EARLY BIRDS GET THE (WINE) WORM…

The 10^th Annual World of Wine Festival will be August 22-25^th this year. A tip for all of you planning on attending- Tickets are $75, if you are a wine club member, check with your winery and see if you can get early insider tickets for $65.

For those of you who don’t know, WOW is a celebration and competition of local wines. Over 60 wineries participate; the only stipulation is the wines entered must be made from southern Oregon grapes. This means we get winemakers from all over the region involved, as well as, our local favorites.

I worked this event for a number of years as a server and arranging auction item donations and I always had a great time. When I worked the event, it was held at Del Rio Vineyards. Now they have moved to Jacksonville, where they have been able to grow the event from 1 day to a 4 day event, offering more opportunity to truly discover Southern Oregon Wines.

This is a terrific way to experience the fabulous wines that Southern Oregon has to offer. In addition to the wines, you also get a souvenir wine glass and chance to sample the area’s culinary delights- pizza, beef, jerky, cheese and chocolates in particular. There is a silent auction, raffle and wine wheel for added fun. I believe the entry fee is worth every cent.

We enjoy this event so much we have a framed collection of WOW posters hanging in our living room to commemorate the great times we have spent there.

I highly encourage you to consider the Grand Tasting Event, at the very least, on Aug. 25^th. I don’t think you will be disappointed.

http://www.worldofwinefestival.com/home

https://www.facebook.com/WorldofWineFestival

DanCin Vineyards Tasting Room

Jill and I went to the Grand Opening of DanCin Vineyards over the Memorial Day Weekend.

What a beautiful place! The Tasting room is done in a Tuscan style and there is plenty of outdoor seating surrounding the Tasting Room overlooking the gorgeous vineyards.  

DanCin currently offers Chardonnay and Pinot noir, both of which are excellent.  They also offer food (pizza!) and gourmet coffee.

As the Memorial Day weekend was jamming, we did not do a flight, instead we enjoyed a few glasses of delicious wine.  We will go back soon and do a proper review for you.

The view from the front patio facing northeast, toward Medford.

Jill in front of the Wine Cave

The sign on South Stage Road

DanCin Facebook Page

DanCin Website

CHEERS!

QUADY NORTH

We recently popped into Quady North in Jacksonville. What a fun, funky little place. From the outside, it looks like the typical turn-of-the-century building in J'Ville. Inside, it is an intimate room with whitewashed walls, modern, colorful furniture and a cool, breezy air about it. The first thing I learned- it is pronounced Qwah-Dee, not Qwāy-Dee, as I've always thought.

Jeannie took us through a tasting, I was particularly fond of the 2011 Rose`, a Syrah/Granache blend that epitomizes the “new style” of American Rose`s- clean, dry with a great nose and supple acidity. In other words, a perfect summer wine.

I got chatting with a wonderful couple from McMinnville who told us of a guy up there making oak stave furniture (from used wine barrels), in particular, an Adirondack chair that had notched arms for wine glasses- brilliant! This let to a story that owners Herb & Melanie Quady had a baby last year and had received a cradle made from a wine barrel. Wow, talk about starting them young. Future winemaker there, or at least an aficionado.

Speaking of children, Herb makes a great Syrah called 4-2,A, a term created by his daughter. Little Margaux was blending juice and water and called her concoction 4-2-A, or fourtooay (she thought of chardonnay, Cabernet, Viognier). If not winemaking, she has a bright future in marketing.

One last trick I learned- if using a wine barrel as a planter, put plastic gallon jugs on the bottom as fill to make the planter lighter. This still gives you plenty of soil. I wish I thought of that before I planted my tomatoes. But, luckily my ½ barrel is on castors, so I can roll it into the sun for best exposure.

SOUTH STAGE CELLARS

We had a great time popping into South Stage Cellars on a recently Saturday afternoon/eve. Located in downtown Jacksonville, this historic location has a rustic charm all its own. With brick and rough hewn woodwork, a great fireplace and many hand-built pieces of locally built furniture, the tasting room is warm, inviting and homey.

The owners, Don and Traute Moore and their son Michael, own over 300 acres of grapes, many of which are sold to top winemakers throughout Oregon. The tasting room features many of these wines, as well as South Stage Cellars wines which are all crafted from the original Quail Run Vineyard.

There is a mantle along one wall that houses mason jars full of the various soils from each of the Moore's vineyards, giving customers a visual reference as to why same varietals grown at different sites taste different.

The Tasting Room is a cultural hub of Jacksonville, with a rotating artwork display, Wine & Dine Wednesday Nights (you must make reservations- it sells out), Friday Happy Hour, music on Friday and Saturday nights and a host of other, fun intriguing events that Manager Porscha Schiller dreams up. On this day, there was a wine club release being held in the garden out back. The deck and garden was full, but not crowded, and everyone seemed perfectly content. A special for the wine club was an offering of the new Carmenere, one of the original six red grapes of Bordeaux, France; now mainly found in Chile. It was being offered for a limited time and then being shipped back to the library for further aging. Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to sample.

Connie who was working the Tasting Room was professional and very personable. She even gave some great advice for our dinner that evening. Upon hearing a tasting request, we decided a skosh is slightly more than a smidgen, just for future reference.

I happened upon Michael Moore who said the vineyards look great for so early in the spring. He told me they had budbreak all on the same day throughout the vineyards, regardless of elevation or location. He seemed quite happy and was optimistic for the growing season.

We had a few tastes and then a glass of South Stage Cellars Viognier, always one of my favorites, while listening to a gentleman singing and playing guitar. It was a perfect way to end the afternoon before dinner. 

South Stage Cellars Website 

South Stage Cellars Facebook Page 

Saturday was a blustery, rainy afternoon. In short, a perfect day to wine taste indoors. The Better Half and I decided to make a quick jaunt to Caprice Vineyards, about a mile from downtown Jacksonville on Old Stage Rd.

We entered a small, intimate tasting room packed with Alpaca products, many of which were hand crafted by Jeannie, the owner. In addition to grapes, Jeannie and her husband, Jim, also raise Alpacas.

Caprice Vineyards has only been around for a short while, but the vines have their own, unique history. Many years ago, the original owner, Tony Miglarese (spl), decided to plant grapes. He went to his family's vineyard in Southern Italy and brought back (smuggled) plants in his suitcase. The vines self-rooted and today produce the wonderful fruit that goes into Caprice Wines.

We were joined by two other couples, the cozy atmosphere made it ideal for socializing. A couple from Grants Pass and a young couple from Bend, on tour with Main Street Tours.

We had a great time talking with the them. The couple from Grants Pass were quite the wine aficionados. They belong to 10 wine clubs and currently have in excess of 400 bottles of wine. Of course, we all suggested we retire to their place and help them winnow down their collection. The guy was hilarious, he explained that he and his wife have an understanding that should he pass along before her, the new husband was not allowed to have his wine. He said, it will be one big party where everyone drinks all his wine. I suggested “Open Casket, Open Bottle”, to great laughs from all.

We had a wonderful time, we enjoyed their Claret (2011 World of Wine Gold Medalist), bought a bottle of the 2008 Cab and promised to return for a chance to visit the alpacas. That should be another story later on. 

https://www.facebook.com/CapriceVineyards