Oregon Trip

Just got back from a few days in the Willamette Valley. Stopped by Crowley, J Craw, Goodfellow, Denison, Brooks (lunch), Championship Bottle, Longplay (construction site tour), King’s North/Seven of Hearts. Had a great time. We stayed in the attic rooms at Grand Lodge in Forest Grove. We enjoy the McMenamins properties. Had a great time here finding all of the secret rooms and passage ways on the 3rd floor. Reminded me of staying at Hogwarts. :slight_smile:

Crowley - Evan and Melanie showed us around and poured some wines for us. Several barrel samples. Enjoyed the wines.

J Craw - Simon and Vania were great hosts. Their house / vineyard is off Fairview Dr. in the Dundee Hills. They poured their 2017, 2018, and 2019 Pinots. They also had a Semillon. Great hosts and we liked their wines.

Goodfellow - Didn’t try any wines here just chatted with Marcus and Megan and picked up some Spring release wines.

Denison - Tim Wilson poured his wines. He hosted us at Bjornson where is making his wines since Todd Hamina closed down his place. Had a chard and several pinots. His wines were very good but needed some time to open. I really enjoyed the 2018 Johnson Ridge Pinot. He also poured me a few of Dave Ulbricht’s Schone Tal wines. He has some excellent juice from the Meredith Mitchell and Hirschey vineyards.

Brooks - Went there for lunch since there is few places to eat in the area with out driving for a half hour. The food here is excellent. Outstanding. We enjoyed the spring pea soup, scallops, and brussel sprouts. Wines were fine but nothing special.

Championship Bottle - Saul hosted us at Grochau’s tasting room that he shares with Vincent and some smaller producers. He makes only white wines and his inspiration is the Alto Adige region of Italy. He poured us 3 wines and several barrel samples. He was a great host. Full of energy and enthusiasm. If you are in the area I highly recommend reaching out and stopping by for a visit. We enjoyed the Silicone on Sapphire and the Hard Promises. These are great wines that need time. I usually think the red wines are the ones that need time but here the whites need time to open.

Longplay - I had ordered some wines from Todd Hansen and arranged to meet him at his new winery he is building off of 219 and Industrial Parkway in Newberg. It is just north of the new Newberg Dundee Bypass Freeway that opened a few years ago. Todd is hoping the construction will be complete and the winery/tasting room will open by June.

King’s North/Seven of Hearts - Since Byron’s tasting room in Carlton has closed he is hosting his events at Mac and Sid’s new winery in Newbery off of Bell Road. He poured 8 of his new Pinots. I really enjoyed the 2019 Joker’s Wild. Great stuff.

All in all a wonderful trip and great weather. Well into the 80s which is unusual for mid April in Oregon. Enjoyed stopping by and visiting many of the people who used to make wine at Biggio Hamina’s facility.

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Looks like you were busy! Glad you had some nice weather for your trip. Maybe next time I can catch up with you, Paul and Linda.

I’m at the same facility with Saul: he and his wines are great! Good choice

Love Saul’s whites. All really good. Excited to try his skin fermented Pinot Grigio. Saul also made a Sauvignon Blanc in 2018 that’s pretty killer

Thank you all for the kind words. Brian, it was great to meet y’all and I’m really glad you liked the wines. They’re definitely age-worthy (or at least that’s the goal) but, if last year is any precedent, they should start really opening up by mid-summer.

Also, Rodrigo, hopefully 2021 means Sauvignon Blanc in my future again.

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You closed your place? Selling dirt and grapes before they’re booze now?

Wooo! Keeping my fingers crossed flirtysmile champagne.gif

Great write up Brian, and thanks for the update on Todd’s facility. I had no idea the location!

Yep, 2017 was the last vintage I made Biggio Hamina, Claygate, Schonetal, and Gypsy Dancer. In 2018 and 2019 I continued to make J. Craw. Also made the Parra Tempranillo in 2019.

There’s a little wine left to sell, but not much!

Made it official with Berkshire Hathaway last Wednesday and the immediate response was super promising. Flattering actually, should be a good gig.

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How can you make a small fortune in the wine industry if you leave it?

