Oregon's Beautiful Wine Country

Over the last month I've been all over the US.  I've been to California (and visited one of my favorite wineries, Chamisal Vineyard) and I've been to Texas a couple of times and I've been to Philadelphia, Atlantic City and New York. As a result, my posting of late has been a bit erratic.

That's something I intend to correct over the coming weeks.  Thank you for keeping up with this blog in the meantime.

In between those trips I had the opportunity to take a trip back in time and head back to Oregon.  I hadn't been back to Eugene since I left in the mid-80s.  In the meantime, the wine industry has taken off and they're producing some of the finest Pinot Noirs in the country.

As many of you know if you've been following this blog, I'm a huge fan of Seghesio Family Vineyards.  I have been from the very first time I tasted their Old Vine Zinfandel back in 1999 and since they were purchased by the Crimson Wine Group a couple of years ago, I've had the privilege of visiting the other sister wineries -- all except one.

I had never visited Archery Summit.

Last summer I visited Pine Ridge Winery for the first time and last fall I had visited Chamisal but I had never really had an opportunity to visit Archery Summit. That is until now.

I have made several trips back to Oregon but never really had the time to explore the wine industry.  I really didn't have a lot of time on this trip either but I allowed for a slight detour on my way down to Eugene for meetings.  The wine industry in Oregon is actually quite strong.  I've really enjoyed some of the wines I've had including those from Owen Roe like their Sharecropper's Pinot Noir and their Sinister Hand and Abbot's Table.

On this trip, however, a trip to Archery Summit was all I could manage.  And I'm glad I did.  Not only is the setting for the winery beautiful, but the wines are absolutely delightful.  After winding our way through the Oregon countryside, we arrived at the winery.

They had anticipated that there would be work done on the stairs leading to the main tasting room so they moved it to an auxiliary area. Although it was April first, the weather couldn't have been more agreeable. A surprise for Oregon this time of year.  (I even needed some sunglasses!)

Archery Summit was founded by Gary and Nancy Andrus (also founders of Pine Ridge Winery).  In fact, one of the clones is called the Archery Summit clone (also can be found at sister vineyard Chamisal). Why?

According to legend, the clone found it's way into the country underneath Gary's overcoat. But after all these years it's a little hard to tell the facts from the fiction I'm sure.

Our tasting covered both their estate wine as well as a number of their single vineyard wines.  I have to say that the more I taste wines, the more I discover how the unique soils, temperatures and rainfall can all change how a wine tastes and the particular characteristics.  Of course the specific clones that are used in making the wine also play a significant role.

At the end of the day, the wines we tasted resulted in the purchase of three bottles to enjoy on the rest of the trip.  On our return, trip after our meetings we had the opportunity to visit a little restaurant on the way to the hotel.

I had found this little place, thanks to a friend in the area, on one of my previous visits to Oregon.  Portland, if you've never been, has a very thriving food scene.  The Woodsman Tavern is no exception -- and they had a corkage fee so we could bring one of our bottles in for dinner.

After feasting on some really great oysters, we settled in for a filet with dungeness crab and potato wedge. Unbelievably delicious.  We did have to end the evening with a little dessert, too.  This is a restaurant you won't want to miss if you're in the area.

 

A Soothing Wine to Tame Your Inner Beast

I'm in the middle of nearly three weeks on the road.  As I write this post I'm 30,000 feet in the air somewhere over Nebraska (probably). After nearly two solid weeks on the road, I returned home last Thursday in need of something.

Not just anything but something really special. 

Since the dreaded fiscal cliff we just went over, our friends at the Transportation and Safety Administration decided to make life a little more difficult. Lines are longer. People are just a tad bit less friendly. Ok. Maybe not "people" but I know I certainly was!

By the time I got to the house on Thursday I was looking forward to that special treat.  Just before all the travels began, I received my shipment of Chardonnay from Pete and Cathy Seghesio's new venture -- Journeyman Wines.

I wrote about their new venture a few posts back in "Taking a New Journey through Wine" but I hadn't yet tasted their wine.

It arrived just as I was leaving town for California for a week and so the wine sat in the trunk of the car for a little over a week.  I was trusting that the trunk -- even if it was around 35 degrees outside would be warmer in the garage at the airport rather than in my 75 to 80 degree office.

While I normally prefer red wines, I was anxious to try this one.  After our visit to the Central Coast region, I also received a little more wine than I should have ordered. Now I have to get to drinking the wine. Actually, I've now had to take six shelves out of the wine cabinet to get all my wine appropriately stored.  Like I said, time to have a party and drink up.

 Back to some Chardonnay. I came home to a great meal of chicken breast, veggies and a baked potato. Some good home cooking that I longed for after nearly two weeks of being on the road.  I called ahead and asked Roxanne to open up a bottle of the Journeyman Chardonnay.

Over the last couple of months I've had some really delicious Chardonnays -- especially the Bacigalupi Vineyard Chardonnay made with grapes from the same vines that produced some of the grapes that made the historic Paris Tasting. (Read about it in my post "Experiencing my Own Bottle Shock".)

I had already tasted some of the Journeyman Chardonnay from the big green egg as it was in the middle of the malolactic fermentation so I had high hopes for the wine.

And I was not disappointed.

This is a delicious wine.  They say that music can soothe the savage beast but I'll tell you this wine soothed my inner beast.  After a week on the road dealing with grumpy travelers, losing my way through Philadelphia, narrowly missing a barricade trying to pick up a phone call on my blue tooth, this wine was just what I needed.

I'm hosting the next Mondays @ Mark's on Tax Day.  I think that I'll be doing a blind tasting between three of my favorite Chardonnays: one from Bacigalupi Vineyards, one from Chamisal (the Califa blend) and this wine.  I'll report back in a couple of weeks.  In the meantime, I'd sure recommend giving the Journeyman Chardonnay a taste.

In the meantime, if there's a wine you think I should try, please let me know.  I'd love to try something new.