Questions for Pac-NWers:

WINE TALK
21

I’ve never even tasted the Eroica. I’ve never heard anyone hold it up as the best. They make it in huge quantities so it stands to reason that it might not be as good as offerings from boutique wineries. I can’t presume to tell you who produces the best Riesling in the state. I just don’t have enough experience. The only dry Riesling in my cellar right now is from Efeste.

22

I had to check that out. The following is from the winery, but that looks pretty good to me. Riesling+Basalt is pretty amazing.

One of the great and most distinctive vineyards of Washington State, Evergreen Vineyard is situated high above the Missoula Flood Plains and only grows white grape varietals. Wonderful acidity and pure fruit characterize its grapes. The site is very cool; the caliche and basalt in these ancient soils produce some of the best and most unique wines in the state, if not the world.

100% Riesling
100% Stainless Steel
56% Vin 13 Yeast
44% RHST Yeast
Hand Picked, Hand Sorted
Harvested November 2nd 2011

Tasting/Wine Notes

After tasting this wine, I completely love it! It is just so beautiful with honeysuckle notes wrapped around white peach key lime and apricot. The wine has a wonderful texture, focused and lush finishing with long expression of slate/wet rock and pear with a touch of bay leaf and linden leaf.

–Brennon Leighton, Winemaker

Analytical

pH: 3.08
TA (Total Acidity): 0.99g/100ml
Alc/Vol: 12.10%

Thanks,
Bill

23

This Umpqua producer has a Riesling that sells pretty well around the state. It was founded by a Swiss immigrant. Had a nice visit with him about 10 years ago.

http://www.girardetwine.com/index.cfm?method=homepage.showpage

I think another issue in the relative lack of Riesling production in Oregon is that the white wine the state has become known for is Pinot Gris. I’m sure winemakers consider that varietal an easier sell.

24

I’ve had Erioca a number of times, though not for a number of years. It’s a quality and well-made wine, and a solid lower-priced choice off the list of a restaurant whose wine list is mostly mainstream brands.

A wine geek can do better for less money elsewhere, but it’s at least a good wine.

25

The Laurel Vineyard of local producer J. Albin, and a site that Teutonic works with, is definitely above 1,000 in the Chehalem Mountains near Bald Peak. Maybe 1,200 feet. That’s very high for the Willamette Valley.

26

I had a Pinot from this vintage tonight that clocked in at 10.5% alcohol! Quite nice in a delicate, tart, red-fruited way.

  • 2011 Teutonic Wine Company Pinot Noir Bergspitze Laurel Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains (3/4/2013)
    Light color, verging on pink. Delicate cherry nose with floral notes and a sprinkle of cinnamon. This is full of crunchy red fruit, tart strawberries and cranberries with a vein of saline minerality and a bit of earth. It comes across a touch austere on the finish but not terribly so. Clearly the result of a challenging vintage but an intellectually stimulating success. (10.5% abv!)

Posted from CellarTracker

27

I believe a good portion of Eroica also comes from Evergreen vineyard.

28

We have a vineyard at 1400 ft that we developed with a number of partners including Pepper Bridge, Va Piano. It’s in the Servein area, which is above/adjacent to Seven Hills. The area is a proven Bordeaux variety area. We wanted to plant a steep slope above the frost/freeze line, which is about 900 ft.

29

I think Bob is correct about money being a big factor; most of the best Oregon white wines I have had over many years have been Rieslings, but it is expensive to grow and difficult to sell for high enough enough prices to justify the trouble when Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay can be grown more profitably. The best OR Riesling I’ve ever had was indeed from the Umpqua valley area - 1978 Hillcrest Feren Vyd (a section of Red Hill Vyd I think), made by Richard Somers.

I’d say that some growers in the Umpqua Valley and especially the Elkton area have been looking for microclimates warm enough to ripen properly; I’d say Brandborg’s dry Riesling from Bradley Vyd near Elkton would likely have sufficient acidity for you. Producers other than those named above in the northern Willamette Valley doing good things include Vitae Springs, Belle Pente and Trisaetum. Jay Somers at J Christopher used to do a nice job but since partnering with Ernst Loosen he is no longer doing a significant amount, if any.

As far as vineyard elevation goes I believe Red Hill in the Umpqua is around 1300 ft.

Looking to buy property Bill? [cheers.gif]

30

If you are looking for Alpine influenced growing conditions then I would think that both the Columbia Gorge and Lake Chelan would fulfill those criteria. The western Columbia Gorge AVA is cooler than the Willamette Valley with vineyards like Celilo sitting at 900-1200’, and newer vineyards planted up to 2000’. Quite cool, low alcohol, aromatic wines. Rieslings in the sub 10% abv aren’t uncommon. Harvest is usually determined when acids drop to a tolerable level, quite often in November. Great place for sparkling wine also.

31

James, nice to see you chime in. One of my wine revelations in the past year was your 2009 Scintillation sparkler. Great effort. I didn’t realize the that particular area was so cool.

32

Thank you all for the responses. I’m very much encouraged by them. My time in Germany is almost up and we’re looking to get back home state-side, so I’m very interested in the possibilities in the NW. After visiting the region a few times, one thing that strikes me as unique about the Pacific Northwest is the community of winemakers and wine-culture there. The cooperation and exchange of ideas is very similar to that in the Pfalz (also unique in Germany vis a vis the other regions here) and I think that I might miss that in other wine-growing areas in the US. So I appreciate the info. We shall see how it all turns out.

