Bacon & Wine Pairing in Southern Oregon

From Corey McTaggart

                                            Bacon imagery courtesy of Off the Bone BBQ

Did you know that when a web search for “Bacon and Wine Pairing” is properly conducted, every varietal under the sun will populate as a perfect match? Syrah, Cab Franc, Barbera, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel…. The list goes on and on. America’s love for bacon is timeless, however, the foodie caliber fascination of late with bacon has created an obsession unmatched, at least temporarily, by everything but, errr, dare I say… a wine lover’s affection for all fabulous things vin?

Of course, here in the Northwest, we must put a Portland/NW Oregon/hot Southern Oregon spin on it. Our bacon, like our wine, is intentionally local (Wilbur is the name of the most recent bacon donor I partook of), raised in a free-range, organic, healthy, happy, hormone and antibiotic-free, loving environment with flora and fauna variety and Mat Kearney playing in the background.

 We are also very serious about the way our bacon is prepared. Jason Sellers is co-owner of Off The Bone Barbecue and Catering in Southern Oregon and possesses more ardor for bacon than pigs do for mud. He takes pride in perfecting the fine art of bacon barbecue. “Anytime you make something with your own hands from beginning to end, the finished product brings a much larger reward.” Jason attests. “Investing my time into cooking expresses my love for those who get to enjoy the meats of our labor.” Searing, then slow grilling a slab of bacon allows the fat to baste the meat. The result looks nothing like bacon, but produces a moist (not crispy) delicious smoky pink product that will make the traditional bacon strip curl with envy.

 A friend recently forwarded me an invitation for a Southern Oregon wine club event: “Cliff Creek Cellars- Bacon and Wine Pairing! We barbeque local artisan bacon in addition to legendary bacon flown in fresh from the Loveless Café in Tennessee.” DIY pairings with incredible Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Claret and a wonderful white blend resulted in some creativity and a lot of food and wine driven passion. “The biggest hits were the BLT - Bacon, cherry tomato and Rogue Creamery ‘Oregon Blue’ Cheese lettuce wraps with the Roussanne/Marsanne, and a 60% cacao dark chocolate dipped bacon paired with the ‘Cadence’ Port-style Syrah”, Roy Garvin related. Roy is among three generations of the Garvin Family who founded the vineyard and winery in the early 1990s. His mother, Dorothy, standing right beside him in the tasting room, adds “We decided on the Roussane/Marsanne blend at the suggestion of our winemaker, Joe Dobbes.” Cliff Creek crafts an assortment of red wines that are rich and velvety with a distinct hint of cinnamon on the finish well suited for a peppered or maple smoked bacon pairing.

                                             Photo courtesy Cliff Creek Cellars

The buzz created around the bacon and wine events is phenomenal. Emails, calls, RSVPs and a flurry of excuses to cancel on prearranged plans to attend the said bacon pairing events. As a wine advocate, I make it a point to say the name of and pour the wine first when pairing to place emphasis on the wine. However, the craze of bacon (which, I am told, might just be the only substance known on earth to make a vegetarian forget his or her meatless world for a moment) prompts me to blurt out the word “bacon” even before that special vintage bottle title I have so carefully chosen to offer. Gateway meat indeed.

Truth is, I cannot say it’s a bad thing. The most fervent bacon aficionado may be next in line for the CS or MW badge, because, if one loves bacon and wine paired to the quintessential extreme, it may mean one really does adore wine that much, or that, for the very first time, the zeal for a beautiful glass of the good stuff was that much enhanced by the bacon-induced opiates connecting right now with the brain’s receptors, and what could be so wrong about that?

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Coming Soon to PDX: Savor Southern Oregon!

The Southern Oregon Winery Association (SOWA) has given their annual tasting event a makeover and parading it around for all of Portlandia to see – introducing: Savor Southern Oregon! This event, typically held in late Fall, is coming to downtown Portland, Oregon on Sunday, September 16th fully embracing its new time slot (and complementary weather!) in the gorgeous, urban, outdoor space of Director Park.

