It’s the duck days of summer. It’s been super hot and then…not! But, if you are a lucky duck, you’ve got Duck Pond Cellars’ wines in your glass. In particular, their Natural Path Production wines perfectly hit the spot whether it’s 70F or 90F.
The Dundee, Oregon-based winery was founded in 1993 and has always been committed to sustainability. Its grapes are organically farmed and hand-harvested, with continued attention to detail once they reach the winery. More recently, they have become involved in the Clean Label Project, a non-profit organization “whose mission is to bring truth and transparency to food and consumer product labeling.”
Launched under the Natural Path Production line, Duck Pond’s first wines were certified by this organization with the 2020 vintage, making them the first wines in America to receive this certification.
In adherence to the certification program, the ingredients are clearly stated on the label. Additionally, they testify to low sulfite use (<=100 PPM), vegan-only fining agents and the non-use of Glyphosate and Neonicotinoid pesticides.
Equally important to Duck Pond’s focus on natural production, is that these wines are well made and well-priced, ranging from $15-$19 per bottle (winery prices; might be higher at your local wine shop). As of now, there are four wines in the Natural Path line up: Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Rose (not tasted) and Pinot Noir.
Duck Pond Cellars Natural Path Production Pinot Gris 2022, Willamette Valley (OR), USA, $16.00 On the nose, this wine displays notes of tangerine and smoke, which persist on the dry palate. The wine is quite luscious, with bright acidity, medium body and long length.
Duck Pond Cellars Natural Path Production Chardonnay 2021, Oregon, USA, $15.00 This wine offers up melon and butter aromas and flavors, and an oak undercurrent, with medium acidity, medium plus body, and long length. It was a crowd pleaser at a recent gathering of friends.
Duck Pond Cellars Natural Path Production Pinot Noir 2021, Oregon, USA, $19.00 Fresh aromas of cherry and raspberry greet the nose. The dry palate provides ripe black cherries, herbs, and an earthy undercurrent, with medium plus acidity, medium plus body and medium plus length. Really lovely.
This continues to be a challenging time for everyone as we still must deal with limited opportunities for interaction and celebration in an effort to stay safe and socially distant. Yet, when there are milestones to be celebrated, we very much want to share these experiences with friends, family and other important people.
I am all too aware of this dilemma having reached the age of 50 back in October. For years, I had been planning a big birthday party with a big wheel of Parmesan Reggiano and lots of cake. But, the universe had other plans and so I maneuvered the vagaries of a pandemic party, respecting people’s various comfort levels and hosted two mini-parties at rooftop (read outdoor) venues in New York City. Thanks to the generosity of my husband and dear friends, it never felt like a Plan B, despite being just that.
So, with this in mind, I was delighted to receive an invitation to join Sokol Blosser winery in recognition of their 50th anniversary. I am sure that the Sokol Blosser family had been planning this momentous occasion for some time and that hosting a “party” on Zoom was never on their dream list, but it was what was available to them this month.
I was particularly eager to attend since in the Before Times I had had the distinct pleasure of meeting Alison Sokol Blosser on two occasions. The first was an intimate dinner at Morimoto in April 2015 and the other was in April 2019 at Astor Wines for the debut of Second Generation 2GV Pinot Noir Cuvée, an event she attended with her brother, Alex. Plus, I have always been a fan of their wines and their pioneering spirit, with them having been the among the founding families to grow grapes and make wine in Oregon.
My enthusiasm was well rewarded. Despite the e-nature of the event, it was filled with warmth, funny stories, light-hearted jabs and an overall sense of love and passion for each other and for the winery that has come to mean so much to the Sokol Blosser family.
In the true spirit of celebration, the event kicked off with a toast to the family and winery with a glass of their Bluebird Cuvée sparkling wine.
Bluebird Cuvée Sparkling 2018, Oregon/Washington (US),SRP $32 This blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Muscat, Muller-Thurgau and Riesling is comprised of fruit sourced from both Washington state and Oregon (45%-55% split). It has a lovely, creamy mouthfeel, persistent perlage, with fresh fruit aromas, a hint of peach and peach pit, with long length.
Then, we turned our attention to hearing from Bill, Susan, Alison and Alex. Starting at the very beginning, Bill shared that since he had been a young kid, he had always wanted to be a farmer and grow things. After college, he travelled to France, gaining exposure to wine and vineyards, which opened up his eyes. “It was a whole new thing,” he explained, which instilled a budding interest in wine.
This newly acquired passion dovetailed perfectly with U.S. history as the mid-60s found the whole wine industry coming alive amidst the post-prohibition era. By accident (although some may say there are no accidents in life), Bill met some guys who had studied at UC Davis and had made the decision that the best place to grow Pinot Noir in the U.S. was the Willamette Valley in Oregon since it was the closest to Burgundy as they could find. He noted that, “It’s way warmer today, but still has a good climate.”
Of course, this wasn’t just any group of guys, but David Lett, Dick Erath and Charles Coury, all of whom “got the whole thing going with their pioneer, crazy attitude.”
“Let’s do it!” said Bill. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Alison questioned her mom’s reaction to such a plan and Susan explained that “I should be a good wife and I didn’t have better ideas…” so she agreed to the plan. Interestingly, once assembled, the group consisted entirely of couples, but as Susan revealed, while the guys took the front-facing roles, the women were really important too. For her part, she describes herself as more a vineyard person than a winemaker.
As Susan and Bill shared various stories of their early days, they advised that one of the first challenges was understanding how to grow grapes in Oregon. All of the available books were written for the Central Valley (in California), which has a considerably different climate and topography than Willamette. Instead, they looked to European publications for guidance and thankfully had enough foreign language skills among their pioneering group to translate this much needed knowledge. As Bill acknowledged, “It was a classic bootstrap operation.” In the end, they chose to import Dijon Pinot Noir clones to get started and planted their first vines in 1972.
