Tag Archives: vineyard

Wine Review: Torii Mor Pinot Noir Olson Estate Vineyard Dundee Hills 2014

Posted on October 12, 2020 by waywardwine

Another day, another bottle to check out. I tumble into my “cellar” (aka crawl space) and pull out a fine-dusted bottle of single vineyard Pinot Noir from 2014. If this virus gets me, at least I enjoyed one more wine … Continue reading →

Posted in Oregon, Pinot Noir | Tagged 2014, drink, Dundee Hills, grapes, Oregon, pinot noir, Torii Mor, travel, vineyard, Willamette Valley, wine, Winery | Leave a comment

2020 Harvest Report: Tualatin Valley, Oregon

Posted on September 28, 2020 by waywardwine

It’s time. My backyard row of vines survived a week of smoke from Oregon’s fires and now face a deluge of rain. Rains last year waterlogged vines, berries split, fruit flies moved in, leading me to triage the harvest. Luckily, through obsessive sorting, SO2, and a year of lees aging, my few bottles of 2019 turned out pretty crisp, clean, if a bit low in alcohol (10% abv). Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 2020, drink, DYI, ferment, grapes, harvest, home winemaking, Oregon, pinot blanc, Pinot meunier, pinot noir, Tualatin, vines, vineyard, wine, winemaking, yeast | Leave a comment

Found in Translation: A Grape By Any Other Name (Monthly Wine Writing Challenge 32 #MWWC32)

Posted on April 3, 2017 by waywardwine

The theme is “translation” for this, the thirty second Monthly Wine Writing Challenge.

Luckily, my Aunt surprised me recently.

She hosts near-monthly dinners, cooks great food, and pours copious amounts of sparkling wine. I bring good bottles that survived my workweek. Well, at our last powwow she had something new from Oregon.

Now, most American wine is an act of translation. Why? Because we try to conjugate European grapes with American soil, climate, and palates. Results taste familiar but different: like speaking French with a Texan accent. But with today’s wine, America forgot the encyclopedia. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged alcohol, Cheese, De Ponte, drink, dundee, Food, melon, Muscadet, Oregon, pairing, vineyard, Willamette Valley, wine, winemaking | 10 Comments

What Makes a Vineyard Special? Wine Review: Panther Creek Shea Vineyard Willamette Valley Oregon 2011

Posted on February 13, 2017 by waywardwine

What makes a vineyard special? Names like la Tâche, Mesnil, To-Kalon, Beckstoffer, Richbourg, and Canubi get geeks swooning and burning their wallets. But forget soil, weather, aspect, drainage, or anything physical. We usually prattle on about that stuff to justify taking out a second mortgage. No, human history and the arbiters of taste have made these sites more prized than their fancy dirt. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged booze, drink, Food, Ken Wright, Oregon, pinot noir, Robert Parker, shea, travel, vineyard, willamette, Willamette Valley, wine, yamhill carlton | 3 Comments

Too soon!

Posted on January 30, 2016 by waywardwine

So, I took some clippings of Wadenswil Pinot Noir from Hyland Estates. This was back around Thanksgiving. I forgot them for three months. Then I found them in a bag, popped them in water, and was immediately told it’s Spring Aaron, … Continue reading →