Together with agri-tourism and event company Farm to Fork, SOWA has broadened the scope of this tasting to partner Southern Oregon farms with several Portland chefs and restaurants as an accompaniment to the over 100 Southern Oregon wines being presented that day. This event is a fantastic opportunity to get acquainted with 25+ wineries and taste the wines of the Southern Oregon region including Roussane, Tempranillo, Malbec and other unique blends. Pair your favorites with gourmet cheeses or artisan chocolates, enjoy live music, enter to win a Southern Oregon getaway, or go back to school with wine education seminars.

We're giving away two pair of tickets to Savor Southern Oregon this week on our Facebook page, so click over there to see what the fuss is all about (like our page and answer some trivia questions to win).  Like mom always says, you can't win if you don't play.

Savor Southern Oregon is Sunday, September 16th from 2 – 6PM in downtown Portland. Nab your advance tickets for $39 here. For those of you more spontaneous folk, tickets are just $50 at the door. Director Park, 815 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR.

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Friday Find, July 27th

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 at or 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.

Each week as part of our Friday Find I try to tie in a little bit of knowledge dropping.  Sometimes its about philosophy, like last week, sometimes it's about literature, like that time I said I didn't like Ken Kesey and made at least one person angry enough to no longer read this blog, and sometimes it's about a thing more essential to the human condition than even those academic pursuits.  Today is such a day.  Today, I'm going to explain to you why those of us who race bicycles shave our legs.

The most typical misconception is that cyclists shave their legs for aerodynamic reasons. This may be a real upside but in order to see that pay off you'd have to be racing at such an elite level that it's not really something I can comprehend.  So, in most cases this has nothing to do with it.  Another reason that's cited and has a lot of credence in the professional cycling ranks is the difficulty that is associated with giving deep tissue massages to the hairy-legged.  In any case, I don't have a soigneur going to work on me, so that's not it here either.

So then why do I shave my legs, particularly given my low ranking within the great bicycle racing community? I'm a Category 3 Cyclocross racer and a Category 4 road racer.  There are no contracts on the horizon for me, unless I get a new cable service or something.

For me it boils down to three things, tradition, vanity and band-aids.  As a guy who's not exactly hair free, shaving your legs is a royal pain in the ass.  All women who do this, and let's face it, they do it because of a male social construct, should be given medals. Shaving your legs is incredibly time consuming and man, when the leg hair is growing back and you're wearing denim. NOT COMFORTABLE.

                       Yours truly a few laps before the crash. thanks to @luchavino for the photo

In cycling circles, real cyclists, those who race specifically, they shave their legs, it's what they do.  If you showed up at a race with hairy legs, no one would give you any respect.  This sounds absolutely insane, and I grant you, it very well may be, but it's true.  Ask someone.

Shaved legs just plain look better in lycra cycling kits.  This is scientifically proven.  I don't really see a need to pursue this line of argument any further.

Lastly, band aids.  Tonight I crashed my bicycle in a criterium.  A criterium is a race the object of which is to go around and around and around.  Many times.  The idea is that come the last lap, you have positioned yourself well to make a surge and win the race.  These races occur here in Seattle every Thursday, and they have no bearing on your official rankings and are not officially sanctioned.  For me, it's not so much about winning or even trying to win as it is about spending as much time as I can at the front of the race, working hard and building up fitness for the coming Cyclocross season. I was actually doing that quite well this evening until I crashed.  It was my own fault.  I came home with some impressive road rash and tomorrow when i have to change the bandages I will be very happy that my legs aren't hairy.

After fixing myself up I poured myself a glass of Rosé from Del Rio Vineyards.  The wine is a 2011 Rosé of Grenache from their Rogue Valley vineyards and on a hot day like this evening it was a lot of fun to drink.  There's a bit of zing to the wine that almost makes you feel as though there's a touch of fizz in the glass, it's got brilliant acidity and loads of fruit forward character that make it fun to drink on it's own.  The wine was barrel fermented and went through a partial maloactic fermentation. Not an example of bone-dry pink austerity rather a playful  yet serious pink wine that is a lot of fun, and it even tastes as though there might be a hint of residual sugar on the wine as it finishes out with round sweet melon flavors.  This Rosé can be had for somewhere in the neighborhood of $12.