-Al

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I also am in the midst of my Oregon trip which I planned thanks to many other threads in this forum. I stayed at the Atticus which I would very much recommend for those looking for a boutique hotel that’s been recently restored. The restaurant downstairs is also convenient, unfortunately it’s closed on Mondays. There are pretty limited options at 8 pm on Monday night…

Some highlights of where we visited.

Audeant shares facilities with Lingua Franca just off Hopewell Road. We were fortunate to meet the winemaker, Andrew. This was our first time tasting these wines and found Audeant via a recommendation from Antica Terra. I really enjoyed everything here. I typically do not drink rosé but this was something special, definitely not something to pound poolside. Medium-ish bodied, red berry fruit, mineral, very fresh. The Pinots are very elegant, I preferred the Nysa and my wife preferred the Luminous Hills. I really enjoyed our time here, would highly recommend this winery to all friends.

The other highlight of the trip was “A very nice lunch” at Antica Terra. This will be among my most memorable meals. Lunch is held in the very rustic warehouse. All attention is on the food and the wine. We tried the lineup of Antica Terra wines and also a few benchmarks; 2014 Vilmart & Cie, 2018 Emidio Pepe Rosato. Super cool experience. The service here is impeccable. The people are very cool and friendly.

One dinner stuck out, Earth & Sea in Carlton. They have a very cool list with lots of hard to find options. We drank a 2009 Thomas. Tasted of earth and had a small amount of those fennel sausage notes you get from the Cayuse wines, long finish. The notes I had read online seemed to suggest it would be much more red fruit.

Seth Morgen Long is also making some great Chardonnay at the Lingua Franca facility. Visited him last Summer. Great stop. He makes only chardonnay. They are outstanding wines.

Kind of a way… Shameless plug for my 07's- SOLD OUT - Commerce Corner - Wine Classifieds - WineBerserkers

Had a visit with Teal at Audeant last fall. Everything was terrific and I have to agree on the rosé – it truly is something special – and the Nysa.

Was back in Oregon last week. Stopped in at Goodfellow, De Ponte, Haakon/Lenai, Corollary, Holloran, and Kelley Fox. Stayed overnight at the Market Lofts above the Red Hills Market in Dundee. Super convenient place to stay with excellent food and drinks, though the delivery truck unloading at 4:30 am was loud. Guess that’s why they provide two pairs of earplugs next to the bed.

Goodfellow – Marcus and Megan were so kind to roll a barrel out and pour so many magnificent wines. We spent so much time out in the sun we all went home with a bit of sunburn. So many great things are said about the Goodfellow wines on here and the plaudits are fully deserved! My whole family are now Goodfellow converts.

De Ponte – Beautiful place and lovely time sitting and tasting out on their patio. Highlights were the Melon de Bourgogne (so fresh and crisp) and the 2011 and 2017 Dundee Hills Pinots.

Haakon/Lenai – New(ish) tasting room for Purple Hands, at least until Cody Wright gets enough vintages of the separate Haakon/Lenai label under his belt. Hospitality was fantastic.

Corollary – Relatively new startup focusing on Oregon sparkling. We just met with Dan & Jeanne to pick up some wine. They were gracious enough to open and pour some of a just-released sparkling pinot blanc. It was young, fresh and crisp. Really enjoyable on that hot afternoon.

Holloran – Holloran was just fantastic. Went through their current tasting but Pierre opened a bunch of other bottles to let us try all their offerings. He also poured us a vertical (2014, 2015, 2016) of their Ana Vineyard Pinot Noir, which was really fun and tasty.

Kelley Fox – It’s always so much fun to sit and visit with Dustin. I love KF pinots and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the Durant Chardonnay.

Weather last week was absolutely perfect for visiting and enjoying a lot of wine. I cannot wait for my next trip.

We have a trip booked next month and my husband is going to be upset with all of you for giving me so many more wineries to try. Thank you!

Thanks for the notes! I’m visiting WV for the first time and August and need all the recommendations I can get!

My wife and I are also planning a trip in July and these threads have been gold! keep it coming. Although it will be hard to narrow down on the wineries…

Visited two summers ago and we went 5 for 5 on our visits (all were great!)

if it helps, Walter Scott and Bethel Heights are super close to each other and were both fantastic!

Unfortunately Walter Scott’s wine was so popular it’s all sold out! Closed for tastings until 2022.

If you liked Walter Scott’s chards I suggest you try Morgen Long. Seth is giving Ken a run for his money…

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