Episode 166: A Visit With Craig From Del Rio Vineyards
January 28, 2013
We met Craig Havlinek this past summer at the Wine Blogger’s Conference, and had a great time chatting with him about Southern Oregon and Del Rio wines. Del Rio Vineyards is the biggest single vineyard in Southern Oregon, and we were familiar with the Syrah they’ve supplied to a bunch of Willamette Valley producers that we’re familiar with. We learned that they grow a wide range of varieties, and that they have a line of estate wines in addition to the grapes that they sell. Their wine maker, Jean-Michel Jussiaume is from the Loire, which lets him bring a unique viewpoint to Southern Oregon wine. We taste the 2011 Pinot Gris, the 2010 Pinot Noir, the 2010 Syrah, and a white blend that was brought to us fresh from the tank.
Would you rather spend your time watching us, or watching the Lance Armstrong interview on Oprah?
We’ve been a fan of Matello Wines for years after discovering Marcus at the tasting room in Adea. Since then, his operation has grown, and he’s moved into a new space in McMinnville. We’ve been trying to get a show together for over a year so it was very exciting when all of our schedules lined up on a Friday night. We were offered five wines, and we were unable to select bottles to drop, so we ended up doing a long show. We think that Marcus provides some excellent commentary on his wine making philosophy, and the individual wines as well. Matello is a great part of the Oregon wine community, and we’re excited to share this conversation and some insight into how his wines age. In part 1 we taste the 2010 Matello Clover (Pinot Gris), and the 2007 and 2010 vintages of the Matello Whistling Ridge Pinot Noir. In part 2 we taste the 2008 Matello Souris Pinot Noir to discover that it’s improved a lot, and that we drank it way too early when we tried it about 2 years ago. We end with the 2009 Matello Fool’s Journey (Syrah) from the Deux Vert Vineyard.
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Will Ben Roethlisberger be back for the playoffs?
Episode 145: Oregon Pinot Gris and a New Release Pinot Noir
August 27, 2012
While out on a tasting trip, Dan discovered the 2011 Youngberg Hill Aspen Vineyard Pinot Gris, and wanted to share it with viewers who may also have a harder time with Oregon Pinot Gris. We also saw the 2011 Commuter Cuvee from Grochau Cellars on some shelves around town and we were excited to see what this year’s release tasted like. Both are good wines and both can be found under $20.
Do you have any racing goals for this year?
Episode 97: Some Random White Wine From Oregon
July 24, 2011
For this show, we grabbed a mix of white wines we had on hand. All of these were picked up with the intent of mixing them into a themed show. We wanted to show them before they got too old though, so we decided to mix it up instead of waiting around. We taste the 2009 Trisaetum Lasa, the 2009 Matello Ribbon Ridge Pinot Gris, and the 2010 DePonte Cellars DFB Melon de Bourgogne. We were very sad to hear of the loss of Deb Whiting from Red Newt Winery in the Finger Lakes, and wanted to dedicate this episode to her memory.
Episode 66: Interview With Johan Vineyards
December 4, 2010
Johan Vineyards is one of our favorite local producers, and they invited us down to their winery near Rickreall Oregon to discuss some new releases with the owner, Dag Johan Sundby, and the viticulturist and winemaker, Dan Rinke. Johan Vineyards stands out to us because of the consistent quality of their wine, and their focus on sustainable farming. We don’t get into it on the show, but they farm all of their estate fruit bio-dynamically, and they are passionate about taking care of the land as an essential part of production. We do get into some great discussions on the characteristics of their vineyards, and on some of their ideas for the future. As you can see, these guys are passionate about what they do, and focused on creating wines that are interesting and delicious. They have a lot of great information on their website, about their wine, people, and imagery, and as you can see in the show, we feel their current releases are excellent.
We taste the 2009 Pinot Gris Drueskall, the 2008 Chardonnay Reserve, the 2008 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, and the 2008 Nils Reserve Pinot Noir.
Do you prefer old world style wines, or new world style?
Episode 54: Tasting the Rascal Wines
September 2, 2010
At a grocery store recently, Dan noticed a display of $7 Oregon Pinot Noir. They were displayed side by side with a $7 Pinot Gris, so of course we were curious, and we wanted to share the experience with you. They both turn out to be pretty solid offerings, which is pretty significant even in the local market. Specifically, they are the 2009 Rascal Pinot Gris and the NV Rascal Pinot Noir, both with Willamette Valley fruit.
Do you have a favorite Pinot Noir for $15 or less?
We’ve been friends with Beau Carufel from the blog Beau’s Barrel Room for a few months, and were excited to hear that he was attending the Wine Bloggers’ Conference in Walla Walla Washington. It’s always great to get to meet someone in person who shares your views, and who you’ve been in touch with online for a while. We received some free wine as registration gifts, so we decided to review them as well as a favorite wine that we wanted to share with Beau. We review the 2008 King Estate Pinot Gris, the Aresti Cabernet Sauvignon NV, and the 2008 Evesham Wood Le Puits Sec Chardonnay. Drinking great wine with great people is awesome!
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Show Beau some love and take a shot as his QOTD: Do you view wine as an essential part of a meal, or as a distinct accessory?
Episode 44: Almost Three Pinot Gris
June 20, 2010
Dan wanted to share a couple of Pinot Gris bottles he discovered out by Hood River in the Columbia Gorge, and one that had been sitting around for a year or so. Unfortunately, one was corked, so we only got to deliver two real reviews, Mt Hood Winery’s 2008 Pinot Gris, and Sokol Blosser’s 2007 Pinot Gris.
How long is an ideal episode for you? How many bottles should we taste?
Episode 21: Blind Pinot Gris on New Year’s Eve
January 1, 2010
Happy New Year friends and fans! We’ve wanted to do a Pinot Gris episode for a while, so we decided to avoid the cliche’ bubbly tonight, and taste a less popular varietal instead. A favorite of ours was in the mix, and we were both nervous that our previous impressions wouldn’t hold up. But, that’s part of the reason for doing it blind. The truth comes out!
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What was your landmark wine of 2009?
Episode 10: Whites (almost) Under $10
October 10, 2009
We taste 4 white wines in the $10 range. We wanted to keep it under $10, but we’ve seen Firesteed around a lot lately, and wanted to check it out. Email addresses are active now, dan or chas @wineisseriousbusiness.com will put you directly in touch!
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Do you like to move?