Transitions—Fall and Winter Wines

Fall arrived in the Black Hills yesterday.  It came in the form of rain, so we are desperately trying not to complain; we know how easily this could be snow—think Atlas, the blizzard that dumped literally feet of snow on us exactly three years ago today. 

The bright yellows, oranges, and reds on the trees make this a spectacular time of year.  Yet this morning was downright chilly, so chilly I could see my breath.  Last night it was already dark at 7:00 p.m., all trade-offs to the beauty that is fall. 

It is time to put away the dreams of summer and open the thoughts of winter.  Time to realize that the warm days will become fewer and farther between.  Time to grasp the fact that snow is on its way…much too soon for some of us.

However, the benefits of cooler temperatures can be seen, especially in the changing seasons of wine.  I have finally come to terms with the fact that winter is coming.  I have even embraced this idea.  Proof?  The wines I have chosen to pull from my cellar this week.  Here’s to fall sipping that soon will turn to winter gulps.  Enjoy these amazing wines to usher in the next season of the year!

King Estate 2008 Blanc de Gris—

            Twenty-six months on the lees before disgorgement, then six years in the bottle, make this the perfect sparkling wine for the cooler weather of fall.  Though this is made in the traditional method with a wonderful acidic backbone, the time in bottle has allowed the Pinot Gris to become fuller and rounder.  Pear and pineapple on the nose and palate add to the gorgeous golden hue.  This bottle matches the season and the delightful fall colors outside.

Two Shepherds 2013 Grenache Blanc—

            William Allen’s Grenache Blanc from the Saarloos Vineyard is an impeccable autumn white.  It is aged on the lees and in neutral oak, making for a creamy texture that pairs perfectly with cooler temperatures.  The acid is just right to add a snap to the flavor, creating an incredibly well-balanced wine with complex flavors from tart-citrus to ripe-golden fruits.  William has a wine for every season, and the 2013 Grenache Blanc is the one for this fall.

J Cage 2014 Pinot Noir—

            From the Nunes Vineyard in Sonoma County, this is a great sipper for the fall.  It is a slightly richer style of pinot, with just-ripened berries showing through on the palate.  There is a great zing in the flavor, adding the exact touch to balance the ripeness.  Forest floor and spice give just the right amount of autumn to this beautifully-colored, deep-garnet wine.  The Beery family has taken their wine-stained dream to another level.  Enjoy this wine this year or wait several years to come.  

Final Thoughts—Willamette Valley

            Spring has finally arrived in the Black Hills.  The snow showers have turned to rain.  Green grasses are sprouting on the hillsides.  The sun is rising earlier and setting later.  The most beautiful season in the place I call home is here to stay…at least until fall.

            This arrival has me thinking less about my earlier travels to other picturesque spots and more about the short trips I get to make around the gorgeous area where I live.  However, a few final thoughts of Oregon keep swirling in my mind.  The newly-green slopes here have me reminiscing one last time about the Willamette Valley—some pretty great memories to have!

            Penner-Ash recently made the news after it sold to wine giant Jackson Family Wines.  (Though this isn’t a blog about Jackson Family, I will say that company has great taste!  It keeps snatching up some of my favorite producers.)  However, Penner-Ash had already made the headlines with me as a winery I could not wait to visit.  The trip there proved to be as good—maybe even better—than I expected.

            Wonderful wines, fabulous vistas, and friendly staff members all helped to make this worthy of memories.  The view of the gravity flow facility from the tasting deck is incredibly interesting.  The outdoor area is so inviting.  Additionally, the view is so breathtakingly amazing, there is nothing better than sitting with a glass outdoors…which is exactly what we did.

 

 

            Another northern Willamette Valley producer still bringing a smile to my face is Domaine Drouhin of Oregon—fondly called DDO by the locals.  Also with panoramas that delight the eye, DDO is unique in many ways.  First, the Drouhin Family—long-time producers in the Burgundy region of France—sought out Oregon as the next great place to grow pinot noir.

            They have not been disappointed by the region, nor has the region been disappointed by this stellar producer.  The tour here is incredibly informative, taking in both the outside grounds of nearby vineyards and all levels of the gravity-flow facility.  Options to taste include the Willamette Valley wines, but opportunities are also given to sip some Burgundian wines the Drouhins produce.  A great way to compare the concept of terroir in wine.

 

 

            Moving further south in the Willamette Valley, King Estate Winery has become one of the best known Oregon producers, based first off the amount of wine produced there.  But please don’t think that a large quantity of wine means poor quality.  This is just untrue.  King Estate makes great wines at great prices…and then does other top-shelf and single-vineyard options incredibly well, too.