Then, as Susan related, “We had to sell it.” Yet, the world was not ready for Oregon Pinot Noir in the 1970s. Among their various efforts, they brought a map to show potential customers where Oregon was located. It took decades (2000s) before top restaurants sought out Oregon Pinots for their wine lists. Moreover, Susan recognized that the Drouhin family’s arrival in the Valley was very key in gaining much needed support and a seal of approval.
Another important visitor to Willamette was Madame Bize-Leroy of Domaine Romanée-Conti, who did a tasting with Bill during his first vintage (1977). She pronounced “There is potential here.” But even she shared that making wine and selling it is never easy, despite being from such a vaunted estate, noting that, “Every year throws a new curve.” That visit has stayed with him.
But, in spirt of the difficulties they faced, both Bill and Susan were quick to assert that they have no regrets.
In 2008, Susan and Bill handed the baton to Alex and Alison as the second generation. The two became Co-Presidents. As the conversation shifted from the winery’s founding, Alex and Alison regaled the attendees with tales from their childhood. As Alex explained, growing up, he received no allowance. Rather, he had to work in the winery and vineyard to get pocket money. He started at about age 11, learning very early on that “making wine is primarily cleaning.”
When taking over the reins from their parents, Alex and Alison thought hard about what they wanted for the winery in its next chapter. They set their sights on continuing to raise the quality and also on becoming known as a sparkling wine house. While Bill agreed that Oregon is good for sparkling due to the climate, he further reflected that despite this recognition, he didn’t have the nerve to do sparkling wine since any little flaw shows up. So, it was up to the next generation to take on this challenge. Alison added that their first promise to each other was that they were not going to kill each other.
Susan’s memory is slightly different from that of her offspring. She recalls that they had such wonderful, grandiose plans for expansion and then the financial market had other plans. In the wake of the Lehman Brothers collapse and the recession, Alison and Alex were forced to sell wine just to keep in the business. But, Susan feels that this was a good lesson for the two to learn early on in their leadership.
In keeping with their desire to produce sparkling wine, they started with a Brut Rosé in 2010, a cool vintage, which is conducive to the production of sparkling wine. In 2015, they decided to make a Brut Cuvée, which was inspired by their Evolution White blend. It is deliberately produced with a short tirage of less than one year, which keeps the autolysis from imparting too strong of a yeasty, bread character to the wine. Rather, the goal is a purity of fresh fruit. Today, with this goal achieved, Alex describes Sokol Blosser as a reductionist house as opposed to one with an oxidative style.
Beyond his role as Co-President, Alex has been the winemaker since 2012, which was a good vintage. However, he believes that “It’s the vintages that try you, push you that are the ones that you from the most and are most connected to.”
That being said, Alex boasted of their good planning in having their anniversary coincident with a great vintage. 2018 was that vintage replete with ripeness, tannins and acidity as well as that unique combination of both quality and quantity (one usually gets one or the other).
As we tasted the other wines, Alex explained that all of their wines are made the same; the difference is in where the grapes come from. Located in the Dundee Hills AVA, today Sokol Blosser owns 88 acres, which are certified organic. They lease an additional 18 acres in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA (which are also certified organic).
Dundee Hills 2018 Estate Pinot Noir, SRP $42 As their entry level Pinot Noir, this is a blend of all of their various blocks. It offers up a beautiful nose of cherries, with a dry palate, medium+ to high acidity, medium body, dusty tannins, ripe cherries, slight oak, and an earthy undercurrent, culminating in long length.
Old Vineyard Block Estate Pinot Noir 2018, Dundee Hills (OR), USA, SRP $60 Produced as a tribute to Mom and Dad, this wine sports a special, retro label from the 1970s. The original wines in this vineyard block are gone due to phylloxera, but they were replanted in the 1990s, maintaining the original composition. This wine has more density than the Dundee Hills Pinot, with medium+ to full body, slight spice, less earthy notes and more pronounced cherry and berry flavors. It needs time to develop.
Goosepen Block Estate Pinot Noir 2011, Dundee Hills (OR), USA, $110 (current); $80 upon release, 200 cases produced This wine is redolent of floral, cherry and herbal aromas. The elegant palate provides bright acidity, medium body, lovely tannins, cherries, slight oak and herbs, with very long length.
The winery was generous in sharing this library wine with the event participants and apparently there had been much debate on what to send. Finally, it was agreed that this wine, hailing from the cool 2011 vintage would be a good choice thanks to its bracing acidity, which provided both structure and the ability to keep the wine together with age.
With grapes sourced from one of the estate’s top blocks, these approximately three acres got their name when Susan decided to fence off a few acres of Riesling and have some geese do the weeding. Unfortunately, it turned out that these geese weren’t interested in the job. Accordingly, the family kept one pair of geese and the others found themselves in the Sokol Blosser freezer, while the feathers found their way into some very fluffy pillows.
Image courtesy of the winery.
Looking ahead to the next 50 years, Alison and Alex are focused on a continued commitment to quality along with a focus on innovation. The winery has begun to offer box wines and has made a substantial investment in a mechanical harvester, noting that the technology has come so far; there is no loss of quality despite the mechanization. Further, as a Certified B Corporation since 2015, they also maintain a deft balance between purpose and profit.
Of course, more immediately, they are simply excited to open the tasting room again as we shift to a post-vaccine world.
Finally, there are eight members of the third
generation, so watch this space…
As Alison reflected, they have succeeded through a combination of miracles and hard work, which has been an astounding experience. And, as Alex quipped at the end, “Mom and Dad, you done good!”
With Memorial Day weekend in the rear-view mirror and the Summer Solstice upon us, we know that it’s safe to wear white and drink rosé (although admittedly you can drink pink any time of year!).