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Quady North; at Home in the State of Jefferson

In October of 1941, the mayor of tiny Port Orford, Oregon, announced a plan to secede from the state and join several surrounding counties in southern Oregon and northern California to create the 51st state, the State of Jefferson.  Though the announcement was made more in an effort to draw attention to the lack of infrastructure and support from the state's capitals than it was a serious effort to create a new seat of government, that sense of independence and self reliance has lived on in Oregon's southern reaches.

Today's State of Jefferson ethic can also be applied to the serious wine producing region seeking to make a name for itself independent from Oregon's signature wine in the world-renowned Willamette Valley.  For Herb Quady, it was that spirit of independence and the opportunity to be a part of something in the making that drew him to the Rogue and Applegate Valley region.


"In coming to Southern Oregon, I was hoping to be an integral part of an emerging winegrowing region. I thought it would be fun to be one of the people who could do some of the big work, and help to discover what would really succeed in the region." In moving to Oregon, Herb Quady left behind a post as the Associate Winemaker of the very successful and, at the time, very large, Bonny Doon Vineyards in California.

California had already been established as the birthplace of serious American fine wine.  Herb described the feeling in the industry there as a bit "claustrophobic" with so much having already become so done and all of the big questions had more or less been solved.  In the Oregon's State of Jefferson, Herb found an opportunity to be a part of the discovery. An added bonus was the community of winemakers willing to take chances and display some of that "rogue" mentality within the Rogue Valley.

For Herb, Southern Oregon is special in that it's offering the American wine conversation a new chapter for wine: "big reds" (read: not Pinot Noir).  "We have the opportunity to blaze a kind of third way for red wine, different from that of California and Washington. This way would emphasize balance and grace."  This third path for reds highlights lower alcohols and a focus on the "spicy and savory" character of the varietals rather than an emphasis on making a fruit forward wine.

These wines are made possible by the difference in the climate and topography that makes up this dynamic Southern Oregon wine region.  Elevation ranges from 700 to 6,600 feet and the temperatures tend to be more similar to Walla Walla than to the Willamette Valley.  This means that Southern Oregon can produce a variety of wines that suit a variety of micro-climates.  Cool and warm varietals are doing well, and for Herb Rhone varietals is where he's focused his label's effort, save for his Cabernet Franc which is developing a cult like following.

Herb has found that variability to be one of southern Oregon's greatest assets.  He's produced for his label and, as the winemaker at Troon Vineyard, for Troon's Zinfandel, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Viognier, Vermentino and Riesling, among others. Herb also sees other producers crafting some excellent wines, citing the white Rhone style wines of Cowhorn as well as the Petit Sirahs of both Folin Cellars and Spangler Vineyards.

I sampled several of the Quady North wines and have included tasting notes from a few favorites for brevity's sake.  The labels are visually fresh and eye-catching, in the style of old school "sailor tattoos" and they're designed by Herb's wife Meloney.  Herb says that on occasion someone will remark that the "labels are great, and the wine is good too."  Which is okay by him.

Across the board you notice the lower alcohol levels as well elegance, the wines don't come out and thump you over the head. Instead you've got refined reds that emphasize minerality and complexity and white wines, and a rose that bring acidity and zing to the palate.

We were crazy about the Rosé from Quady North and it was our Friday Find on April 20th and you can find our thoughts on it here.

The 2011 Pistoleta is a blend of Roussanne, Viognier and Marsanne. The wine is pale golden and that brightness carries over to the aromatics with plum blossom and apricot skin. The acidity and fruit forward palate makes this wine a fantastic zesty white with loads of citrus and stone fruit for pairing with food as well as enjoying on it's own with some Summer weather on the porch. $19

2008 4-2, A Syrah blended from 5 different vineyard sites and named for the Quady's daughter's favorite blend of water and fruit juice. The 4-2,A is a nod to Herb's stylistic preference for Northern Rhone Syrah. Aromas of dried figs, blackberry reduction, all with dust and herbal  notes. Flavors of deep black fruits, fennel and chicory root. $25

2008 Cabernet Franc Simply put this is an outstanding wine. With this wine Herb is hoping to bridge the gap between those who love the often forgotten "third wheel" of the Bordeaux varietals and those who often eschew it for it's "green peppper" or "vegetal" descriptors.   Aromatics of clove, and dusty blueberry.  The palate is blue fruits, with loads of dusty earth and spice flavors.  The kicker at the end for me is a touch of eucalyptus or mint. $35 (and worth every penny)

These wines were provided as samples by the winery.