            These wines all start in the organic vineyards, the largest in the United States and one of the largest in the world.  The drive up to the stately tasting room steers patrons through charming vineyards, made even more so when the sheep are seen grazing.  A bit of advice is to go hungry.  After sipping these wines, experience the tasty bites at the King Estate restaurant, so delicious all around.

 

 

            All trips must come to an end—as does my writing about these trips.  This one is no exception.  But like all good travels, I will end on a high note, like the fun had at Sweet Cheeks Winery.  Though it becomes repetitive to say the view was beautiful, I repeat it because it’s true—there really are few bad sights in the Willamette.  Sweet Cheeks sits on a hillside and has a large, charming patio overlooking the valley floor.  Often offering live entertainment on evenings and weekends, this is an enjoyable place to hang out. 

            Many still wine options are available, but a wine must be chosen to pair with this festive setting, so order a bottle of the sparkling, get multiple glasses, and enjoy time with friends.  This is the spot screaming for joyous smiles and raucous laughter.  It is what wine is all about:  bringing people together to enjoy moments and memories.  Sweet Cheeks is the perfect place.

 

 

            Though this is my final “official” writing about the beautiful Willamette Valley, my recollections of this fabulous trip have gotten me through two months of Mother Nature evilly teasing me with the thought of spring…only to have her rip those warm thoughts away to be replaced by snow. 

            But spring is finally here—to stay—in my beautiful Black Hills home.  Thank you Oregon, thank you Willamette Valley, for helping me get here, for being my much-too-short substitute for spring.  I can’t wait to return.  However, for now, I can enjoy my own backyard. 

More March Madness--Oregon Wineries

            It’s that time of year again.  The time when people go a little crazy.

On Sunday, sports fans everywhere waited with baited breath as they watched ESPN to fuel their craziness.  Instantly, they began planning their brackets, deciding who would win, who would lose, who would be the Cinderella team, and who would go all the way.

While everyone around me is going crazy with March Madness and the NCAA tourney that starts later this week, I am nursing a sickness, too.   My illness is just as serious, but comes in a different form. 

Hello, my name is Kara, and I have spring fever.  Bad.

How do I feed my fever?  No, I don’t look up win-loss records.  I don’t investigate shooting percentages.  Rebound records mean nothing to me.

My spring fever is only remedied by travel…wine travel.  

This time last year I was busy researching my upcoming summer stay in Sonoma by choosing the elite eightwineries of northern California that I wanted to visit.

The initial list was incredibly long, and whittling it down to just eight seemed almost impossible.  I made the final cuts after having quite strict criteria:  I would spread my choices between Napa and Sonoma, visit both historic and newer producers, choose producers who used diverse grapes, and taste only labels which I never had. 

My list was fantastic, and it led me on an incredible voyage of tasting.  I still hate to admit I never made it to all eight. Not because I didn’t try…but just because there were wineries everywhere, and others—many others—were added to my list. 

This year’s spring fever is being cured with a trip to Oregon, one of my favorite regions that just happens to produce large quantities of my favorite grape:  pinot noir.

My trip is much shorter, just a week.  The area to cover is large, over 150 miles long and 60 miles wide.  My criteria this year is a little more relaxed:  I am going to visit both north and south Willamette Valley and stop at early Oregon producers.  However, diversity in grapes is not a concern…bring on the pinot noir!  Finally, producers that I have tasted before are not only allowed, they are encouraged.  Winemakers whose wines I know well are actually top on my list.  New wines I have longed to try will be part of my eight, but that is not a must this time around.

Ponzi Vineyards—Ponzi qualifies as both an historic producer and one I have been dying to try.  Oregon pioneers Dick and Sandy moved to Oregon in the late 1960s and planted vines in 1970.  Wines can be tasted at the new facility which opened in 2008 or at the historic, original vineyard.  No matter, I look forward to stopping at this elite winery, though I haven’t decided which location I will be visiting just yet—I want to stop at both!

Domaine Drouhin—“French soul with Oregon soil” was the premise for the Drouhin family, long-time Burgundy winemakers, to search for the perfect New World location to make great pinot noir.  Several tasting options are available at the state-of-the-art gravity flow facility.  However, the comparative tasting between Drouhin wines from both Burgundy and Oregon seems an intriguing way to get to know this producer. 