Jokes aside, it’s the perfect time of year to turn our attention to whites and consider lighter reds, along with the requisite rosés, as we get behind the grill or head to the park for a picnic. As such, we want food-friendly, fun and festive wines that will be a welcome addition to the party. Here are just a few ideas to get you in the mood for Summer 2019!
WHITE WINES Gonzalez ByassTio Pepe Palomino Fino NV, Jerez, Spain, $20.00 Produced from 100% Palomino grapes, this wine is fresh, with slight yeasty and light nutty notes on both the nose and palate, culminating in long length. It is a great aperitif as well as a partner with salty, savory dishes.
Bodega Inurrieta Orchidea 2018, Navarra, Spain, $12.00 This Sauvignon Blanc offers up a pronounced nose of slight herbs, pink grapefruit, tropical fruit. It is dry with medium+ acidity, ripe citrus flavors with a hint of pith in the undercurrent, pineapple, medium+ body and long length.
Elk Cove Vineyards Pinot Gris Estate 2017, Willamette Valley (OR), USA, $19.00 This wine is beautifully aromatic, with concentrated aromas of floral, pear, and spice, along with a dry palate with medium acidity, ripe fruit and long length.
Ponzi Aurora Chardonnay 2016, Willamette Valley (OR) USA, $65.00 Barrel fermented and aged in barrel for 20 months, this wine is slightly woody with notes of vanilla and spice. Its full-bodied palate displays freshness, good fruit and acidity, with notes of apple and melon, good texture and salinity before culminating in long length.
ROSE WINES Muga, Flor de Muga Rosé 2017 Rioja, Spain, $24.00 Produced from 100% Garnacha, this pink-hued wine is both delicious and refreshing, with good berries fruit.
M. Chapoutier Domaine de Bila-Haut “Les Vignes” 2018, Pays d’Oc Rosé, France, $15.00 This estate was purchased by Michel Chapoutier in 1999 and, while this wine previously featured a small percentage of Syrah, this is the first vintage in which it has been phased out completely. It is now a blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Cinsualt, displaying notes of strawberry, cotton candy, slight herbs and watermelon on the nose and dry palate, coupled with bright acidity and long length.
Louis Laurent Rosé d’Anjou 2018, Loire Valley, France, $13.00 Pale salmon in color, this wine is slightly off-dry, with aromas and flavors of floral, ripe berries, honey and cotton candy, with medium body and long length. The hint of sweetness is a good counterpoint to spicy foods.
Sokol Blosser Estate Rosé of Pinot Noir 2018, Dundee Hills (OR), USA, $25.00 This wine has been made since Sokol Blosser’s early days, but has gone through numerous name changes including Bouquet of Rose and Vin Gris of Pinot Noir. Aromas of peach, spice and strawberry greet the nose and are joined by spice and pepper on the dry, fresh, palate, along with good structure.
RED WINES Domaine Gerard Millet Sancerre Rouge 2017, Loire Valley, France, $26.00 This wine offers up notes of smoke, herbs and dark cherry on the nose, with a dry palate, flavors of cherry and herbaceousness, bright acidity, medium body and long length.
Il Poggione Rosso di Toscana 2017, Tuscany, Italy, $19.00 This blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot displays aromas of dark red fruit, a hint of herbs and coffee, while the dry, medium+-bodied palate shows firm, ripe textural tannins, with bright acidity, fresh red, explosive fruit and long length. The wine can take a chill, making it a great option for a summer red!
Basile Cartacanta 2015 Montecucco Sangiovese, Tuscany, Italy, $23.00 Bringing together 80% Sangiovese with 10% Merlot and 10% Ciligiolo, this wine was aged for 12 months in French oak, then spent 18 months in bottle. With a lovely nose of black cherry, slight herbs, oak and vanilla, it has a dry palate with ripe, juicy cherries, medium tannins with a grainy texture, medium+ body and long length.
Poggio Stenti Tribulo 2016, Montecucco Sangiovese, Tuscany, Italy, $24.00 Produced from 100% Sangiovese, this wine was aged for 18 months in French oak. It has an expressive nose of dried cherries, dried herbs and oak, with a dry palate, medium+ acidity, medium+ tannins, medium+ body, flavors of tart cherry and herbs and very long length.
Sure, Oregon wines are fashionable now, but back in the 1970s, no one was planting grapes in the Willamette Valley. The area was filled with peach trees, walnuts and blackberries, as many of the vineyard block names at Sokol Blosser can attest. But, in the early part of that decade, three brave families ventured into the region with the deep conviction that this was a very special place in which to make great wine.
These self-dubbed “Oregon Originals” – the Ponzi, Campbell and Sokol Blosser families – arrived relatively concurrently in a variety of vehicles ready to hit the ground running, with their kids: Luisa, Anna Maria, Adam (and his siblings), Alex and Allison in tow.
As pioneers clearing the land and putting their faith in Pinot Noir, the three families would get together on a regular basis, sharing ideas and finding community with one another. Similarly, the children grew up as friends and remain so to this day.
Back then, it was not chichi for your family to own a vineyard and the kids were often ridiculed by their peers and their parents called drunkards. Today, these “kids” are all grown up and have taken over the leadership of their family’s wineries, representing the second generation of Oregon wine producers. Their wineries remain committed to Pinot Noir and are still family owned.
Similarly, they are all equally committed to being stewards of the land and the community and feel that it is important to work together. With this overarching philosophy, the three wineries, led by winemakers Luisa Ponzi (Ponzi VIneyards), Adam Campbell (Elk Cove) and Alex Sokol Blosser (Sokol Blosser), recently came together to collaborate on a special cuvée. Each winery contributed fruit from a single block of Pinot Noir, with each winemaker ultimately making three separate wines from the three different parcels of fruit. These nine wines then served as the components for the final blend.
Members of the press and trade were invited to a special seminar to taste through these components in a true demonstration of “land versus hand.” Interestingly, the overwhelming consensus among the winemakers was that the best wines were those that had been produced using one’s own fruit, underscoring the importance of really understanding the grapes to create great wine. Not surprisingly, the finished wine, 2017 2GV Pinot Noir Cuvée, focused heavily on these three components.