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Young Rogues in the Rogue Valley; God King Slave Wines

They say that in youth, everything seems possible.  The youngest wine-making operation in Oregon right now believes just that.  Christine Collier and winemaker Chris Jiron have taken their sense of possibility and their commitment to the wines of Oregon to the state's southern reaches. They hope in their loyalty to this part of the state and in the creation of their own label, God King Slave wines, that both the region and their wine can become an important part of the Oregon wine conversation.

New Frontiers
For Christine, Southern Oregon represents opportunity and for Chris it's a return home.  For both of them and their commitment and love of Oregon-made wine it presented a much more open door to wine-making than the already crowded Willamette Valley. Chris was drawn to an opportunity in wine production opened at Folin Cellars and Christine saw the region as a perfect place to launch a new label and a new adventure, a dynamic and growing region which can produce quality fruit and interesting wines.  As a region it's beautiful and rugged and wide open when it comes to the kinds of wines you can make.

As the southern frontier of Oregon wine, Southern Oregon represents tremendous opportunity but it's not without its challenges.  For better or for worse, the region does lack some of the seriousness that you find in the Willamette Valley and you still see an excess of retired millionaires who want to own a vanity project winery. On the other side of things, you're also seeing real talent in wine making at Quady North, Cowhorn and Folin Cellars.  Southern Oregon is without a doubt though the right place for God King Slave.  Chris and Christine are invested and are willing to do whatever they can to help it become a region that reaches its potential.  They've also been embraced by the region: Chris is the assistant winemaker at Folin Cellars and Christine does marketing and public relations for Troon Vineyards.  "Without Rob Folin, we couldn't do God King Slave," says Christine.  Rob hired Chris and has allowed them to get access to fruit and equipment to help get God King Slave off the ground.

Old World Homage
With the first vintage in the books, the wine style at God King Slave is still evolving.  There weren't any gimmicks or trends that drove the decisions about the kind of wines they set out to make.  For Chris and Christine it was about making the kinds of wines they appreciated: elegant wines with proper acidity, perhaps an undeniable remnant of their time in the Willamette Valley where Chris studied wine making and Christine worked at Willamette Valley Vineyards.  The result is a very intentional approach to the fruit and the wine.  "We pick on flavors and not brix.  Our red wine for 2010 and 2011 will barely break 13% alcohol, but they don't lack body or character in our eyes."  Last year was a cold vintage in Southern Oregon and God King Slave had picked all of their fruit before most folks had even picked their whites.  Add to that an adherence to keeping the wood from clobbering the fruit and you have a very neutral oak regiment and a wine that offers a stylistic nod to the Old World.

The biggest decision they made, however, was to blend.  That wasn't in the plan and so is the result of a happy accident. Christine was cleaning up after some blending trials and poured the Tempranillo in with her Syrah. When they tasted it, they both just knew, but the decision to go with it was a laborious one.  Will people really think of this as a blend? Would people think of them as idiots? Could they sell it?  Doubts aside, they knew it was their best effort and so they got comfortable with the idea.

The Future
God King Slave will release a 2011 Sauvignon Blanc in May.  Chris spent the last harvest in New Zealand and his fondness for New Zealand's Sauvignon Blancs drove a desire to give the varietal a try.  This doesn't necessarily set the direction for God King Slave moving forward.  There is a desire to do a white wine and long term a third, yet completely unidentified wine.  For Christine offering three different wines gives God King Slave both focus and variety while acknowledging that the goal is to strike a balance between being unique but not so far out there that only the geekiest of wine geeks is interested.

For Chris and Christine this is about a commitment and belief in the wine industry.  They're not wealthy and that's not the ultimate goal.  It's about making a living doing what they love, which is making wine.  That financial reality can making it challenging to grow in production size and so they're doing what they can for now.  They'll go up in production from 2011 to the 2012 vintage by 80 cases to get them to 250.  It's a slow process but they're not looking for short cuts and are realistic about their limitations.  The goal, make the best wines they can, stay true to potential of Southern Oregon and make something that people will be impressed by and interested in.