 Penner-Ash—Lynn Penner-Ash studied at UC Davis and trained in Napa Valley, creating a very prestigious resume.  She then moved with her husband Ron to become the first female winemaker hired in Oregon.  In 1998, Lynn and Ron took the risk to open their own winery, Penner-Ash.  Though the focus here is on pinot noir, other wines are made from syrah, riesling, and viognier.  There is an absolutely beautiful view from the winery, but a hike through the vineyards is also a tasting option I may want to try. 

Sokol Blosser—Susan Sokol and Bill Blosser also graduated from a respected California university—Stanford—and then left the state to start fresh in Oregon in the 1960s.  By 1977, they were making their own wine from estate vineyards and raising a family on site.  Today their wines set the bar high for Oregon producers.  Farming is still in the Sokol-Blosser blood, shown in their demonstration vineyard for customers to see firsthand how vines grow each season.  Unique tasting options abound here with a vineyard hike and an ATV tour in the summer. 

Erath—Dick Erath started making wine in his garage in 1965.  From there he planted 23 varieties of grapes in the Dundee Hills.  Pinot flourished in Oregon, as did his eventual winery.  Erath and subsequent winemakers have created the quintessential Oregon pinot noir:  delicate, complex, fruit-forward, and earthy.  Though the winery is no longer family owned, it is definitely a must-taste experience, and even though many Erath wines are widely available, I am ecstatic to experience the winery and the pinot noirs not available to the masses. 

Firesteed Cellars—Firesteed is a much smaller and lesser-known winery than many on my list, but it shouldn’t be.  This is perhaps the one I am most excited about visiting.  I have developed quite a fun social-media relationship with Shellie Croft--wife of winemaker Bryan.  For over a year now I have watched the vineyard and cellar work at Firesteed, as well as gotten familiar with the Croft family.  Their riesling and pinot noir are available in my tiny state of Wyoming, but I can’t wait to meet the dedicated producers of these wonderful wines…and make a real-life social media connection. 

King Estate—The southern Willamette Valley also has wineries to visit, most notably, King Estate.  Just south of Eugene lies one of Oregon’s largest producers, as well as the largest organic vineyard…not just in the state, but in the world.  The on-site restaurant is known for using products from the surrounding area and organic produce from the estate gardens.  Of course, the wine is stellar and worth drinking in the beautiful tasting room with sweeping views of vines.  A reason, in and of itself, to go further south.

Sweet Cheeks Winery—To top off my eight wineries on my Oregon list is Sweet Cheeks Winery, another southern Willamette destination.  After growing grapes for other winemakers for over three decades, the producers decided to make some of their own wines.  Sweet Cheeks is known for its fantastic staff, beautiful views, and tasty wines.  Picnics are encouraged when the weather permits, and on Friday nights, live music adds to the entertainment provided here.  This also happens to be one of my Oregon friend's favorites, so I must see what she loves about Sweet Cheeks—other than the name that just makes me smile.

 

I have been bitten by the bug.  I have spring fever…and it’s a bad case.  While others cure what ails them with their basketball brackets and hours spent contemplating who will be successful in the NCAA tournament, I spend my time reading travel books and planning winery visits. 

To each his—or her—own, but travel is the one remedy for me, and this year, Oregon is the prescription.  I’ll take one trip and call the doctor in the morning.  

I Love You--Wines I Love

            As Valentine’s Day quickly approaches, I have been thinking about love and all the different types of love there are in the world.  Obviously, this holiday centers on romantic love, or eros, but there are many other types of love to celebrate.  There is agape love, or unconditional love, usually applied to parents’ love for their children.  Another important type of love is philia love, or brotherly love seen in friendships.  I am not sure what category of love my affection for wine would fall under, but as I reminisced about the wines I have truly adored drinking this year, I realized that each one was somehow related to a person for which I care deeply.  Coincidence?  I think not.  Here are the wines I have truly enjoyed this past year and the special people I love who shared the wines with me.

            Vueve Clicquot Brut:  Purchased in a split, this was the bottle my husband and I enjoyed last year on Valentine’s Day.  We were actually staying in a hotel; however, not in a romantic endeavor for the lover’s holiday, but because we were on a two-day road trip for our son’s basketball team.  We tucked away two bottles of wine to enjoy when we were finished watching basketball, and this Clicquot was one of them.  Acidic and yeasty with lots of orange citrus on the palate, we toasted each other, our children, and our love of twenty-five years.

            King Estate Pinot Noir 2006:  After our bubbly toast, we moved on to one of my favorite grapes from one of my favorite regions, a Pinot Noir from Oregon.  I love the paradox of the delicate wine with a robust flavor.  Light bodied but filled with black and red fruits, a hint of eucalyptus mint, and perfect acid, the aromas seemed to last forever, and so did the finish.  We drank a glass of this by itself, but it would be a wonderful food-pairing wine for multiple foods.  Always better in great stemware, my spouse and I routinely carry stemless Riedel glasses on our travels for moments just like this.