As a limited production wine (350 cases), 2GV was crafted primarily as a charitable effort, but is available online for purchase by the bottle, from the Ponzi Vineyards website.
NB: Purchase does not entail being a member of Ponzi’s wine club, and as I understand it, provided an adult is on hand to sign for and accept receipt, Ponzi can ship direct to consumers anywhere within the U.S.
I’ve always been a fan of Sokol Blosser Winery and now there is even more to love about this iconic Oregon wine producer: they are doubling-down on their commitment to the earth!
The winery has been a leader in the sustainability movement since the 1970s, but more recently, they have turned their attention to closures. This is not specifically a rehash of the cork vs. screwcap debate, but rather a recognition that cork is not biodegradeable. Yes, it is a renewable resource, but it is precisely because it doesn’t degrade that makes it such a useful option with which to seal wine and other products.
Consequently, in an effort to reduce its environmental impact, Sokol Blosser was the first winery in the world to place an order for DIAM’s newest product Origine by DIAM. The winery is trialing this new closure on a portion (15%) of its 2015 Dundee Hills Estate Pinot Noir, which was released in May (2018). Like DIAM’s other products, Origine is a technical cork, but utilizes a beeswax emulsion and 100% vegetable polyols. This makes it recyclable and, equally important, able to permit the wine to age, without fear of cork taint.
Given the product’s use of beeswax, DIAM has joined in the effort to bolster the honey bee population by investing in beehives in various French wine regions. Sokol Blosser is also showing its support for bees by donating $1 for every bottle sold under the new Origine cork to the Eugene, OR-based Save the Bee organization through April 2019. This funding will help the Oregon State University and Washington State University honeybee labs, which conduct vital research into the declining honey bee population and also teach beekeeping skills to the community.
But, of course, what’s in the bottle is still important. And, make no mistake, Sokol Blosser continues to live up to its reputation as a producer of high quality Pinot Noir!
Sokol Blosser Dundee Hills Pinot Noir 2015, Dundee Hills (OR), USA, $40.00
A beautiful, complex nose with aromas of earth, barnyard and dried cherries gives way to a dry palate with rich, ripe cherry fruit flavors, along with bright acidity, low tannins, medium body and very long length.
NB: If you are looking to be more sustainable yourself, here are some ideas of what to do with your own collections of corks: DIY Projects and Cork Recycling Options.
With the continued persistence of cool weather, it feels more like the 97th day of January than the final days of April. Consequently, we are all eager (extremely eager at this point) for the arrival of spring. Thankfully, daffodils in the garden outside my apartment and a few cameo appearances of warmth and sunshine provide a glimmer of hope.
These harbingers of spring further fueled my desire for all things fresh and green as I headed to the grocery store in search of springtime such as ramps, peas and asparagus for our dinner guest last weekend.
While I always advocate the consumption of rosé all year round, there’s no denying that its freshness and lightness underscore the season and are a welcome change from the heavy reds of wintertime dinners. Plus, I really enjoy the marriage of rose and vegetables.
A beautiful option is the Sokol Blosser Estate Rosé of Pinot Noir 2017, Dundee Hills, OR ($25.00). Pale salmon/onion skin in color, this wine offers up lovely notes of peach, watermelon and candy floss on the nose, giving way to a dry, fresh pala
te with bright acidity, flavors of peach, floral, and cherry along with a hint of earthy depth on the finish, long length.
Admittedly, when I first received the invitation, I was hesitant. I had never heard of the winery before and the idea of schlepping out to Brooklyn on a cold winter’s night was not very appealing…until I Googled the restaurant. With its two Michelin stars and stellar reviews, Aska was very intriguing and seemed well worth the trip to the outer borough.
As we would discover, this Scandinavian restaurant is run by Swedish chef Fredrik Berselius, who truly redefined our notions of a Swedish chef (especially if the Muppet Show is firmly ensconced in one’s brains) and instilled a wonderful appreciation for this cuisine in us.
Getting off the M train at Marcy Street, we walked toward Manhattan, in the shadows of the Williamsburg bridge. After several blocks, we wondered if we were indeed walking all the way back to Manhattan, but finally we arrived at our destination and were ushered to a private room, which was immaculately set for our group.
Once we were all seated, our winery hosts immediately poured us a glass of their rosé and then provided us with an introduction to themselves: The Fullerton’s. It turned out that there was a method to the madness; the Fullerton’s have a direct connection to Scandinavia, which was why they had chosen this vaunted restaurant for the event, coincident with the winery’s debut in the New York and New Jersey markets.
Patriarch of the family, Eric Fullerton was raised in a Danish family and married a Swedish woman. The couple lived in Scandinavia with son, Alex, born in Denmark. A few years later, the Fullerton’s returned to the U.S. and settled in Oregon. Eric held C-level positions within the communications and security industries, but always had a passion for quality wine.
As a young child, Alex watched his parents enjoying wine at home and carried these observations to school – swirling and spitting out his milk, much to the chagrin of his kindergarten teacher – eventually developing his own vinous interest, which was cemented on a father-son trip to Champagne and Burgundy when Alex graduated high school.
In 2010, Alex was graduating from college with a degree in economics, but with no specific plan for a career or his future. He and dad visited Penner-Ash Wine Cellars together and discussed the idea of Alex entering the wine industry. Alex was keen on the idea and before the day was out, he had secured a harvest intern position at Penner-Ash. Dad sweetened the deal, offering to back Alex’s personal wine venture, if he pursued a degree in viticulture and enology, to which he readily agreed.
Alex followed his time at Penner-Ash with a harvest in New Zealand, before returning to the Willamette Valley and Penner-Ash and, later, a position at Bergstrom Wines. During this time, the two Fullerton men began making wine in the garage and scouting for vineyard blocks throughout the Valley. They also planted 400 vines in their backyard.
