WINO 101

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Welcome to another edition of the Carpe Vinum Heads-Up Newsletter Thing! It’s another super-special week, as we’re heading to Oregon to taste some wines! We’re here already? Good. . that’ll save some time. For those of you not lucky enough to be here, I’m working on the Carpe Vinum Oregon Wine Tasting Home Game, so someday you can all follow along. But for now, you’ll just have to use your imagination as we taste through all these wonderful wines. Maybe you could draw some pictures too. Doesn’t matter.

It would be harmful to the Oregon wine industry to not mention the noble Pinot Noir grape. It’s the grape that made Burgundy famous! That’s Burgundy, the region of France, not “Burgundy” the jug wine that I used in college to unclog the sink. Burgundy, to many, is one of the noblest wines in the world. And it is that to which Oregon wineries aspire with their exquisite Pinot Noirs. And to some point they do, although they tend to be so expensive that even the Bergundians (residents of Burgundy) are claiming “Sacre Bleu!”. I still don’t know what that means, but in this instance I think it means “How can zey charge zo much for zis?”

And they’re right. Oregon Pinot is good. But when the average is about $40-$50 per bottle, we have to wonder whether anyone is considering their demographics. But that’s okay. You can only go so far on a Pinot binge, anyway. Also considering the winery reports, we aren’t going to be seeing very much inexpensive Pinot Noir coming from Oregon for a little while. But let us not forget what else we have out here, eh?

In this sea of pricey Pinot, I can still get my wine geek fix with a number of different “They grow WHAT out here?” varietals. In the lineup I found an Auxerrois, a delicious white wine varietal from the Alsace region of France, as well as an Italian varietal Dolcetto grown in our own Willamette Valley. To make things more interesting, Abacela, one of the most adventurous wineries in Oregon now has a Malbec. The rest are other reds that have impressed me recently: A Syrah from the Del Rio Vineyard (which I believe is larger than some European nations), and a wonderful Red Blend from out in the Gorge. There . . . I think I have it all covered!

Okay, okay. . .I’ll put a Pinot in there. But just because I found one for under $15!

So Friday, March 24th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Taste of Oregon!!
Adelsheim 2004 Auxerrois, Willamette Valley
Wine By Joe 2004 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
Chehalem 2003 Cerise (Pinot Noir, Gamay Noir), Willamette Valley
Sylvan Ridge 2003 Del Rio Vineyard Syrah, Rogue Valley
The Pines 2004 Big Red, (Zin, Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet), Columbia Valley

And A Couple Oddballs!
Ponzi 2003 Dolcetto, Willamette Valley
Abacela 2003 Malbec, Southern Oregon

Next Friday tasting Zinfandel!