What's In a Name
Writing about God King Slave, the name itself feels like an "elephant in the room."  The inclusion of the terms God and Slave may make you uncomfortable.  The name comes from a quote by the sculptor, Constantin Brancusi, and the intention was never to push people's comfort levels.  The renowned artist is known as the patriarch of modern sculpture and the complete quote is "Create like a god, command like a king, work like a slave." The quote resonated with Chris and after a lot of coaxing he won Christine over.  I can see how people are made uncomfortable by it, yet Christine says "To me it's less offensive than a winery named after someone's daughter or a stream the runs through their property.  It stands for something, which is a lot more than most brands do."

The Wine
I'm going to be honest - I wanted to like this wine before I'd even tried it.  The Northwest wine world is a small one, and while I've never actually met Christine in person, I knew her by reputation.  Hers is a very good one and I've been impressed with what I've seen when she's been involved.   The thing is though, the wine is incredibly good, I mean, it's really good.  (I've also gotten second opinions just to be sure.)

Split down the middle a Tempranillo and Syrah blend that delivers dried figs, black cherry reduction, dust, and smoky, meaty aromatics.  The wine is absolutely lovely, with fantastic structure and the low alcohol speaks volumes about what can be done without overripe fruit when it comes to Tempranillo, which is far too rare these days. There's loads of fruit, and no wood to be found on this wine. The flavors mingle beautifully with plums, clove, and herbal notes. A proper amount of acidity delivers a lasting finish, it makes me think of some Spanish blends I've had or even aromatically of a Minervois. I didn't know a thing about Constantin Brancusi before I researched this piece, but I think another of his quotes is in order, "Don't look for mysteries, I bring you pure joy."  If you enjoy real wine, appreciate elegance, and don't look for over-ripe flavors, you'll be impressed by the God King Slave.  Only 90 cases were produced and only $26 is an incredible price for a wine this good.

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Friday Find, May 4

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.

People are going to start to worry about us at this rate.  Last week's Friday Find was a nod to the ancient practices of Alchemy and the red blend Script & Seal, and here we are this week talking about Druids.   Here's the weird thing about the Druids, we don't really know anything about them.  I mean, at least Wikipedia doesn't and if Wikipedia doesn't well then, that knowledge doesn't exist.  What we do know about the Druids is that they were fairly frightening and mysterious. They were a priestly group in the British Isles and they killed people.



I think the most bizarre part of this whole Druid mystery is that there's no debating their existence and on a very clear level their importance within Gaelic society, but what's lost is any clarity on what they did, believed and why they burned so many people alive.  We do know that the believed in the immortality of the soul and perhaps in some form of reincarnation.  There is a definite Druid connection to Stonehenge and it's use to celebrate the summer solstice, in lieu of naked cycling. That is where the definitive information seems to run cold, what has been pieced together about the Druid culture is that it was a priestly one, with descriptions ranging from sacrificial crazies to intellectual and theological pillars of the community.  What's clear is that they wore hooded robes and had beards, probably.

The Druid's Fluid from Troon Vineyard is a nod to Dick Troon's Scottish roots and is the name for the vineyard's "mistake wine."  A blend of Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet and Zinfandel with a touch of sweetness (1.55 Residual Sugar) and ample acidity the wine is a lot of fun to drink. It strikes me as a great summer BBQ wine, and reminds me with it's acidity and touch of sweetness of the German red the Dornfelder.  The aromatics are slightly funky at first, but give way to loads of fruit with cherries and strawberries.  The palate has that touch of sweet berry and a fruit forward character that's backed with ample acidity.

That touch of sweetness was that first mistake, in 2000 some Syrah with insufficient nitrogen resulted in a stuck fermentation.  The wine therefore retained some of it's sugar and the result was a sweet red wine.  Friends of Dick Troon found it to be an enjoyable easier drinker and so they've recreated the wine by stopping fermentation before all of the sugar is broken down. The result is a fruit forward red wine with great acidity and a kiss of sweetness, don't think tacky California sweet wine, think Old World German Dornfelder and for $18 it's a nice change of pace. You can find the wine fairly readily throughout Oregon, in Fred Meyer and Safeway or check out the dope wine locator beacon on the Troon website to track it down.  Suspend your disbelief about sweet red wines, and maybe do a side by side tasting with a Dornfelder you'll see for yourself. I'd recommend drinking it after chilling slightly next to your favorite home grilled burger.  Stay away from any Druids though.