In 2012, Fullerton Wines was launched as a commercial venture with two separate lines: Three Otters and Fullerton. The Three Otters brand owes its origins to the three otters depicted in the Fullerton family coat of arms and a portion of the proceeds from each bottle helps to support the return of sea otters to the Oregon coast. The Fullerton brand includes its Five FACES line, named for all members of the Fullerton family: Filip, Alex, Caroline, Eric and Suzanne, as well as several single vineyard Pinot Noirs. To date, the winery produces 4,500 cases annually, but the goal is to reach 20,000 cases in the future.
Alex currently sources Pinot Noir fruit from several vineyards in the Willamette Valley. Both the Three Otters and Five FACES Pinots are the products of blending grapes from various vineyards (and appellations) to craft a consistent wine that marries the favorable characteristics from throughout the region. However, he has also identified a number of distinct vineyards that appeal to him as single vineyard wines. These wines are more expressive of an individual terroir and provide nice diversity within the Fullerton portfolio. As the family seeks to expand its production, they will need to identify other vineyards. Looking ahead, Alex noted that he hopes to focus on Eola-Amity Hills in sourcing additional fruit as he is particularly enamored with this micro-climate and the quality of grapes it produces.
As the meal progressed, we got to know Eric and Alex better, both their histories and their philosophies. There was a genuine warmth to this father and son’s relationship as they bantered back and forth, making jokes and good-naturedly teasing one another. In the end, it was clear that Eric has made a huge investment in his son, not just for their mutual love of wine, but because he is extremely proud of him.
While the wine was understandably the focal point of the evening, the 10-course meal was not to be overlooked. Each course was a stunning presentation of food, plate and flatware. Despite the lengthy evening, the food was engaging and not too heavy; only one course included meat and many were vegetarian. Among the more unique offerings were a crunchy snack of bladderwrack seaweed with a blue mussel emulsion; an earthy bowl of lichen served with chanterelles and a mushroom broth; and an intense pig’s blood pancake with rose petals and rosehip jam.
With the wonderful selection of Willamette Valley wines and the expertise of Aska’s kitchen, it was the perfect way to spend a New York night and definitely merited the journey to Brooklyn. It was certainly much easier to get to than Noma!
NB: Food images courtesy of Jared Skolnick.
TASTING NOTES
Three Otters Rosé 2015, Willamette Valley, OR, $18.00
First conceived in 2012, the Three Otters rosé began as a friendly competition between dad and son over which method to use to produce the wine. Afterward, they decided that a blend of the two methods was best and they have continued to follow this format ever since. The wine is refreshing and dry with bright strawberry aromas and flavors along with a hint of fresh herbs, culminating in long length.
Three Otters Chardonnay 2014, Willamette Valley, OR, $20.00
An all stainless-steel Chard, this wine lets the fruit shine through unimpeded by oak. The wine is high in acidity, with citrus and yellow apple notes, as well as a nice richness on the palate due to extended lees contact.
Fullerton Five FACES Chardonnay 2015, Willamette Valley, OR, $33.00
This barrel-fermented wine has only a small (9%) percentage of oak and thus the oak is very integrated, resulting in an elegant and beautiful Chardonnay with good acidity and long length.
Three Otters Pinot Noir 2014, Willamette Valley, OR, $20.00
A really nice entry-level Pinot Noir, this has no new oak, with the wine spending time in tanks and neutral barrels. Sourced and blended from eight different area vineyards, this wine offers up cherry and berry aromas and flavors with a slightly earthy undercurrent. Overall, it is light-bodied, fresh and approachable.
Fullerton Five FACES Pinot Noir 2014, Willamette Valley, OR, $33.00 This is the winery’s flagship wine with fruit sourced from several key vineyards. A beautiful wine with an intense and concentrated fruit nose of dark cherry, which persists on the palate and is joined by a hint of herbaceousness. It is rich, yet elegant with long length. Among the diners at our table, this seemed to be a fan favorite given the complexity of the wine and its reasonable price point.
Fullerton Croft Vineyard Pinot Noir 2014, Willamette Valley, OR, $45.00 The organically certified Croft Vineyard generates less of a diurnal shift yielding ripe grapes, with slightly less acidity than cooler sites. The result is a plushy, sensual Pinot with good black cherry and spice notes as well as some wet leaves in the long finish.
Fullerton Croft Vineyard Pinot Noir 2013, Willamette Valley, OR, $45.00 While sourced from the same grapes as the 2014 wine, 2013 was a more challenging vintage, marked with rains during harvest. Consequently, this wine has higher acidity than usual and more herbal character than the 2014.
Fullerton Momtazi Vineyard Pinot Noir 2014, Willamette Valley, OR, $60.00
The Momtazi Vineyard is situated within the McMinnville AVA. With its bright acidity, ripe red cherry fruit, lush herbs and spice, and lovely long length, this was my favorite single vineyard wine of the evening.
Fullerton Fir Crest Vineyard Pinot Noir 2012, Yamhill-Carlton, OR, $75.00
Hailing from the old vines in the Fir Crest Vineyard, this wine possesses an extremely intense, heavy and concentrated nose and palate. It displayed some volatile acidity, along with dark red fruit and firm tannins; a steak-eater’s Pinot Noir. This wine provoked an interesting discussion among Alex and Eric since it is a style that Alex doesn’t enjoy, but that Eric would like to replicate for market purposes.
World winemakers unite! Admittedly I have Communism and Leon Trotsky on the brain thanks to having just finished Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, The Lacuna. However, the notion that winemakers are globally uniting to produce rosé wines is not that far-fetched, at least not in terms of the depth and breadth of these wines now being produced.
