The Story The Hyland Estates Old Vine Pinot Noir 2018 is sourced from the Hyland Vineyard which was planted in 1971. The Hyland Vineyard is situated in the foothills of Oregon’s Coast Range inside the McMinnville sub-AVA of the greater Willamette Valley AVA. It is one of the oldest and finest vineyards in the Willamette…
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The Story The Petiole Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2017 is an $8.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive, we reviewed 2015 Petiole and that vintage sold for $9.99. The 2015 version had a Fearless Flyer write-up which indicated the Pinot was made by a large Oregon producer and the Pinot was aged in oak barrels for 14 months. I don’t know if…
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The Podcast Story Quake and Dave drink canned wine, actually not just any can of wine, but Underwood Oregon Bubbly In A Can, “The Bubbles”. The grapes come from 78% Willamette Valley and 22% Applegate Valley of Oregon. I imagine you have heard of the Willamette Valley, but the Applegate Valley is located inside the Rogue…
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The Story The Jezebel Oregon Pinot Noir 2017 is a blend of 52% Willamette Valley and 48% Southern Oregon grapes. There are 5 AVAs due south of Willamette Valley. While most of these areas tend to be warmer and dry, there are still plenty of cool locations to grow Pinot Noir. Jezebel is the 2nd label…
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The St. Somewhere Pinot Noir 2014 is a $6.99 Trader Joe’s wine that is 99.85% California Pinot Noir and 0.15% Oregon Pinot Noir, the Oregon juice is in the blend by accident. There is a story to tell here, Trader Joe’s says a big-time wine producer was creating a Pinot Noir sourced from the best coastal…
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The Brooks Runaway Red Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2016 is sourced from 10 practicing biodynamic vineyards in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Biodynamic farming goes beyond organic farming practices, they make vineyard decisions based on the phases of the moon, they plant complimentary shrubs and flowers in the vineyard that attract the insects that feed on…
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The Petiole Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2015 is a $9.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Willamette Valley AVA of Oregon. In case you have forgotten your 4th-grade science lessons the “petiole” is the part of the plant that attached the leaf to the stem. This is a Trader Joe’s Negociant wine, they purchased grapes…
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The Castle Rock Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2014 is sourced from vineyards located in the Willamette Valley AVA of Oregon. The Willamette Valley is my favorite Pinot Noir region, I know I am supposed to think Burgundy in France is numero uno, but for me, it’s the Willamette Valley. Most of the wineries in the Willamette…
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The Underwood Pinot Gris 2014 Can is sourced from grapes grown in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio are the same grape, Gris is the French word for gray and Grigio is the Italian word (the grapes can have a blue/grey color, but they do vary). Underwood is one of the…
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The 2011 Bonny Doon Querry Cider is a blend of 58% Pear, 33% Apple (both sourced in California) and 9% Quince (Oregon). Bonny Doon uses several varieties of pear and apple to get the preferred flavor profile. The Querry Cider undergoes 2 fermentations, so it has a little bit of spritz. The apples and the…
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A nice example of an Oregon Pinot Noir, this baby from A To Z Wineworks is a bright brick color in your glass, cherry covered raspberry pie on a sniff and tart cherry on first sip. The tartness mellows to a complex symphony of everything berries: strawberry, raspberry and blackberry – that really stick with…
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The 2012 VINTJS Willamette Valley Pinot Noir is an $8.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive label sourced from vineyards in Oregon. A non Trader Joe’s Willamette Valley Pinot Noir that sells for twice the price is considered to be ridiculously low priced, but TJ’s seems to make a habit of under 10 buck Oregon Pinot. The 2012…