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Unwine'd Friday Find, April 20

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.

Today's Find is the last time 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. We gave away two pair of tickets and the word I hear is that the event is selling like hotcakes. (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.

Unwine'd is not however just about Pinot or just about the Wilamette Valley, and so we head south for this week's Friday Find and the final Unwine'd Friday Find before the big event on April 29th.  Oregon's Rogue and Applegate Valleys can produce some very nice examples of Syrah, Zinfandel and Tempranillo as well as Viognier.  Today's Friday Find is a Rosé of Grenache and Syrah (or at least as best I can tell) from Quady North. (We'll be doing a lengthy feature on them in May.)

Herb Quady is the proprietor and winemaker at the namesake label Quady North but Herb has bounced around with winemaking stints at California's Bonnny Doon (as associate winemaker) as well as currently making wines at Troon Vineyard.  Making Quady North the only place he hasn't made wine that doesn't rhyme with loon.  The labels at Quady North might be the first thing to grab your attention and there's a good reason for it, they're colorful bright and bring to mind the classic imagery of old sailor tattoos. While the Spring weather has really been an exercise is torture lately, warm and sunny days appearing only for the drab grey weather to return, we're on the cusp of Rosé season.  In fact, I'm drinking Rosé just on principal.

The Rosé from Quady North is electric pink and has wide open floral aromatics right from the jump.  Done as a saignée this rose comes across with loads of melon, peach skin and a hint of fresh mint delivers you to the finish.  The acidity is perfect for pairing this wine with anything light but it will likely cut through the fatty grilled meats of summer as well.  For $13.50 you'd have to be ridiculous to pass on this find.  The Quady North wines are fairly readily available through out the PDX metro area check out Zupan's and New Seasons and get this Rosé before it's all gone.

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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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Secret Lover: Abacela's Paramour

As a general rule, when people think "Oregon" and "wine" in the same thought, it's usually Pinot Noir that comes to mind. Pinot Noir is the varietal that garners the most attention and press, but as Southern Oregon becomes more well known as a serious wine region, it may well be the Zinfandel or Tempranillo grown there that demonstrates how truly excellent the region's wines can be.

Earl and Hilda Jones had a vision of Tempranillo in the Spanish style and founded Abacela almost twenty years ago after searching for a site that would allow them to grow the varietal that inspired them. They landed in Southern Oregon's Umpqua Valley and planted their first Tempranillo in 1995. Award winning Tempranillo in the winery's library will be joined this year by a new denizen: the newly-introduced Paramour. This wine, which Abacela has been working toward since they first planted vines, is made from their top estate vineyard selections. For Abacela, this wine is the culmination of their desire to produce a wine that can rival the Spanish greats (the Gran Reserva) while highlighting the unique terroir that makes Oregon wine so lovely.

Earl Jones notes that "Paramour is an old Middle English word meaning 'other love'" and says they chose that name to reflect the 20 years they spent pioneering Tempranillo while also underscoring the meticulous attention that goes into its production. The philosophy at Abacela emphasizes hands-off winemaking that allows the variety and terroir to come through. Jones said that they knew from crush that the 2005 was the year for Paramour. The rainy spring and the dry, warm summer created perfect conditions for exquisitely ripe fruit. From the harvest, they selected "only the finest lots for the Paramour concentrating on making a proprietary Tempranillo blend that is greater than the sum of its parts."

The suggested price for this one is $90 ($540 if you're the type to buy your wine six at a time). You can place pre-orders online until November 12, when the wine becomes available to the public (wine club members get first dibs).

(Vineyard photo from 541 Live)

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Zin...In Perfect Balance

By Corey McTaggart

Clouds and fog disappeared from sight in the rear view mirror as I rounded curves of highway into the Applegate Valley. Blue skies are typical in this hidden, yet wide-open microclimate of southern Oregon. Thirty-nine year-old Zinfandel vines are illuminated by sunlight which glows more than 300 days every vintage here.