While drinking pink wine (at least publically) was previously relegated to newbies quaffing White Zinfandel and other sweet blush wines, today’s rosés run the gamut in hue and are primarily dry in style. With a decade of growth in the U.S. market, rosé continues to be one of the U.S.’s fastest growing wine categories in retail sales; the message is clear: Rosé is here to stay. Tweet that!
A recent “Pink Party” hosted by Winebow showcased the importer’s vast portfolio of rosés, which not only ranged in style (from still to sparkling and pale salmons to deep pinks), but also in origin of production.
As the number one producer of rosé worldwide, it is not surprising that the line-up was heavy in French samples, with appellations that specialize in the pink stuff such as Provence and Tavel well represented. Italian specimens were similarly prevalent, most of which hailed from the southern portion of the boot: Sicily, Sardinia, Campania and Calabria.
But, Winebow’s rosé collection is much more widespread than the wine world’s two top producers. In addition to a reasonable showing of wines from the U.S.’ east and west coasts, more unique appearances came from Croatia, Greece, Lebanon and the Republic of Macedonia.
Adding to the diversity, the sparklers were not only comprised of the usual suspects such as Rosé Champagne and a beautiful rose Cava, but also on hand were lovely bubbles from Austria and Tasmania.
And, vying for most unusual wine of the day was a “100% pure rosé sake” produced from heirloom purple rice.
With such a plethora of rosé wines in the market, it can be quite confusing to the consumer to make sense of it all. But, the easiest way to understand rosé is to think about something with which most people are familiar – tie-dyeing. Tweet this!
Such childhood arts-and-crafts projects provide a simple, but effective tool, for learning about rosé production. Armed with white t-shirts, rubber bands and RIT dye, we saw that leaving the t-shirt in the dye bath for just a few minutes resulted in a pale hue, while soaking it for the full hour delivered the deepest color. Moreover, the instructions advised that higher temperatures and agitation further added to the color saturation.
Apply these same principles to winemaking, substituting grape skins for RIT dye and grape juice/must for t-shirts (no rubber bands required) and, by George, you’ve got it. Now you are ready to join the revolution!
Looking for some rosés to sip this summer (yes, I promise it will be summer one of these days)? Here are some of my favorites from the Pink Party tasting:
SPARKLING WINES Jansz Sparkling Rose NV, Tasmania, Australia
A blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier with just a hint of color. Citrus, mineral and peach notes.
Juvé y Camps Rosé Brut Pinot Noir NV, Cava, Spain
100% Pinot Noir and medium-deep pink in color. Floral and fruit on the nose with red fruit and herbs on the palate.
Lanson Brut Rosé Champagne NV, Champagne, France
A blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Rich and intense with typical yeasty character along with citrus and a hint of red fruit.
STILL WINES Adelsheim Rosé 2013, Willamette Valley (OR), USA, $25.00
100% Pinot Noir. Herbs with some depth and slight grip on the palate. Fresh strawberries and melon.
Chateau Mercouri Lampadias Rosé 2013, Ilia, Greece
A 50-50 blend of Avgoustiatis and Agiorgitiko. Simply lovely with good fruit and acidity.
Les Vignobles Gueissard Côtes de Provence Rosé “Les Papilles” 2013, Provence, France
Mourvèdre, Syrah, Cinsault, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon and Rolle. Berries and cherries with body and good length.
Zenato Bardolino Chiaretto 2013, Veneto, Italy
Corvina, Rondinella and Merlot. Very fruity with strawberry, raspberry and dried herb aromas and flavors.
We have had a busy, but productive, fall season thus far. Our wine salon, From Mystery to Mastery, conducted as part of the East End’s first HARVEST Wine Auction & Celebration was met with great success as was Tracy’s Sex, Wine & Chocolate event with certified sexuality educator, Amy Levine, held at the beautiful Coco de Mer erotica and lingerie store.
Tracy will be teaching at the International Wine Center later this month and at NYU for three classes in November. Her session on Italian Sparkling wines, to be presented at the American Wine Society’s (AWS) annual conference is sold out with 90 registrants and only a few seats remain for her session on South African Wines.
In honor of the AWS’ conference location in Cincinnati, OH – what we’ve dubbed, “the other Cin city” and birthplace of America’s first sparkling wine – we bring you the history of Nicholas Longworth this month.
Drink wisely and well,
Tracy Ellen Kamens, Ed.D., DWS, CWE
CEO: Chief Education Officer
and
Jared Michael Skolnick
COO: Cork Opening Officer
Bubbles Born in the USA: America Sparkles
America has long had a love affair with sparkling wine, yet, while many Americans would be quick to identify Dom Perignon as an iconic figure of the Champagne region, few would know that they owe a debt of sparkling gratitude to Nicholas Longworth who created the first American sparkling wine – a Sparkling Catawba, in 1842.
Born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1783, this “crazy Jerseyman” stood somewhere between 5′-1″ and 5′-3″ and arrived in Cincinnati in 1804 (one year after Ohio had attained statehood), at the age of 21. After studying law for six months (there were apparently a lot fewer laws back then), he established a law practice.
Concurrent with his legal work, Longworth made shrewd investments in land, beginning in 1820. These real estate investments permitted Longworth to indulge in a new passion for horticulture and viticulture, pursuing the latter as a hobby as he began to plant vines along the Ohio River.
His first attempts were with vitis vinifera, which, having been planted prior to the discovery of phylloxera, not surprisingly died shortly thereafter. Longworth then tried his hand at the American species, vitis labrusca. Specifically, he became interested in the Catawba grape (native to North Carolina), which was hearty enough to withstand the harsh winters of Ohio, planting these vines in 1825. He produced his first wine three years later, declared himself satisfied and subsequently quit his law practice, eventually crafting a sparkling version of his beloved Catawba.
But fortunately, Nicholas wasn’t the only one who admired his slightly sweet, sparkling wines. His wine was enjoyed not only throughout the United States, but also abroad in England and France. It was further lauded by poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who immortalized Longworth’s wine in his, “Ode to Catawba” published during the 1850s.
