[i]Day Three[/i]
Our third day in the valley was a Sunday and Father’s Day Sunday at that. Be aware that many of these wineries don’t like opening for tastings and even rarer for tours on a Sunday so plan ahead.
Our first stop of the day was likely the best overall tasting and touring experience we had during the entire trip. BHVineyard setup for us a vineyard tour of Le Cadeau Vineyard and a joint tasting at Chehalem of the Chehalem wines and the Le Cadeau wines. We first met up with BHVineyards’ business partner Pete (unrelated businesses) in downtown Newberg for a winding ride up the hill for a vineyard tour of Le Cadeau Vineyard. Le Cadeau is a beautiful property with stunning views of the valley. It’s very interesting to see the three distinctive sections of the vineyard that roughly equate to their three different Pinot Noir bottlings: Diversite, Rocheaux and Cote Est. Rocheaux is made from the rocky west side of the property and when I say rocky I’m not kidding…bring ankle supporting boots or tough ankles; your pick. The Cote Est is produced from the less rocky, more compact soils of the east side the vineyard. Finally the Diversite is produced from northern section of the vineyard or “Deb’s block” that is planted with a wide variety of clones. It was truly a treat to observe each of these distinct sections of the vineyard and then immediately afterwards taste each of the wines side by side. After the tour of the vineyard was complete Pete dumped us at the Chehalem tasting room at the base of the hill and Jason, the tasting room manager, took us on a tour of the Chehalem and Cadeau wines. Out of all of the tastings we did during this trip this was the most solid lineup from beginning to end. We started with a mix of the Chehalem 2004, 2005 and 2006 whites: all solid QPR wines in the high 80’s on the WIML scale and certainly worthy of a taste. Then we tasted our way through the 2005 Cadeau Pinot Noirs: all good wines with the Rocheaux being a definite standout in my personal opinion. We finished the tasting with the 2005 Chehalem Pinot Noirs: all good wines within their own rights. Definitely seek out the Stoller Vineyard, Ridgecrest and Reserve bottlings. I purchased all of them for delivery in the Fall.
Our second stop was at Sineann. Please note that if you decide to taste at Sineann Peter Rosback actually makes his wines at the Medici Winery so you’ll be tasting there. It’s a bit of a weird symbiotic relationship but it works. Peter is an engineer in his former life but now makes what I’d call “full throttled” versions of just about every varietal you can think of from traditional Oregon stalwarts such as Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir to Cabernet Sauvignons to Zinfandel and even a weird ass Zinfandel Ice Wine that will blow holes in the toes of your socks. I’d be exhausted myself from all of this activity but this guy seems to thrive on making wine for everybody. He makes by far the largest selection of wines for himself plus many others including Medici and a private label for Joel Palmer House in Dayton. Personally I didn’t care for most of Peter’s wines but I did find them all to be intellectually interesting and actually purchased a few bottles of his Lazare Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. The conversation with Peter alone is worth the stop!
Our third stop of the day was a drop in at Domaine Drouhin on our way back to our B&B. I must say this was one of the most disappointing tastings we had during the trip. The locally produced wines are basically sold out at this point so you can only taste the less than stellar “Arthur” chardonnay plus two Maison Joseph Drouhin wines from the “sister” winery in France. That is of course if you’re willing to break some bodies leg to get a small sliver of space at the tasting bar. But no worries, they’ll wave the $10.00 tasting fee if you’ll buy at least $135.00 of their wine. Anybody detecting any sarcasm here?
Our final stop of the day was a quick and unannounced drop in at the White Rose winery just up the hill from Domaine Drouhin. I have to tell you up front: if you’re interested in “greenish”, whole cluster kind of wines then this place is your nirvana. I found all of the wines to be “quirky” in at least one differing component between bottlings but if you’re looking for something different then this is your place. If you stop by be sure and ask for a taste of the Dragon’s Bluff. It’s only sold to the club members and if you can get past the odd brownish color of such a young wine you’ll be surprised by the rich “currant” nose followed by the light and nimble red fruits on the palate. As I said, “quirky”.