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Oregon’s Enduring Spirit of Collaboration

Ponzi Vineyards

Robed in luxurious, perpetual green, Oregon’s largest AVA is home to more than 270 wineries and over 1,000 vineyards. It’s a region that has enjoyed marked growth over the past few decades thanks, in part, to a handful of families that arrived in the late 1960s with little more than determination and vision. “My father […]

Brooks Winery | Storyteller Wine Pinot Noir 2014

Brooks Winery | Storyteller Wine Pinot Noir 2014

From Portland’s iconic Storyteller Wine Company, this 2014 Storyteller Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir, the fourth and final label to emerge from an intensive two day blending session at Brooks winery last fall. Michael Alberty’s blend is imbued with the fragrance of pure, ripe strawberries, so much so, that it reminds me of making strawberry jam. […]

Argyle “The Art of Sparkling” Trio — Christin Engelberth Label

Argyle "The Art of Sparkling" Trio — Christin Engelberth Label

Argyle’s new Art of the Blend series is stunning. The wines are sold as a trio, with each bottle featuring an artist chosen from a juried competition. From the winery’s website: “After nearly thirty years of growing and making World-class wines in the Willamette Valley, we have opened the Argyle House to our Community to interpret […]

Montinore Estate Reserve Pinot Noir 2014

Montinore Estate Reserve Pinot Noir 2014

Crafted from biodynamically grown grapes, Montinore Estate’s Reserve Pinot Noir 2014 is a fast-forward to Thanksgiving with fragrant aromas of spiced apple rings, cranberry compote, black cherry, cola, and baking spice. The palate is laden in fine, supple tannins, and lively red fruit—2014 is indeed a riper vintage. Spices reemerge on the end with an […]

Tendril Wine Cellars Tightrope Pinot Noir 2013

Tendril Wine Cellars Tightrope Pinot Noir 2013

We named it Tightrope because we think it’s the perfect way to describe balance in Pinot Noir,” said winemaker Tony Rynders when I chatted with him at this year’s Grand Tasting during the International Pinot Noir Celebration. Indeed, his wines can be praised as having achieved that most precarious balance in one of the wine […]

Domaine Drouhin Chardonnay Arthur 2014

Domaine Drouhin Chardonnay Arthur 2014

Beautifully delineated, Domaine Drouhin’s Arthur Chardonnay is pure and fresh, despite 2014 being a ripe year. Layers of crisp d’Anjou pear and apple, white flowers, white peach, granulated honey. It’s equally delicate and finely wrought on the palate, with French oak lending playing a supporting role to an ethereal vein of minerality shines through this […]

Stoller Family Estate Dundee Hills Reserve Chardonnay 2014

Stoller Family Estate Dundee Hills Reserve Chardonnay 2014

Beautiful, as are all of Stoller’s wines, but young. I feel will benefit from just a little more time in bottle. I reviewed the 2013 Reserve Chardonnay and preferred it slightly over the 2014. Even so, 2014 offers layers of sensory charm and is laden with just-picked peaches and pear tartan, topped off with a […]

Sokol Blosser Evolution Sparkling Brut NV

Sokol Blosser Evolution Sparkling Brut NV

Convivial and crisp, Sokol Blosser’s Evolution Sparkling Brut is one of the better priced sparkling wines from Oregon’s Willamette Valley. It offers up a nose of green apple, pear and white flowers. On the palate, it’s lively and crisp. It’s not a complex bubbly, but it is pleasantly carefree on a Sunday afternoon. 11.5% ABV | […]

Drouhin Rose Rock Pinot Noir 2014

Drouhin Rose Rock Pinot Noir 2014

Aptly named, Drouhin’s Rose Rock Pinot Noir hails from a parcel seated at the southern tip of the Eola-Amity Hills, the grapes harvested from this site are grown in ancient volcanic soils and benefit from the cooling Van Duzer winds. Blithe floral notes; a bouquet of wild roses, lavender, lilac, dust, anise, spice, and crushed […]

Stoller Family Estate Dundee Hills Reserve Chardonnay 2013

Stoller Family Estate Dundee Hills Reserve Chardonnay 2013

Lilting aromas of apricot, pear, dried honey, lemon curd, anise. Stoller’s Dundee Hills Reserve Chardonnay 2013 is clean and focused on the palate and more delicate than most. The perception is one of silkiness with beautifully integrated oak (you’d hardly know it’s there) except as a textural component, lending structure, allowing pure orchard fruit notes […]

CHRISTINE HAVENS
McMinnville, OR

christine@christine-havens.com