            GH Mumm Champagne:  I love sparkling wines for all occasions, true Champagnes included.  However, special occasions scream for a quality Champagne, and this event was one such time:  our daughter’s college graduation.  As very young parents, the culmination of twenty-two years of dreams for our child was very special…for child and parents. I didn’t take any formal tasting notes on this wine; I just watched as the server uncorked the bottle and poured the beautiful bubbles into flutes.  Then I enjoyed every last sip, toasting the graduate, her BFF and fellow graduate, our family, and her friends.  An extraordinary moment, it was commemorated with a lovely glass of bubbles. 

            Le Cigare Volant 2009:  The next special wine relates to our youngest child, a senior in high school.  My hubby and I have spent years following our son’s sports career and have enjoyed every second of it.  In November, this athlete played in his last football game, a tough loss in the state semi-finals.  Though he wasn’t involved in the drinking of the Bonny Doon bottle, his father and I poured ourselves a glass when we returned home from the game.  We sipped together, mourning the loss in our own way, which was really about mourning the passing of time on our parenting.  For a GSM (Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre) blend, it was robust without being overpowering, fruity without being sweet, and tannic without being bitter.  A balanced wine, we enjoyed it when we sipped before purchasing from the tasting room outside of Santa Cruz and enjoyed it again after this parenting moment. 

            Cartograph Mariah Vineyard Pinot Noir 2012:  I’ve already stated that Pinot Noir is my personal favorite grape…especially when made into special wines.  This summer, my family visited Cartograph Winery in Healdsburg, California, including meeting winemakers Alan and Serena.  I joined the wine club after tasting their amazing wines and seeing some grapes were sourced from Mariah Vineyards, spelled just like my only sister’s name.  I opened this bottle to pair with the annual murder mystery dinner a group of friends and I have made our New Year’s tradition.  Strawberry and cherry with earth and a bright chokecherry color, it was the perfect pairing for a slightly spicy jambalaya as main course.  It was an even better pairing with wonderful friends with whom I love to spend time!

            Williams Selyem Hirsch Vineyard Pinot Noir 2011:  Another winery my family visited this summer, the facility is awe-inspiring, to say the least.  I bought several bottles, some to cellar and some to enjoy on special occasions.  My forty-first birthday seemed like a good enough reason to break out this bottle, sourced from the also prestigious Hirsch Vineyard in northern Sonoma, an absolutely beautiful wine in color, smell, and flavor.  It was another wine I merely enjoyed, instead of formally evaluating, while eating a steak and shrimp supper with my husband and son, basking in the blessings that aging has given me.

            Williams Selyem Heintz Vineyard Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2010:  I wish I could claim ownership of this William Selyem wine, but I actually stumbled upon this by accident.  A friend of mine was given it from her father-in-law and almost gave it to her child’s teacher as a Christmas gift.  I selfishly told her to save it for herself, me, and a Chardonnay-loving friend.  We opened it to relish a sip on a random day while we enjoyed each other’s company, three girls giggling and laughing over a glass of vino!  Just a hint of butter on both the nose and the palate, this wine was packed with fruit flavor and perfect acid.  Truly, the best California chard I have experienced, made even better by the company shared while sipping it.

            Dr. Konstantin Frank Dry Riesling 2013: A fairly simple bottle of dry Riesling, I grew an emotional attachment to this wine region when I visited after the death of my father.  I enjoyed the area and the visit to this important and beautiful Finger Lakes winery.  After making the bottles of wine I brought home and got from a short-term wine club last over a year, I was so surprised to find this wine at a small-town liquor store in Wyoming (read about that lucky break here); I have returned to that store on several occasions to keep a bottle on hand.  I have a great appreciation for the Riesling grape, especially quality, dry Rieslings.  This reasonably priced wine smells of fruit and flowers, with a hint of stone.  On the palate it is a perfect representation of the flavor of a Riesling, just without the sugar that often overpowers these nuances in American examples. 

            Though it is incredibly difficult to categorize my feelings for wine, it was not challenging to choose my favorite wines of the past year.  They were all outstanding wines, but they were all also paired with great people—special people—at significant places during important occasions.  Being with the people I love while drinking these wines made the wines that much more extraordinary, that much more meaningful.  I loved these wines, each in unique and different ways, for both the wines themselves and those sharing with me.  That is love…of children, of spouses, of friends, of memories…of wine.