Rosella Vineyard & Winery and others...

This weekend saw us revisiting many of our favorite haunts.  On Friday, we went to Dunbar Farms/Rocky Knoll Vineyards to checkout out their Belgian Draft horses, Bonnie & Clyde, they are using to cultivate their land. While there, we also enjoyed a nice glass of Rocky Knoll Dunbar Red, a very nice, easy to drink Cab Sauv, Cab franc & Merlot blend.

Afterward we went to to RoxyAnn for Friday night music where we were treated to TC & the Reactions rocking the house. Catch these guys, they are a vary talented band that performs "Power Rhythm & Blues". We enjoyed the RoxyAnn Viognier, always a tasty and refreshing wine on a hot summer eve, and got to share in some bubbly (not sure what we were drinking at that point, too busy dancing and visiting with the old gang).

On Saturday, we were off to the beautiful Applegate Valley. Local legend has it that there are more airline pilots per capita living there than anywhere on the west coast. Apparently, when flying from San Francisco to Portland and Seattle, there is always a break in the clouds over this little valley, revealing an amazing view from above. Upon visiting you can experience it yourself; the weather is beautiful, they have more blue sky days than the Rogue Valley and it is a gorgeous valley, unspoiled by development and "progress". It is also home to a growing number of excellent wineries. One can make a day of visiting the various tasting rooms, each with their own, unique story.  We spend a lot of time out there, as the in-laws are Applegate residents, so you will be hearing more about the Applegate in the future.

We enjoyed the day with the in-laws (out-laws?!) and ended up at Rosellas Vineyard and Winery.  Rex and Sandi Garoutte opened it back in 1998, concentrating on making quality wine from self-grown fruit.  They currently grow Cab Sauv, Merlot, Chardonnay, Zin and Syrah.  They produce nice, smooth wines with great fruit and low tannins. Rex achieves great balance with his wines and are always quite tasty.

I absolutely love going to Rosellas, it is the most unadorned, unassuming tasting room, very intimate... it must be 12' x 15' inside, but  Rex and Sandi have such effusive personalities, it feels much larger.  It may be small, but it is not lacking in the fun factor. Especially when Rex is holding court. He is a kick with a wealth of knowledge about grapes, farming, wine and the Applegate.

On this particular trip, we got to revisit his Merlot Blush. Wow, we loved it, it possesses great fruit, just a touch of sweetness and bright acidity with a light strawberry color. Rex has been kegging this wine for sale at the Britt Festival and was a huge hit last year!  His Cab Sauv is coming along great, the vines have been in the ground long enough that they are now well established and showing off some of the terroir of the property. Rex had a new wine, a sherry called Wai Kula "Liquid Gold", a fortified white blend. Amber in color, it shows nut and vanilla with spicy notes. It will make a great aperitif or as a special treat with some chocolate at the end of the evening. Rex called drinking the the Wai Kula, "running with scissors", meaning it is dnagerous- goes down easy and packs a bit of a wallop! Rex did assure us we can open it, put the cork back and forget about it, no hurry to finish this bottle, savor and enjoy!

We thank Rex and Sandy for their hospitality and friendship; do not miss this winery when you venture out to the Applegate. You will not be disappointed.

We will be back on the wine trail in coming weeks and we will share with you. Until then...

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.

Rocky Knoll

Dunbar Farms, aka Rocky Knoll Vineyard, has started its farm stand for the spring with a great offering of veggies, bread, olive oils, and such. On Friday night, they had a small gathering to show the progress of their new Tasting Room/Farm Stand.

My better half had ordered some organic produce and farm fresh eggs and we popped in to sample their two red wines, the 2007 Dunbar Red and the 2006 Rocky Knoll Claret. I must say, wow! the Claret is aging nicely, really full bodied, great fruit and nice balance. We chose to have a glass of the Dunbar Red, the Claret's little brother. I had not tasted it in about a year and was delighted to see that it is holding up great with rich fruit and just the right amount of oomph! Easy to drink, very enjoyable. Of course a bottle made it home, but sorry to say, not through the night.

Tasting Room with a view...

The new tasting room/farm stand should be open by late summer, bureaucracy notwithstanding, and looks to be well thought out. It is very spacious with room for the tasting room, the farm stand, and a deck out back. The deck has a gorgeous view of the property, the western hills of Medford and the Table Rocks. The tasting room proper shares the view with expansive windows, making the room very open and bright. The doors leading to the deck are retractable, giving Rocky Knoll the ability to turn it all into one big space for events. The farm stand will have an honor box for self-service with a glass-front cooler and dry bin displays.

Retractable doors on the deck

David Mostue and his mother Emily, have great plans for the tasting room, keeping with the organic/sustainable theme of the farming operation. David's organic operation has evolved very well, he has added ancient grains and is having them milled the old fashion way. In turn, he is having bread made with the grains and sells the grains at the farm stand. No mechanical, modern operation is this, he does much of his farming with huge draft horses. It is this commitment to a simpler, arguably better way of living that guides the farm and vineyard in all of their efforts.

This promises to be a comfortable, relaxing and low-key atmosphere. Perfect for enjoying wine, fresh locally-grown produce, and the simpler things in life. A throwback, perhaps, but I think it genius. Aren't we all looking to find a way to step back from the day to day hassles of modern life? Rocky Knoll's tasting room and farm stand is sure to transport you back to a day when life was much more simple.

For more information, please visit... http://www.dunbarfarms.com
and http://www.rocky-knoll.com/ 

Night time at Rocky Knoll