Dick Troon pulled out a 1980 Zinfandel, dust thick on the bottle, from one of his vineyard’s first harvests. Thirty years later, the wine has continued to age beautifully. Troon, a true pioneer of Oregon wines, has believed in great Zinfandel grown in the Applegate Valley of Southern Oregon for decades. He began planting his vineyard in 1972; the original Troon Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon are now among the oldest vines in the state.


Troon’s history with Zinfandel began on a business trip to the Healdsburg area of California in the late 1960's. A private tour given by the proprietors of Simi Winery revealed how much vineyard selection, attention to detail, and a lot of TLC can do for the grape, and ultimately, the wine. Setting down roots in the Applegate, Troon noted the similarities in vegetation and “a better daylight factor” (sun on the vines an hour longer each day than regions further south), and decided, "if they can do it, we can do it better". Sourcing vines from UC Davis by way of Oregon State University, Troon's methods included dropping enough fruit, including the shoulders of each grape cluster, so that the berries would not so much as touch each other. He explained that this is absolutely essential to avoiding bunch rot. He also noted that the grapes in this region are harvested 30-45 days later than California vineyards. Between the sun, and selective harvest -sometimes three different picking seasons per acre - the fruit ripened to the height of its potential.

The world began to take notice.

At a trade and press tasting in London, 1997, Troon's Zinfandel was the most talked about wine among bottles from some 26 wineries. The participants of a Chicago Tribune tasting of Zinfandels and Primitivos from around the world laughed when they heard of a Zin from Oregon… until they tasted it. Without exception they loved the wine and wanted to know how they might obtain more. Troon, now in his 80s, sold the winery to a friend a few vintages ago and these Zinfandels have continued striking gold (medals), and the highest acclaim, on a global level.

On the expansive patio at Schmidt Family Vineyard, notes of sweet cranberry, tangerine zest, chocolate pudding and clove jumped from a glass of "Zinphony". This 50/50 Zin-Cab Sauvignon blend could be likened to liquid chocolate cake with a drizzle of balsamic and raspberry reduction and finished with just a hint of white pepper. Four generations of the Schmidt family serve guests in a glorious garden and hand-built tasting room of world class beauty.

Schmidt's Zinfandel cuttings were taken from Rex and Sandy Garoutte's vineyard next door, which were planted in 2001, obtained from Joe and Susie Ginet’s Zin, which in turn originated from Dick Troon’s stock. Four doors down from Troon, Dave and Elaine Trump planted a Zinfandel vineyard with cuttings from Troon’s front Zin, and Jacksonville Vineyards sourced their Zin from Trump’s. Shasta View Vineyard in Northern California grows and bottles Zinfandel which stemmed from Troon’s Zin plantings as well.

Up the hill at tiny Wooldridge Creek Winery, club members relaxed and sipped as if part of the extended family. In fact, members purchase most of the Wooldridge Zinfandel as futures before its release each vintage. Ted Warrick, one of the four (all local) owners, planted Zin from Dick Troon’s cuttings in the early 1990's.

As Warrick emphasized, dropping fruit is their recipe for success with Zinfandel as well. The vines will set eight tons to the acre; however, for quality, Wooldridge drops clusters and cultivates only two tons to the acre. Warrick mentioned the vast differences in terroir; the diurnal variation in temperature - hot days and cool nights result in a wine of lower alcohol - 13 to 14 percent. He compared this style, which he mentioned pairs better with food, to wines of 16 percent or more alcohol and jammy, low acid qualities that can develop in hot climates. The enzymes which are necessary to metabolize acids are heat dependent, and when temperatures remain in the 70's at night, the grapes never stop ripening during the wee hours as pH soars and acid continues to plummet.

When the natural acid drops out of the grape before harvest, it must be chemically added in the laboratory. Sometimes this artificial acidulation causes negative physical effects on the consumer.

In contrast, the Applegate Valley Zinfandels retain their own perfect balance, naturally. Troon smiled, with a sparkle in his eye. "My wine will never give you a headache."

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