cadence in its aromatic range. Bruised pear, yellow apple, star […]

Umpqua Undercover

Terry Brandborg, Stephen Reustle, and Earl Jones

The Umpqua Valley has a streak of wildness to it. Sparsely populated, its towns lie scattered amidst a series of rugged, undulating hills thatched in spikey Ponderosa pine and black oak. The Umpqua River and it’s winding tributaries churn and tumble through a network of valleys formed by the collision of three mountain ranges—the Klamath, […]

Abacela Reserve Tempranillo 2005

Abacela Barrel Select Tempranillo 2005

Abacela’s 2005 Reserve Tempranillo is opaque, with only the oxblood-rim belying age. It’s mature now, but has a long drinking window ahead of it, perhaps another 5-8 years. The nose is rich and complex, a melange of black cherries and plums, Christmas cake, leather, and dusty earth. The attack reveals mouth coating, grippy tannins and […]

Abacela Reserve Tempranillo 2009

Abacela Reserve Tempranillo 2009

Tempranillo grown in Southern Oregon, in this case Umpqua Valley, shows great promise, as Abacela has demonstrated time and again through their bottlings of this earthy, Spanish queen. The 2009 Reserve Tempranillo is resplendent in an earthy mantle of dried blood, brick dust, roasted black cherries, and plums. The balance on the palate is spot […]

CHRISTINE HAVENS
McMinnville, OR

christine@christine-havens.com