UnWine'd Rewind: Celebrate Oregon Wine Indeed!

 

This past Sunday, the Oregon Wine Board hosted UnWine’d: Celebrate Oregon Wine in Portland’s industrial-chic Left Bank Annex. The elaborate tasting featured 80+ wineries throughout the Oregon AVAs, and a heaping handful of restaurant vendors, delicious accoutrements in-tow. This grand tasting served as the kickoff event for Oregon Wine Month, which continues through the month of May and culminates in the ever-popular Memorial Day weekend wine country open house.

mini sliders & pasta {a la Davis Street Tavern}

With my free time rarely being spent outside of the immediate Portland area, I am ecstatic when wine country comes to me. Tasting book and floorplan in-hand, I was determined to explore and branch out rather than catching up with my known favorites. At these large-scale, free-for-all tasting events, I haven’t quite come up with a system. Sometimes I ask for recommendations from other pourers or, a self-diagnosed font snob, I’ll often wander until a label or logo catches my eye (gasp! but I swear, it’s a thing). In this case, I was reading through my list and came across an interesting name: Kandarian. Admittedly I did a double-take with the subsequent whoa, the Kardashians make wine? That would be a.w.k.w.a.r.d. Regardless, the thought amused me and I strolled over to the Kandarian table. To my surprise and extreme delight: jackpot.

Jeff Kandarian has been the winemaker for King Estate since 2008 in addition to producing his own wine under the label, Kandarian WineCellars. Make no mistake – though the site is still in the works, Jeff and the wines he has created thus far are legit; every bottle of the five being poured was adventurous and memorable. The 2010 Blue Eye Sauvignon Blanc drew me in with an incredibly bright peachy fruit on the nose and a slight effervescence on the finish. The ’09 Pepper Mélange Syrah, appropriately named, was bold and peppery with a very subtle smokiness. I was impressed to the very last drop: the ’08 Ice Box, a rich and syrupy Pinot Gris dessert wine.

Others of my UnWine’d favorites included the Stoller ‘08 Pinot Noir and ’09 Chardonnay (is it summer yet?). Fellow Anthem blogger Tiffany Stevens enjoyed the Quady North ‘11 Pistoleta, a blend of Viognier, Roussanne and Marsanne, and the Chardonnays featured by Johan Vineyards (’09), Phelps Creek Vineyards (’10) and Winderlea Winery (’09).

Of course it’s not only on special occasions you can enjoy these collective tastings in PDX, you can enjoy them really close to special occasions too! PDX Urban Wineries, a group of winemakers committed to making wine within the city limits, will host their Passport Tasting on May 12th from noon to 5pm. So, pick up your mother and taste some wine Mother’s Day weekend at any and all of the PDX Urban Wineries member locations. Pick up your winery passport and travel the world of urban-made wine across the neighborhoods of Portland – enter to win prizes and as a participant you’ll enjoy 10% off bottles at all member locations. Happy Oregon Wine Month to all!

sliding door at left bank annex

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Taste Washington Take 2: Coming to Oregon

After reading the Anthem's recent State of the Union summary of Seattle’s Taste Washington, Portlanders will have their chance to experience this event as it comes to Pure Space on Monday, April 23^rd. 75 Washington wineries will pour their wines alongside tasty fare from 9 local restaurants. Bar Avignon, Wildwood, Cheese Bar, and Laurelhurst Market are some of the restaurants that will have an assortment of culinary delights to pair with the wines during the event.

This is a great opportunity to try wines from Washington wineries not readily available in the Portland market. Wineries will be pouring a selection of wines from their current releases, but it’s an excellent chance to find out more about all the wines they make. Did you know Chatter Creek is one of the few Northwest wineries that makes a Nebbiolo? Baer’s “Ursa” was #6 last year on Wine Spectator’s 2011 Top 100, but which other wines do they produce? Hestia’s Chenin Blanc is a rare Northwest treat, and their reds are consistently excellent across the board; have you tried them? Maybe you’ve heard the buzz about Gramercy, but haven’t been able to track down their wines. This is your lucky day. 

Read through the full list of participating wineries here, and check out their websites to find out more about their wines. If you are a diehard <fill in your favorite type of wine here> fan, find out which participating wineries offer that type of wine; ask them about it during the event. It will save you a few e-mails or phone calls, and you can get much more information in person. Check the event wine list as they may possibly be pouring your favorite for the event. The wine list will update as the wineries finalize their selections. Tickets are available here on the Washington Wine website. 

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Unwine'd Friday Find, April 6th

Each Friday we highlight a wine from the Northwest that we think is a real "find." By find we might mean that it's a steal, as all of these wines we'll feature weekly are under $20. We might also mean "Hey, you really need to go find this" and it might be a wine that we feel not enough people know about. In any case, with the weekend pending we're hoping to help you "find" a wine to kickoff the weekend right. We'll tell you a little bit about the wine and try to help you track it down here in the Northwest.