Longworth’s success eventually established him as the “wealthiest man in Ohio.” In fact, “…in 1850 his taxes rated higher than any other man in the United States except William B. Astor…” at an annual bill of $17,000 and, at his death, his wealth was estimated to be $15 million. (Harper’s Weekly)
In addition to being an accomplished wine producer, Longworth was a generous person and used his wealth to help others in his community. He provided work for those in need; built housing above his wine cellars for indigent laborers; and distributed bread to the hungry from his home every Monday morning.
Longworth’s efforts also helped to cement Ohio as a key winegrowing area in the United States. By 1860, Longworth had 3,000 acres of vines and was producing 570,000 gallons of wine, annually bottling 150,000 bottles. During this period, Ohio led the nation in the production of wine, supplying one-third of the nation’s wine and out-producing California by two to one. However, this boom was short-lived as Ohio wine production declined in both the wake of viticultural disease and a loss of labor as Ohioans left to fight in the Civil War.
Yet Ohio was not alone in its pursuit of bubbles. In 1855, Benjamin Davis Wilson, who was to become the first mayor of Los Angeles, was the first to produce a sparkling wine in California. And, across the country, a “champagne” industry was started in Hammondsport in New York’s Finger Lakes region in 1860. Crafting sparklers from Delaware, Iona, Elvira and Catawba grapes, the Pleasant Valley and Taylor Wine Companies set about to establish “American champagne [as] the leading wine of the region.” (Reichl, 14)
While most of this early success with sparkling wine was brought to an end in the 1920s as America pursued Prohibition, by 1933, “[t]he few surviving Eastern wineries, principally sparkling-wine producers of New York State [namely Great Western and Gold Seal], soon found their bearings again.” (Wagner, 61)
And, only a few decades later, a renaissance would take place, with Jack and Jamie Davies re-establishing a winery at the old Schramsburg estate in Napa Valley, CA. With a focus on quality, not quantity, the Davies’ produced a Blanc de Blancs, which they released in 1967, becoming “America’s first commercially produced Chardonnay-based brut sparkling wine.” (Sawyer) Schramsburg’s reputation was assured when, in 1972, their sparkling wine was poured at the “Toast to Peace” dinner with President Nixon and Premier Chou En-lai in Bejing, China. Their wines have been poured in the White House ever since.
Today, sparkling wine is produced in all fifty states, and, while many of these producers are local in scope, leading American sparklers are found in California, Oregon, New York, Virginia, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Massachusetts, and are often national and even international in their reach. Here, many serious winemakers are crafting world-class wines utilizing the Traditional Method of production, with ultra-premium producers focused on estate-grown grapes and the production of vintage-dated wines.
Harper’s Weekly Journal of Civilization, Nicholas Longworth Obituary, published 3/7/1863.
Reichel, Ruth ed., History in a Glass: Sixty Years of Wine Writing from Gourmet. Random House: New York, 2006 [Frank Schoonmaker, Return to the Native, p. 14]
Sawyer, Christopher. “The Best of Both Worlds.” The tasting panel, December 2009.
Wagner, Philip M. Grapes Into Wine, Knopf Press, 1976
Producer Profiles
Biltmore Estate Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina is “the most visited winery in the United States,” seeing one million visitors annually. The 125,000 acre estate is the site of George Vanderbilt (grandson of Cornelius)’s dream home designed by noted architect Richard Morris Hunt. The Château Reserve Blanc de Blancs is 100% Chardonnay from fruit sourced throughout North Carolina and is aged 24-30 months before disgorging. Chateau Frank In 1962, Dr. Konstantin Frank established Vinifera Wine Cellars in Hammondsport, New York and earned a reputation for his Rieslings and “champagnes.” The 1999 Prestige Cuvee is made with 100% estate-grown fruit, a blend of 50% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir and 5% Pinot Meunier and then aged for more than five years.
Gruet Winery The Gruet family of Champagne, France established their Albuquerque, NM winery in 1984. The 2004 Blanc de Blancs remained en tirage for a minimum of four years with the last bottles reaching anywhere up to five years.
Iron Horse Vineyards When Iron Horse’s founding partners, Audrey and Barry Sterling, first saw the 300 acre property in 1976, it was the most westerly vineyard in Sonoma, but the Sterlings knew they wanted to grow Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and that this was the perfect climate in which to do so. The 2005 Classic Vintage Brut is among the most traditional of their sparklers, made from 25% Chardonnay and 75% Pinot Noir and aged for three years.
Kluge Estate Kluge Estate was established in 1999 in Carter’s Mountain on the edge of Blue Ridge Mountains in Charlottesville, VA by Patricia Kluge whose dream was to build a wine region. The 2007 SP Rosé, made from 95% Chardonnay and 5% Pinot Noir, was aged for 21-24 months and won at the Monticello Cup in 2010 and took home Silver medals at both the San Diego Wine & Spirits National Women’s Wine Competitions.
L. Mawby Larry Mawby planted vines on Michigan’s Leelanau Peninsula in 1973, with his first harvest in 1978. His Talismon is made from estate grown fruit picked as a field blend of Vignoles, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and Chardonnay.
Soter Vineyards Although he is more known for his Pinot Noirs, Tony Soter chose to make a sparkler because he is a “sucker for a winegrowing challenge.” Produced from 100% estate grown fruit, the Soter Rosé is a 50-50% blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and spent at least three years on the lees.
Troutman Vineyards Building on Ohio’s wine legacy, Deanna and Andy Troutman established Troutman Vineyards in 1997. Their Cuveé D, a brut style sparkler made from hybrid variety, Vidal Blanc, won a Bronze Medal at the 2009 Ohio Wine Competition in the Hybrid Sparkling Wine category.
