Ashland Wine Cellar "Parte Seconda"

Back on 4/4/12, I wrote a blog about the Ashland Wine Cellar (AWC) being sold by long-time proprietor, Lorn Razzano. Since I had left the wine sales biz and live in Medford, I have not had the chance to revisit the AWC until recently. While I was at Cowhorn, I had the opportunity to visit the Cellar and work with Wine Steward Extraordinaire, Cheryl Garvey.  During this time, I also met Joy Light and owners Brian & Lisa Dunagan. Brian and Lisa have put together a wonderful team and have managed to keep the spirit of the Cellar, stocking unique, hard to find wines, still offering a great cigar selection, and strongly supporting the Southern Oregon wine scene, while updating and cleaning the old girl up. 

I recently received a Facebook event invite from Brian to attend a tasting. Each Thursday, the AWC hosts a "Sip & Swirl" at the store featuring different producers and distributors. Intrigued, I accepted the invitation and despite a serious downpour, I drove over to Ashland to sample and visit.  An old acquaintance, John Wren, was  pouring for Lemma Distribution and he had five wines to present, all unique and very tasty. Without getting into all of the tasting notes, I will call attention to one in particular, the 2013 Iris Vineyards Pinot gris (90 Points from Wine Enthusiast) from the Willamette Valley. It is  a crisp, medium-bodied gris with bright acidity, nice aromatics, and balanced fruit. I knew my wife, Jill, would love it and it did not disappoint. (NOTE: we will mark this for our next trip to Eugene)

During the tasting I had the chance to chat with staff member, Joy Light, who does custom hand-painted silks. I remarked how the place looked and even though I missed Lorn, they still had retained the inviting, hospitable feeling.  She told me that people still come in looking for Lorn for advice or to simply sit and shoot the breeze, as Lorn was want to do. She said that she takes messages for Lorn and gives them to him during his occasional visit to the Cellar. That is amazing and highlights the great customer service approach they all share.

I also had a chance to speak with owner Brian and catch up. I told him I loved how the place is doing and was happy that it seems to be quite successful under his leadership. I saw Brian interact with his customers and you can tell, his is a labor of love. He is very personable and takes an active, hands-on interest in his customers.

Cheryl and I had a few brief moments as she is a constant whirlwind of motion and activity. She is a first rate customer service professional and has amazing wine knowledge and palate. She never ceases to surprise me. She pulled out a few Bordeaux wines as a bonus, which were a real treat, I especially fell for a Chateau Lanessan Haut-Medoc 2002. Although it was showing a little age, it has very nice fruit with a pleasant herbaceousness, light earth and leather notes, and a complexity that was outstanding. If this is not your "cup of tea", just ask Cheryl and she will find the perfect fit for your palate and budget.

I am glad I went, I have since noticed that they also do Friday Sip and Swirls with select local producers. Hmmm, a revisit is shortly in order.

Photo courtesy of the Ashland Chamber of Commerce.

“Wine can of their wits the wise beguile, Make the sage frolic, and the serious smile” 

― Homer

                                        

Homer

Not this Homer

ROAD TRIP: Pt. 2 King Estate

During our last roadtrip we had the good fortune to check out a few Southern Willamette Valley wineries. As we exited Silvan Ridge at around 5:30pm, we realized that time had slipped by and that most of the wineries were now closed. We had planned ahead for such a contingency, leaving King Estate for last on our list as it did not close until 8pm.

As we drove over the dark country road between wineries, we came around a corner and were greeted with the sight of what looked to be a medieval fortress perched upon a hill.

https://www.kingestate.com/

We drove up to what was obviously a large production, with lots of acreage and buildings. As we wound up the road we passed parking lots and a large complex that housed the tasting room, production facilities and much more. The parking lot even featured recharge stations for electric cars.

We let Cotton out for a run and then went inside to one of the largest Tasting Rooms I have ever been in, absolutely gorgeous. European-style, elegant, classy with lots of wood and warm tones. 

The Tasting Room is situated at one end of the large great room, with dining tables and rooms off to the side for formal dining.

Entryway to King Estate Tasting Room

We stepped up for a tasting and introduced ourselves. Our Server Extraordinaire, Shannon, got us situated and proceeded to share a generous tasting flight and the story of King Estate.  They have a number of flight options available for your tasting pleasure and be sure to explore. King Estate features multiple labels - King Estate Domaine, King Estate Signature, King Estate Vineyard Designated, NXNW and Acrobat. Each with their own distinctive style.

photo courtesy of King Estates

To say King Estate is large is to do a disservice to their growth and accomplishments. They have 1037 acres, of that 470 acres are grapes, 30 acres are fruits and flowers and 500 acres are oak groves.  The estate features estate honeybees, 200-300 turkeys for (insect) pest control and a raptor rehabilitation and release program in conjunction with the Cascade Raptor Center.  

The estate is also a great steward of the land, with 4144 solar panels (enough to power 1000 residential homes) and Oregon Tilth and Salmon Sage certified organic farming. The farm and vineyards provide them with hand-grown estate wines and delicious fruits and vegetables for the restaurant as well as donations to local food organizations.

But, how was the wine you may ask? In a word, fabulous! Across the board, we sampled Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir,  Chardonnay, Cab Sav, and an AMAZING Pinot Gris Sparkling wine! They also offer red blends, rose`, Riesling and more.  We were eager to try their Pinot Gris and they have many different styles to choose from, two memorable Gris' were the 2013 King Estate Backbone Pinot Gris  and the  2012 King Estate Paradox Pinot Gris.   