For about the next three weeks or so we'll be bringing you the Unwine'd Friday Find, or an under $20 wine from one of the 100 Oregon wineries pouring at the Unwine'd Celebrate Oregon Wine event on April 29th. In fact, we're giving away yet another pair of tickets to the event next week and you can learn more about that contest by heading over to our Facebook page. (You can also buy tickets here.)

The Unwine'd event is Oregon's biggest consumer tasting event ever and will be hosted at the Left Bank Annex just across the bridge from downtown Portland on, believe it or not the left bank of the Willamette. The event will of course be about wine tasting, and not just Pinot Noir folks, but it offers guests an opportunity to explore the varied bounty of Oregon from the Walla Walla Valley, yes, in Oregon to the Rogue Valley at the state's southern end. In addition to the variety of wines, there will be food served up by some of the best culinarians that PDX and the Willamette Valley have to offer.

One of the knocks on Oregon Pinot Noir is the price.  And while Willamette Valley Pinot can command some higher price points, there are still some very nice value priced Cuvees, or blends that allow winemakers the opportunity to sometimes blend some of the Valley's most prized fruit with some fruit that that they've source from more affordable sites .  While I've tasted a fair number of Oregon Pinots falling into the under $20 category and will admit that sometimes the blends and larger production seem to blur the Oregonian fresh fruit and earthen character right out of the wines the Wine by Joe Pinot Noir, has stood out as a fantastic foray into what makes Pinot from this place so fantastic.

For somewhere in the $15 neighborhood the Wine by Joe Pinot Noir 2009 grants you admission to fantastic acidity and balance and a wine that delivers, or more to the point over delivers on fruit driven aromatics as well as clove and pepper.  The bramble berries so true to Oregon come pouring through on the palate, black berries and raspberries along with a touch of baking spice.  The wine though is sophisticated and brings out complexity and layers of flavor and in some ways a kind of confusion.  The kind of confusion where you say, "Really?  We got all this for only $15?"  The good kind.

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Unwine'd Friday Find, March 30

Each Friday we highlight a wine from the Northwest that we think is a real "find." By find we might mean that it's a steal, as all of these wines we'll feature weekly are under $20. We might also mean "Hey, you really need to go find this" and it might be a wine that we feel not enough people know about. In any case, with the weekend pending we're hoping to help you "find" a wine to kickoff the weekend right. We'll tell you a little bit about the wine and try to help you track it down here in the Northwest.

For about the next four weeks or so we'll be bringing you the Unwine'd Friday Find, or an under $20 wine from one of the 100 Oregon wineries pouring at the Unwine'd Celebrate Oregon Wine event on April 29th. In fact, we're giving away tickets to the event and you can learn more about that contest by heading over to our Facebook page.

The Unwine'd event is Oregon's biggest consumer tasting event ever and will be hosted at the Left Bank Annex just across the bridge from downtown Portland on, believe it or not the left bank of the Willamette. The event will of course be about wine tasting, and not just Pinot Noir folks, but it offers guests an opportunity to explore the varied bounty of Oregon from the Walla Walla Valley, yes, in Oregon to the Rogue Valley at the state's southern end. In addition to the variety of wines, there will be food served up by some of the best culinarians that PDX and the Willamette Valley have to offer. From the legendary Joel Palmer House to Portland's Park Kitchen and the gem of the Columbia Gorge, Nora's Table. Oh and all the wines being poured, they'll also be for sale.

In addition to the wine and food there will be two educational components, an Oregon versus the World Pinot Noir tasting and a seminar on Oregon's white wines, which brings us to today's Friday Find. Brooks Winery will be pouring their wines at Unwine'd and they have developed a fantastic reputation for the Riesling and Pinot Noir that they produce.

A family winery with a compelling and heartfelt story Brooks produces wines in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA of the Willamette Valley. Today's find is their wicked cool white blend the Amycas. Amycas is a blend that certainly nods to Alsace with Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, Muscat and Riesling all in the mix. The wine offers up so many varied and complex aromatics it's dizzying. In fact, if there was a wine that you might just sit around and bury your nose in the glass, this is it. Floral aromatics mix with apricot, peach skin and green apple, there's an underlying tone of sweetness as well. The wine delivers as much fun when it comes to the palate as well. Loads of minerality, flavors of sweet hay and honey as well as melon and ripe apricots lead into a mouth-filling white wine with both supple roundness and a crisp finish. For $15 you've got yourself a beautiful food friendly wine or one to while away those long Northwest summer day, which will come eventually. Right? In any case get your Unwine'd tickets and just pretend.

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All of Oregon is on Display: Unwine'd Celebrate Oregon Wine

Governor John Kitzhaber declared May of 2012 to be "Oregon Wine Month," so it's appropriate to kick it off with an event on April 29th. Portland's Left Bank Annex will host a tasting event for Oregon wine unlike any other, showcasing one hundred wineries representing the variety of the state, from the Columbia Gorge's Phelps Creek Vineyards to the far reaches of Southern Oregon and Roxy Ann. Oregon wine is more than just Pinot Noir and it's more than just terroir driven perfection, it's a huge business for the state. The wine industry in Oregon is 13,500 jobs at 850 vineyards over 20,000 acres and 420 wineries. It's a big deal. It's a $2.7 billion dollar a year big deal.

