November 02, 2009

Southern Oregon Wineries Tasting last night at the Governor

Where was everybody? I went to the Southern Oregon Wineries tasting last night and didn't see anyone there I know, aside from a couple of producers. There was a good crowd though. Lots of happy tasters, some totally blitzed.

The event featured more than two dozen producers from the Umpqua valley and south to the Rogue and Applegate valleys. There was some pinot and chardonnay, but the typical line up was some mix of viognier, syrah, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, tempranillo and red blends. Overall the wines were hit and miss, with some unexciting but perfectly decent wines amid some pretty exciting, very well made wines. I'll hit the highlights here as I saw them. I didn't try everything, by any means, so if I don't mention producers who were there, it's not necessarily because I didn't like the wine.

From Abacela, the 2008 Albarino was nervy and fresh and the 2006 Tempranillo Estate was nicely structured if a little alcoholic. I can see why this winery has such a cult following. The wines have personality and are generally very true to their varieties, many of which they painstakingly pioneered here in Oregon.

I'd never heard of Folin Cellars out of Gold Hill, but I enjoyed all three wines they poured. First, the 2007 Estate Viognier was true to the variety and fresh. The 2006 Estate Syrah was nicely varietal with meat and gum notes. The best wine for me was the 2006 Estate Tempranillo, nicely varietal with tobacco and berry notes. None of these wines showed excessive oak and seemed relatively restrained. Definitely check these people out and see if I'm crazy or on to something.

Girardet's 2008 Baco Noir was my first example of this grape, I think. It wasn't stellar but a lovely drinking wine with nice acidity and balance. I'd definitely try this again.

Quady North is doing some great things out of Jacksonville. The 2007 Viognier was nice and floral, though this variety can be a little over the top for me outside of the northern Rhone. The 2007 Syrah 4,2-A was my favorite, a low oak, gamy syrah that I've tried before and liked just as much. The 2006 Arsenal (Cabernet Franc) was California huge, and very good in that idiom. By the way, the name comes from guns, not the Gunners of north London. Chelsea fans rest easy. Finally, I had a special syrah bottling that I didn't get the name of. Like the Arsenal, it's not my style, but very nice in the big, rich idiom. Herb Quady manages a bunch of vineyards down south and he's obviously got a nice touch in the cellar too.

Another new name for me was Rocky Knoll out of Medford. I really liked their 2005 Rocky Knoll Claret, with good structure and coil, this wine had a cool profile and seemed nicely balanced and worth cellaring a bit. So many southern Oregon reds can be a bit too softly structured for me, but this was a bit more taut and upright. Apparently from vines planted in the 1970s with fruit that was sold until 2005.

I'd never tried wines from Spangler in the Umpqua Valley, but the Petite Sirah is a nice example of the variety. Dark and dense, perhaps a bit monolithic but you don't drink petite for nuance. This is authoritative, robuse petite sirah and quite good.

Trium has a great label, but again I'd never had a chance to try any wines until now. The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon was nicely textured with fine tannin and good cassis and mineral flavors, not too soft, just right. Good wine.

Finally, Troon Vineyard from Grants Pass had a bunch of wines and a big crowd. I tried only the 2005 Old Vine Meritage and it was big and rich but obviously well made and without too much polish for my tastes. Some of the cabernet blends at this tasting were just ho hum, a little soft, sort of herbal, but this was serious stuff. Sure enough, Herb Quady of Quady North (yes, part of the Quady family of CA Central Valley wine fame) is the winemaker. Herb seems like the real deal and a terrific guy. I'll have to check out more of these wines.

Events like these always have a downside, especially late in the event hours when I was there. At one table, an obviously drunk, overly made up person came up, poured out a glass into the water pitcher and haltingly asked for "your highest...end wine." The expensive stuff gets you messed up just as easily as the cheap stuff, it seems. I backed away from the table and hoped the producer could cut her off without creating too much of a scene. Talk about a no win situation. Overall, this was a fun event and it looked like there were lots of wine buyers, which had to make the drive home a little better for the producers.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

I went to the trade version yesterday. I was certainly impressed with the Rocky Knooll and Slagle as new ones for me. I also very much liked the Brandborg Pinot Noirs from non-Willamette Valley. I felt they were better than many WV in their price category.

Vincent Fritzsche said...

Thanks for the comment. I started with Brandborg but nothing hit me so great this time. I've enjoyed their pinot in the past. I think the Umpqua is putting out some really good pinot wines, and has lots of potential for making even better wines and supplying more wineries up here with grapes.

Unknown said...

Argh, and you didn't call me?? Would have loved to attend.

Vincent Fritzsche said...

It was a last minute thing. I tweeted about it with a shout to have people meet me there. Alas, only echoes.

Conway Twitty said...

You "tweeted" about it and no one came?

That's funny, although not much of a surprise!

Vincent Fritzsche said...

Conway Twitty!Unbelievable. Is it really you?

Christine Collier said...

I attended the event and felt similarly with the wines being hit or miss. The only Pinot Noir I liked was the 2004 Henry Estate from the Umpqua Valley. I will also say that being in a warmer climate the acidy levels of the Pinot Gris weren't high enough, leaving the Pinot Gris really bland and uninteresting. I had a Claret from Roxyann I really enjoyed and I liked the Quady North Syrah.

Vincent Fritzsche said...

Christine, very cool, thanks for the comment. I didn't try any of those wines at this event, aside from the Quady North. I tried a bunch of things from Henry Estate at a wine conference this past summer. Some old stickies were my favorites, but they're definitely making some interesting wines. Agree on all of the gris, generally way too boring. I don't know what it is with that grape here in Oregon, but I rarely truly enjoy it. There are exceptions though.