As mentioned previously, we had the wonderful opportunity to visit Oregon in May of this year, visiting downtown Portland as well as spending time in the Willamette Valley. This wine region is producing spectacular wines and, while we have left the area, the memories of its wines are certainly not forgotten. To that end, we revisit its history and provide you with a brief introduction this month.
Among other travels, Tracy has just returned from Sacramento where she attended the Society of Wine Educators’ annual conference, reconnected with many colleagues and participated in a wide variety of educational seminars. Meanwhile, Jared has completed the last of the infrastructure projects for our educational vineyard, installing several hundred feet of irrigation hose. True to Murphy’s Law, the continued downpour has precluded the need for irrigation this year.
Apropos all of the rain, we have been busy offering our services at a number of bridal showers and, additionally, have created a new theme for bachelorette parties – Aphrodite meets Bacchus & Lady Godiva. If you are planning a wedding celebration, let us help you design the perfect wine-themed event.
On a final note, we will be placing a new order for Schott-Zwiesel titanium crystal and invite you to add to your own stemware collection. You may have seen us strike these amazing glasses against our granite counter-top and held your breath as you expected them to break only to watch them remain perfectly intact. This stemware is available in a wide range of styles from classic to modern and can be purchased for as little as $8.00/stem, plus shipping and handling. We’ll soon add more details to our website, so please check back if you are interested in placing an order, or email us directly for a catalog.
Drink wisely and well,
Tracy Ellen Kamens, Ed.D., DWS, CWE
CEO: Chief Education Officer
and
Jared Michael Skolnick
COO: Cork Opening Officer
OREGON, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Despite its youth as a wine-producing state, Oregon has become nearly synonymous with quality wine and notably its Pinot Noir. Yet, only a few decades ago, early settlers were laughed at by their peers. In 1966, David Lett was fresh out of UC Davis and determined to plant a vineyard and begin making wine. He found what he felt to be suitable land in the Dundee Hills of Oregon’s Willamette Valley, founding the Eyrie Vineyard in 1970, and the rest, as they say, is history.
David was joined by other wine pioneers shortly thereafter, setting the stage for this nascent wine region. Seeing similarity between their terroir and that of Burgundy (heartland of Pinot Noir), they set about crafting wines that emulated these icons while respecting their own unique soils and climate. Perhaps the most ringing endorsement of their success was the investment made by a top Burgundy négociant and producer, Maison Joseph Drouhin, when it established Domaine Drouhin in Willamette in 1988. Today, Oregon ranks as the fourth largest in U.S. wine production and its wines are highly acclaimed both here and abroad.
While wine regions exist in Oregon’s other valleys – namely Umpqua and Rogue, it is the Willamette Valley that has achieved the most fame. Situated only one hour from Portland, the Willamette is divided into six sub-appellations: Dundee Hills, Ribbon Ridge, Eola Amity Hills, McMinneville, Yamhill-Carlton District and Chehalem Mountains. Beyond Pinot Noir, the Willamette is also known for its Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Riesling and sparkling wines. To a lesser extent, some producers are working with Rhone varieties – Syrah and Viognier, most of which is sourced from the warmer Rogue Valley in southern Oregon.
Unfortunately, Oregon Pinot Noir can be quite pricey, due to its limited, labor-intensive, quality-conscious production. However, among New World Pinot Noirs, they are considered to be among the best. Thus, you will be well rewarded for your investment. At the more affordable end, A to Z Wineworks, WillaKenzie and Anne Amie’s Cuvée A provide good value. If you are feeling more flush and wish to splurge a bit, seek out Elk Cove, Bergström, and Cristom.
Tasting Notes
Adelsheim, Pinot Blanc 2007, Willamette Valley, OR, $22.00 Among the early pioneers, Adelsheim was established in 1971. Its Pinot Blanc shows citrus, mineral and pear aromas. On the palate, it is dry with medium acidity, medium body and notes of citrus and minerality.
Anne Amie, Cuvée A Amrita 2007, Willamette Valley, OR, $16.00 Named for the Buddhist equivalent of ambrosia, Amrita is a white blend of Pinot Blanc (47%), Muller-Thurgau (25%), Chardonnay (15%), and Riesling (13%). Aromas of tropical fruit and grass give way to a dry palate with citrus and herbal flavors. 1,700 cases produced.
Jezebel, Pinot Noir 2007, Oregon, $18.00 From Daedalus Cellars, Jezebel is produced as their second label, with grapes sourced from throughout the state for wines intended to be drunk early in their life. This Pinot Noir displays aromas and flavors of barnyard, raspberry and earth.
Bergström, de Lancellotti Vineyard Pinot Noir 2007, Chehalem Mountains, OR, $65.00 With a focus on vineyard expression, Bergstrom produces several vineyard designate Pinot Noirs. The de Lancellotti Vineyard shows floral, raspberry and stone aromas and flavors, which combine with an earthy undercurrent that persists throughout its long length. 455 cases produced.
Penner-Ash, Syrah 2006, Oregon, $32.00 Produced in the northern Rhone Valley tradition, this Syrah is co-fermented with 1.5% Viognier. The nose is a mix of plum, berries and floral. Its dry, medium+-bodied palate has a nice, ripe tannic grip with flavors of plum, spice and leather, culminating in long length.
Amity Vineyards, Late Estate Harvest Riesling 2004, Willamette Valley, OR, $15.00 (375 ml) Owner Myron Redford began making wine in the Eola-Amity appellation in 1974. His late harvest Riesling offers peach, apricot and honey aromas on the nose, joined by developing and floral notes in the mouth. A true dessert wine, it provides significant sweetness on the palate, which is beautifully balanced with vibrant acidity.
With the continued persistence of cool weather, it feels more like the 97th day of January than the final days of April. Consequently, we are all eager (extremely eager at this point) for the arrival of spring. Thankfully, daffodils in the garden outside my apartment and a few cameo appearances of warmth and sunshine provide a glimmer of hope.
