Early Harvest

My brother-in-law, Tom, and his wife, Carolyn, were in town this weekend for my father-in-law's "70-Sumtin" birthday. On Saturday, we took them to a few old haunts, first we took them out to Wooldridge Creek Winery so we could pick up our autumn release and say hello to old friends Kara & Greg, the winemakers, and Terry in the tasting room.  Then we were off to Red Lily Vineyards to introduce Tom & Carolyn to our of our favorite places.

This time of year is early harvest, the whites and early reds, such as Pinot Noir, are starting to work their way onto the crush pad. Harvest time at a winery means many long days and hard work as the wineries rush to battle nature's capriciousness. In addition to judging the perfect brix (or sugar levels) in which to pick the grapes, birds, bears, deer, rain and other sundry natural forces conspire against the harvest crews in getting the grapes in at just the right time.

When we arrived at Red Lily, owner and winemaker, Rachel Martin was still on the crush pad finishing up for the day. We wandered over to check her progress and get an update. Rachel explained that their newest addition,  a white grape, Verdejo, was doing great and the first of their famous Tempranillo was coming in.

As I said, harvest is hard work, long days and lots of beer (no wine can be made without copious amounts of beer). This year, Rachel battled a new scourge, bees. She said the bees were wildly abundant this year, having worked themselves into the grapes. She alone had gotten stung eight times (so far). She told us the grape press reverberated with the sound of bees as the grapes went through it.  Apparently bees are attracted to the sugary grape pulp, they do not, however, pollinate grapes.  Grapes are pollinate via air -borne pollen.

Harvest will be going on for sometime in the valley as the grapes do their slow, steady march toward ripening and their eventual plucking from the vine to be made into delicious Southern Oregon Wines.

To all of the winemakers, staff and harvest crews, I wish you a great harvest and look forward to the "fruits of your labor"!

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.

Wooldridge Creek Winery

St. Patrick's Day is an enchanted time - a day to begin transforming winter's dreams into summer's magic. -Adrienne Cook 

And that could not have been more true as we headed out to the Applegate Valley to WooldridgeCreek Winery to pick up our Spring Wine Club Release. Yes, and our Winter Release, we haven't been as prompt since my immobility.

The day was clear blue skies with fluffy white clouds and just a hint of a nip to the air. Of course, Wooldridge had their fire pits and heaters blazing away on the patio amid clusters of wine tasters. People were also sitting in the lawn chairs, enjoying the sunshine, as traditional Irish music was wafting in the background.

We went in the Tasting Room, a small, rustic, intimate room, to pick up our releases where we saw Winemaker Greg Paneitz holding court, as is his custom. It is always great to see Greg, he is personable, humble and knowledgeable.

Greg and his partner Kara Olma have been innovators since they arrived in the valley. They were amongst the first to put me on the path to discovering wine and I thank them for the knowledge, passion and friendship they have inspired.

Greg and Kara's newest innovation was putting wine in kegs for wholesale restaurant sales. It is a remarkably brilliant idea, keg the wine, keep it pressurized, guaranteeing a long shelf life, as well as being affordable to the establishment and the customer. In addition to the sales aspect, it also keeps the winery costs down as there are no bottles, corks, labels, boxes or foil to buy, not counting the cost of bottling and storage.  

Needless to say, this program has been a huge success in the Rogue Valley as more and more places support the local wine industry. To this end, Greg informed me that the building under construction behind the winery would be for keg storage as they ramp up their efforts into their next innovation. They are currently working with the Oregon Wine Board to put bulk wine into grocery stores. If all goes well, you will be able to bring in your container (or purchase one there) and buy wine by the ounce from the deli, like buying cheese or lunch-meat. Details are being worked out. The model for this is last year's Britt Festival, where this service was offered for the first time to great response.

During our conversation Greg and his attentive staff poured us some of their other wines, I particularly liked the 2009 Pinot Noir. It had great body, not too thin, wonderful depth and flavor with just the right amount of spicy zing.

After chatting with Greg and picking up our wine, we wandered outside to enjoy the nice day and try the release wines and accompanying appetizers. We tasted the 2011 Dry Gewurztraminer, a nice crisp, dry Gewurtz that Greg suggested to pair with the Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner we had later that evening. The Gewurtz was sampled alongside a Tandoori chicken and rice sample.

Then it was off to taste the red, a 2009 Zinfandel, a rich, full, not too jammy, Zin that paired nicely with a Grilled Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce and Anchovy Butter. Yes, Anchovy butter, it sounds weird, but WOW! it was good and I am not an anchovy fan.

We sat down and visited, enjoyed another taste or two of the Zin and the sun before heading off to a traditional St. Patty's Day dinner of corned beef and cabbage. Greg's recommendation was spot on, the Gewurtz stood up to the cabbage and balanced the meal nicely. It was the perfect pairing of food, wine and friends.

Sláinte!