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The 2010 O.P.P. Other Peoples Pinot Noir (Andre Mack of Mouton Noir is a negociant, he does not grow grapes, he buys them, so these grapes were other peoples Pinot grapes) is sourced from 3 vineyards in different areas of the Willamette Valley in Oregon. 40% of the grapes came from the Roserock Vineyard in…
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The 2011 Love Drunk Rose’ is a blend of 85% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Noir sourced from the Hyland Vineyard in the McMinnville AVA in Yamhill County, inside the larger Willamette Valley of Oregon. Love Drunk Rose’ is part of a line of wines produced by Mouton Noir Wines. Mouton Noir is a project put…
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The 2011 Wine by Joe Pinot Gris is part of Joe Dobbes Wines value priced line of wines. The major difference between the Wine by Joe wines and Dobbes other wines is that these grapes are sourced from contracted vineyards and not Estate grapes. He is not buying bulk grapes on the open market, these are…
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The 2010 Wine by Joe Pinot Noir is 100% Pinot Noir sourced from contracted vineyards, mainly Willamette Valley with grapes also from Umpqua Valley.This isn’t a cutesy “Brand” wine, there is a Joe, he is Joe Dobbes, since 2002 he has owned and operated Joe Dobbes Wines in Willamette Valley, Oregon. 22 years ago he…
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The 2011 Lange Willamette Valley Pinot Gris is sourced from Lange Estate vineyards and possibly some contracted local vineyards. Lange Estate Winery is family owned and has been in operation since 1987. They are the 4th American winery to produce a Pinot Gris wine, so they have the experience. Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio are…
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The 2011 Arborbrook Croft Vineyard Pinot Gris is sourced from the certified organically farmed, Croft Vineyards in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Arborbrook is a small, family owned winery, specializing mainly in Pinot Noir, this is a small production wine, only 609 cases were produced. The grapes in the 2011 vintage provided a little more…
Read MoreFor 20 years Cristom’s been making some remarkable Pinot Noir in Willamette Valley – all 20 with Pinot Noir guru winemaker Steve Doerner. These babies are all estate-owned and single-vineyard, so sadly they’re usually priced out of this site’s namesake. But on a recent visit to the 312 CEO Tom Gerrie (the “TOM” of “CHRIStine”…
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If you’re like me, you’ve probably wondered what is the difference between Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris – if there is any at all? Some say the difference is in how the wine is aged – oak barrels indicated by Pinot Gris and stainless steel by Pinot Grigio. Some say it’s just how the Italians…
Read MoreLovers! In the words of Jim Gaffigan, “Without Valentine’s Day, February would be… well, January!” What should we be drinking with our hotties? Wine, of course – A.K.A. “the ultimate aphrodisiac“. How about Champagne? For Valentines Day it’s a no-brainer. They go hand-in-hand like wine and cheese. Like wine and chocolate. After all, Champagne’s for…
Read MoreThe Sokol Blosser Evolution White 15th Edition is a non-vintage blend of 9 grapes, Pinot Gris, Muller-Thurgau, White Riesling (not the same as regular Riesling), Semillon, Muscat Canelli, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and Sylvaner, a wild mix of French, Italian and German grape varietals. The bottle lists this blend as an American wine, which indicates…
Read MoreThe Sokol Blosser Evolution Red 1st Edition is the new Red wine companion to the Sokol Blosser Evolution White, which is now on its 15th Edition. The Evolution Red is a Syrah based blend, the other grapes used are their little secret, it is also a non-vintage wine, which means that grapes grown in different years…
Read MoreThe 2008 Firesteed Oregon Pinot Noir is 100% Pinot Noir sourced from multiple vineyards located in Willamette, Rouge, Umpqua and Walla Walla Valleys, a decent cross section of Oregon Pinot Noir growing regions. The wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks and 20% of the Pinot Noir was aged in oak barrels, the rest aged…
Read More2007 Yamhill Valley Vineyards Pinot Noir is sourced from McMinnville and Willamette Valley AVA’s in Oregon. As the extraction factor in Pinot seems to reach ever higher peaks of density, I find myself wondering what on earth has happened to the glorious feminine side of this grape. The masculine style of this varietal is becoming rapidly…
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