The Backbone was sourced from 6 vineyards and was rich, unctuous, full and round. It had great balance of fruit and acidity and layers of complexity.

photo courtesy of King Estates

The Paradox, it was explained to us, was "an experiment gone right."  King Estate's signature style for Pinot Gris has no oak. During 2011, a happy accident occurred when the winery crew thought they were filling barrels with Chardonnay, but in actuality they were filling it with Pinot Gris.  It spent 16 months in new French oak and resulted in a unique Gris where the subtly subtly integrated with the lively acidity of the wine.  It too is well rounded, has a wonderful, ample mouth-feel, offers great layers and a has gorgeous finish.

photo courtesy of King Estates

We went through the Pinot Gris flight and then Shannon asked us where we would like to go next, she had steered us along great and we threw our trust to her best judgement. We tasted innumerable wines (or so it seemed to us after a day of tasting). Each delicious and more amazing than its predecessor.  We sampled tasty Pinot Noirs, Syrahs from Washington, a few odds and ends and finished with the two brut-style sparkling wines produced in the traditional Methode Champenoise. 

We had a thoroughly wonderful evening. The restaurant features world-class, gourmet cuisine, but we decided to forego dining on this trip. It is something that we will definitely partake of on our next visit.

We looked at the clock and realized that it was getting late and we must head back into town and a late night snack at the Village Green Resort before we called it a night. As we were saying our good byes, Jill commented, "It seems later than it is.... What time IS it?" Yup, it was one of those kind of wine tasting days, where you get so immersed in the wines that time stands still!

We had a great time at King Estate and we would like to send out a special THANK YOU! to King Estates for their hospitality and to Shannon Lewis for a remarkable journey of discovery of King Estate's wines and story.

IN VINO VERITAS

ROAD TRIP: North to the Southern Willamette Valley

We recently had to go to Eugene and we decided to make an adventure out of it. Jill found a great internet deal at the Village Green Resort  in Cottage Grove that allowed us to take the yellow stinky (our lab, Cotton).  We thought since we were going to be done in Eugene at an early time, we could check in and then go wine tasting since there are an abundance of wineries in the area that we have not been to.

First on our list was Sweet Cheeks Winery. We picked it because of the cute, clever name and its proximity to other wineries we wished to visit.

Our server, Jessica, turned out to be the founder's granddaughter and she was able to familiarize us with the wines and the story. We were intrigued by the name and she explained that when the owner, Dan Smith, was first plowing for the vineyard, they were working toward a gully. As they stood on the hill overlooking the work, Pappa Charlie, Dan's father-in-law, said it looks like cheeks. To which Dan replied, "Yeah, they sure are some sweet cheeks". And a name was born.

Sweet Cheeks to be sure!

We loved hanging out in the Tasting Room, it had an eclectic, rustic Hacienda-style atmosphere, with rough wood beams, a central bar and expansive views. The tasting room sits on top of the cheeks and the huge outside patio offers a panoramic view of the countryside. 

The have a number of estate wines, as well as wines made with fruit sourced from the Rogue Valley. The also have a kegger-rator for the non-wine drinking clientele.   My favorite wine was the 2012 Pinot Fusion, a red blend of 61% Pinot Noir, 21% Syrah and 18% Merlot (the Syrah and Merlot were both sourced from the Rogue Valley).

Our next stop was right across the street at Silvan Ridge Winery. Silvan Ridge is the oldest winery in Lane County (home to Eugene and the Oregon Ducks). Although it was a grey, rainy day, the Tasting Room was warm, inviting and also reminiscent of the Hacienda-style.  

The Tasting Room has two rooms off to the side for events and large tastings. One room had a long, beautiful wooden table that could have easily seated 20+ people. Sorry, I did not get a photo,  The main tasting area has a cozy bar and warm, gorgeous wood shelves displaying the wine and a beautiful stained glass window over the entry doors. It was both a familiar and comfortable setting.

We were treated a nice selection of wines from both the Willamette Valley and, again, from the Rogue Valley. With a number of great wines, one caught our attention, the 2013 Semillion. While it is only the second vintage of this varietal, it exhibits crisp, floral notes with a touch of toast and a creamy mouthfeel. The wine I was eager to sample was the 2011 Malbec and it did not disappoint. This is Silvan Ridge's first LIVE Certified wine, sourced from the Gold Vineyards in Talent (thanks Randy!)

While we thoroughly enjoyed the wines, something special really stood out.  The gentleman standing next to us, Rod Morris from Oregon Travel Adventures, was a regular and we got into a wonderful conversation about travel and all things wine - Oregon (north and south), France, Varietals, the movie Sideways. 

Ok, a side(ways) note here... in Sideways, they filmed the wine bucket scene at Fess Parker Winery, but it was renamed Frass Canyon Vineyards for the movie. FPW did not want that type of behavior to be associated with their winery. Frass was chosen because it is guaranteed that no winery will ever use that name... Frass is a term for bug excrement. Eww!

Anyhow, we had the most delightful conversation with Rod, he was a charming and enlightened companion to an outstanding tasting. Rod did turn us on to a new, to us, varietal, Picpoul de Pinet, which is great paired with oysters! We are looking forward to trying it out soon.

After a nice visit it was past closing for most of the other local wineries, but King Estate was open until 8pm, so off we went. That story will be coming shortly...

IN VINO VERITAS