After reading the “Pinot noir, in a warmer world” thread in which a publicist places some excellent drivel into Bloomberg I wondered what about the teeny tiny places that make lovely wines and never get a chance to show the world. We already know that I will shill and am an attention whore, so I thought why not add some names to the hit list of Oregon that people could visit or purchase from or both. Think of it as a locals recommendation. The nice thing about it is that it could be completely repeatable in other wine growing communities. I used teeny tiny, but people can type whatever they like. Here goes the shill part:
Mellen Meyer
Bobby Rowett has a screw loose. Bubbles, the guy makes sparklers in OR on a small scale.
Maloof
Ross and Bee make tiny amounts of heart throbbingly tasty juice. Gewürztraminer… who does that?
Jackalope
Corey is a silly person. White Cab Franc and a ripper of a Viognier.
Quady North
-Herb Quady may push the limits on teeny tiny (cuz not), but in Southern Oregon you need all the help you can get. Show some love.
Claygate Estate
Deb and Rick bought land a quarter mile from Brickhouse. Everyone told them to plant so they did. Really they raise Alpacas. * I help.
Gypsy Dancer
Christine resurrected this brand and it is delish. Bigger Gary Andrus styled wines. * I help.
SchöneTal
Dave only wants to make pinot using the Pommard clone, what a kook. * I help.
Cayuse
A French guy named Christophe in Oregon cattle country needs help, everyone thinks he’s in Washington.
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I either get paid or I get free fruit.
So check out these lesser known folks, and please add to the list. If there is interest I will add to the list. Check them out! Thanks.
Thanks, Todd. I’ve had Mellen Meyer (didn’t he work under Marcus?) on my “to try” list for some time. Same for Maloof and Jackalope. Hopefully people will check out Christophe’s various projects. He needs a lot of help.
A few other upstart WV wineries I want to try include Statera, Twill, Minimus, Day, Beckham Estate, Fossil & Fawn, Shiva Wichern. Any locals’ thoughts on these wineries would be greatly appreciated.
Need to branch out more on my visits instead of hitting the usuals, riding my bike around, and drink Heater Allen. And I need to visit you again, and finally try Vincent’s wines.
We visited Claygate and tasted Schone Tal with Todd when we visited in Oct. I highly recommend checking both of these out! Deb and Rick at Claygate were incredibly nice and have a beautiful sight and facility with a banquet barn. Also, if you visit be sure and ask Rick about his love for the Alpacas
Big fan of Gypsy Dancer before and after Gary. BTW, I do not find the 2012 or 2013 Legacy to be anywhere close to being big or a bigger style than Gary`s. For me, they have elegance, are light in weight and have nice, soft, pleasant fruit profiles with mild acidity. Perhaps you did not “help” out on those or my palate is fried?
Bobby was my assistant winemaker, for about a year and a half. Great guy and to be honest, he came to work for me because he liked the wines, but what he’s doing with Mellon Meyer is very much his own personality. Excellent wines, They’re delicious.
Twill is also quite solid, I particularly like the Chardonnay and Rosé, but all the wines are good. The winemaker, Chris Dickson, also did a brief stage at my winery, but brought a very good concept and process with him. I highly recommend both of these producers.
Beckham Estate is another that I like quite a bit.
All of their vineyards as well as all production is in Oregon. They keep their “tasting room” in downtown Walla Walla so they can be a part of the Washington winery associations. That “tasting room” is only for show, is never open, and I’ve heard they have to keep a single barrel of wine there so it is a “production” space to be a part of the winery associations. Actual tastings happen at the winery in Oregon only on one weekend a year in April.
Cayuse is an Oregon winery, no other way around it.