|  |  | Membership: |  | Latest:Mimik2 |  | New Today:2 |  | New Yesterday:5 |  | Overall:1960 |
 | People Online: |  | Visitors:41 |  | Members:0 |  | Total:41 |
|
|
| |
| |
| |  Where Are They: Anonymous User [39] : Home Anonymous User [5] : Wine Forums |
| |
| |
|
| | Wine News, Articles, and Announcements | |
| |
| |
|
|
|
Our final day of tasting was dedicated to two wineries for which we couldn’t schedule an appointment over the weekend: J.K. Carriere and Eyrie. I guess we’ll see Portland proper on our next trip instead (we originally planned to spend the day in Portland this day but rescheduled). Anyway… Our first stop of the day was at J.K. Carriere. You have to love a winery that is located in an old white barn with no sign and directions that say “go through the dip of the road past the white barn and turn right between the willow trees”. Jim Prosser the owner and winemaker decided to leave the white collar world of Xerox and start living life. I think he’s succeeded if not on a slightly eccentric basis. You have to admire a man that quits his corporate job to start making wine with a “Wasp” on the label because a Wasp has almost killed him twice and to this day he keeps a pouch on his belt with a hypodermic needle at ready on a moments notice. Anyway, the tour actually starts in the loft above the winery. Be ready to view the “Soul’s Ship” on display in the loft before sitting down to tasting wine in the winery below. Quite an interesting art piece it’s the last thing you’d expect in an Oregon winery, especially one located in a 100 year old white board barn. Once you’ve finished the viewing and properly “slowed down a bit” you’ll then sit down to taste all four of J.K. Carriere’s wines, some of which you can’t purchase because they seem to be perpetually sold out. The 2006 “Glass” White Pinot Noir was a lovely palate primer and summer quaffer to start off with before doing a few barrel tastings from the 2006 vintage Pinot Noirs. I found the 2006 Eola Hills to be exhibiting lovely fruits of cherries and berries while the Shea exhibited much more earthiness and leather components. This should make for an interesting final blend. The entry level 2005 Provocateur was certainly the best QPR Pinot Noir we tasted during the entire trip with the sold out 2004 Willamette bottling trumping it. These are some of the most Burgundian and food friendly wines I tasted during this trip and recommend you seek them out. I haven’t been a member of a wine club in 5+ years and I joined his club to insure I get access to these wines in the future. As the saying goes…”Buy all that is offered and request more”. Our final stop of the trip was at Eyrie in McMinnville. Eyrie is located in “Pinot Ghetto” on 10th street just a block from DukeRiley’s Heater Allen Brewery (shameless plug for Rick here folks but you must stop by to cleanse your palate with some of Rick’s great brews). Probably the most interesting thing I found about Eyrie was the odd, musty smell of the winery that reminded me of TCA. I didn’t get any of that off the wines but not a good sign going in the front door! Anyway, the wines were uniformly solid in the high 80’s on the WIML scale but none of them overwhelmed me to the point of Valhalla. The most interesting thing here is that they tend to hold back quite a bit of older vintage wines for sale later, most notably the Reserve Pinot Noir bottling. To shore up my Oregon section in my cellar I purchased some of the 2000 and 2001 Reserve bottlings for delivery in the Fall. Be sure and throw in a few bottles of the Pinot Gris and quite unusual Chardonnay in the box to get the case discount.
| Comments |  By
Allan Bree @
Saturday, July 28, 2007 7:14 PM |
Thank you for the notes.
I do believe, however, the Eyrie deserves far more respect and credit than most folks are willing to give them. David Lett, his family and colleagues were among the very first to plant winegrapes in Oregon. His wines, while not pointgrabbers or soxknockers, are unique and fascinating glimpses into the potential of Oregon wines. |
|
|
| By
wineismylife * @
Sunday, July 29, 2007 10:02 AM | |
Not doubt Alan! These people do deserve a great deal of respect. They helped pioneer the wine industry in Oregon and continue to produce solid wines to this date. Kudos to them and thanks for the comments. |
|
|
Click here to post a comment |
|
|
| |
| |
|
| | These winery links are specific to those who have contributed to the VinoCellar Wine Forums. Just my small way of saying thanks, I'm glad you are here! -- Brad
|
| |
| |
|