Thanks again,
Bill

33

I’d imagine that at least some of the Riesling producers in Oregon might be happy to confab, I get the sense that some produce it because they just love Riesling, and perhaps the more that is grown and vinified the more attention it may draw overall…

34

If it costs a lot to make (grow), you have to charge a lot to get to break even. Wine is a product that price does not often relate to costs, and I highly doubt the market would ever bear a $50 Riesling. Therefore, regardless of how many winemakers love Riesling, as long as the market doesn’t value it the same as Pinot Noir (or other red wines), Willamette Valley (or Oregon) producers aren’t going to spend the time losing money on it when they could break even (or make a profit) on other varietals.

Now, if the market were to change, and $50 white wines were not uncommon, it would make sense. Until “New World” whites reach the levels of Grand Cru White Burgandy, people will always scoff at white wines above $30/btl. (As always, there are exceptions to this rule, I’m speaking in generalities.)

35

Riesling may be one of the cheapest wines to make. Now if you are comparing prime pinot noir ground for riesling, that is just a poor choice; plant the pinot and find cooler sites with worse soil for the riesling. It seems that when you have the wrong soils you need to push ripeness on riesling, but in really poor soils the cooler areas excell. Rich Cushman has been making some 6-10% rieslings in Hood River since the 1980’s and they are eye-opening to taste now.

36

Just to add to the thread.

  1. There is an Oregon Riesling Alliance already, filled with solid producers in it for the love of the grape.

  2. My experience with Riesling is that it ripens after Pinot Noir, but it can be picked in Oregon as low as 16-17 Brix and have great flavors with lovely acid. I far prefer Oregon Riesling to Washington (yes I am biased) and my personal preference is for dry farmed fruit from sedimentary soils. Cooler areas than the Valley aren’t necessary. Soils that are thinner so the grapes carry less moisture provides me with the fruit I prefer.

  3. My favorite examples of Oregon Riesling are Love & Squalor(dry), Brooks(mostly dry), Chehalem Reserve (mostly dry), Trisateum (they make several), and before they both quit because there was no money in it: Bergstrom and J. Christopher. I also make about 100 cases myself, aiming to channel the Nahe in Oregon. Most of which has been solidly drinkable stuff IMHO(biased).

  4. Elevation comparisons between the Willamette Valley and east of the Cascades or southern Oregon don’t mean much because of the huge difference in the climates of those two areas and the Willamette Valley. Also, the weather in the Willamette Valley is schizophrenic as anything around, witness 2011 and 2012 and 2006 and 2007. I drink and taste wines from any area that grows Pinot Noir or Riesling because I know that one year soon, we’ll have a year like they do whether it’s Carneros or Germany.

  5. Thank you Bill for the thread and the opportunity to talk about Oregon Riesling. I love it and even though we need a few centuries of practice, there is really tremendous potential here.

37

I am just a neophyte when it comes to riesling but I was impressed with what I have tried from Oregon.

Last fall, a set up tastings with Marcus at Matello and John Grochau in McMinnville. When we were finished, they asked me where I was visiting after them. I told them my next stop was at Brooks to try wines there. They said Love & Squalor winemaker Matt Berson (who is the assistant winemaker at Brooks) was in their building and would I want to taste his riesling? I said sure. The 2011 bottling is an acid lovers dream. The strong lime juice component makes it a great wine to pair with Thai food.

At Brooks, the Sweet P bottling was my favorite followed by the Bois Joli. The Sweet P really resembles bottles Granny Smith apples.

At $18, these two wines are worth seeking out and trying.

Monte

38

Marcus,

Thanks for your thoughts. From personal research (and now this thread) it appears that there are some very favorable conditions for Riesling in OR. It is a grape variety that is certainly on the comeback, and if it could be embraced with that same fervor with which Oregon winemakers initially embraced Pinot Noir, I see no reason why it couldn’t enjoy similar success (at least qualitatively.) there is work to be done for sure but your comments are encouraging

I actually brought back a bottle of Matello Deux Vert Viognier (I want to say it was 2010) to Germany this summer to show some colleagues some of what the US is capable of. Many Germans tend to share the misconception that the only white variety grown in the US is Chardonnay (much like US consumers overwhelmingly think of Riesling as always being sweet.) The Viognier did the trick. It is a very nice wine –well done.

Cheers,
Bill

39

Marcus, thanks for the additions. I haven’t had your Riesling yet, which is strange because I’ve tried about everything else you produce; I’ll look for it. I do miss Jay’s stuff, and Josh’s as well (still aging a couple of those “Dr Bergstroms” in the cellar).

40

I just looked the Oregon vineyard acreage report for 2011 - there were 700 planted acres of Riesling state-wide - vs. 2,590 for Pinot Gris.

The acreage report in 1982? Riesling - 221 acres (second only to Pinot Noir with 299 acres) - vs. 4 acres of Pinot Gris. The 2011 price per ton for Riesling? By far the lowest for a varietal in Oregon at $880/ton - about 1/3 the price of PN. 1982? $620, v. $670 for PN.

Quite a change.