What should be gleaned from all those numbers is that it's time for Oregon to not just embrace its wine industry but to celebrate it. So the Oregon Wine Board in cooperation with some fantastic partners is helping us do just that with the Unwine'd; Celebrate Oregon Wine event.

In addition to all the wine, more than a dozen restaurants from Portland, the Willamette Valley and Southwest Washington will be providing fantastic food to pair with your Pinot,Tempranillo, or Syrah. Many of the restaurants are also recognized by the Oregon Wine Board for their Superior Cellars, an award that acknowledges the support from local restaurants when it comes to having a significant amount of local wine on their lists.

The real goal of an event like Unwine'd, and a major mission of the Oregon Wine Board, is not world domination but rather to make Oregon wine the first choice of any wine drinker in Oregon. If Oregon residents are choosing, asking for and buying Oregon wine then the whole mission is a success. Wine geekery aside, there are so many wine drinkers close to home who don't know much about Oregon wine and certainly aren't aware of the wide variety of wines produced in the state. Unwine'd is an event that can not only provide great tasting entertainment but also a bit of wisdom. Two educational components include a Oregon Meets the World Pinot Noir tasting brought to you by our friends at IPNC and an Oregon white wine tasting. Oregon white wines like Riesling and Chardonnay are of a class of some of the best in the world and I urge to try as many as you can.  Tickets are $50 and come with a souvenir glass. Get them here.

Our recommendation to you is to take the time to Unwine'd on April 29th. We're one of the media sponsors for the event and we're excited to be partnering with the Oregon Wine Board. To that end you'll see a few things coming up here on the Anthem. First is a ticket giveaway. Check and like our Facebook page (here) all week where we'll be asking three Oregon wine related trivia questions. All correct answers will be entered into a random drawing, the contest ends at 7pm on the 30th of March 2012. Additionally for the next little while we'll be featuring Unwine'd Friday Find where our usual Friday Find will highlight a winery pouring at the event. Come Unwine'd in Portland everybody.

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Walla Walla Wine @ Pure Space in Portland, February 27

Walla Walla? Sweet!

Portlanders, prepare to transition from a rainbow of gray into a sunnier state of mind. Our Walla Walla wine friends are bringing their best to Portland on Monday, February 27^th. A rare opportunity, more than 50 wineries will be pouring their celebrated wines from the Walla Walla Valley. Give your palate a respite from Pinot Noir and rekindle your love of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and the bounty of Washington’s superb white wines.

Walla Walla’s most well respected, established wineries will be represented - Woodward Canyon, L’Ecole No 41, Spring Valley Vineyard, Seven Hills Winery to name just a few. Discover more from wineries we’ve mentioned here at the Anthem – Trust Cellars, Dusted Valley, Tranche Cellars, and Dunham Cellars.

Rising stars, under the radar, tried and true – classify them as you like. Get your tickets, enjoy the lofty Pure Space venue in downtown Portland, and experience for yourself why Walla Walla is establishing a presence on the worldwide stage.

A number of winemakers will be on hand at the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance event, so come prepared to ask that question you’ve always wanted to ask. Find the full list of participating wineries and purchase tickets here. Give yourself the gift of wine this Valentine’s month; the $60 price tag is a fraction of the cost for a weekend trip to Walla Walla.

Jealous Seattleites? Your day is coming. This event comes to Sodo Park on March 12th; Save the date!

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This Sunday: Southern Oregon Wines Come to the PDX Park Blocks!

Yo PDX, the Southern Oregon wine scene is comin’ atcha! Over 25 Southern Oregon wineries will be representing their best at the Southern Oregon Winery Association's Grand Tasting event at the Portland Art Museum this Sunday, November 13th from 4 – 7pm.

A perfect opportunity to find that there is in fact wine life, in Oregon beyond Pinot Noir.  Our lovely neighbors to the South are producing an amazing array of warm weather varietals and are really making a name for themselves with Tempranillo and Zinfandel.  You've got Pinot Noir coming out your pores, fact is, you need a Tempranillo cleanse.  Southern Oregon is here to oblige you.

Featured varietals, both unique and familiar, will include Albarino, Viognier, Roussanne,  Malbec, Syrah and many more. Over 100 Southern Oregon wines will be offered, paired with appetizers, to make for a distinctive city tasting experience (and to soften the blow of the weekend... well, ending). Tickets are $39 and can be purchased on the Southern Oregon Wineries website, or by calling (800) 781-9463.

Feel like going for free? Enter to win a pair of tickets to this event by liking the Northwest Wine Anthem page on Facebook and watch for details on Thursday as to how you can win. Good luck, and happy tasting!

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