Willamette Valley Wines: High Quality, Rising Prices

In a change of pace from the normal beer and pub reviews, today we'll focus a bit on wine.

This weekend, several wineries around the Willamette Valley opened their private doors for advance tastings of their fall releases. While over 100 wineries in the region expect hordes of visitors over the Thanksgiving weekend, these wineries devoted these early tastings to regular customers, and in some cases admitted guests by invitation only.

My group of nine wine aficionados started at a place affectionately called "The Nut House," an old filbert-shelling plant taken over by Sineann, Owen Roe,, and O'Reilly's. The three wineries offered twenty-four wines, including Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Cabernet and blended wines at prices ranging from $12 to $60. With so many wines, it was impossible to try them all, but we made a valiant effort. From Sineann, my favorite was the 2005 Old Vine Zinfandel, overpriced just a tad for my budget at $36/bottle ($30 by the case). Their three pinots were also good but somewhat extracted, very acidic, and priced well above their competitors at the same quality levels ($30-$48/$25-$42). Their Resonance was a fine, balanced Pinot but wines of equal quality can be found for much less elsewhere.

Owen Roe's wines were more varied both in terms of grape variety and quaffability. Their Dundee Hills Pinot was not up to its $42 price tag. Their Sharecropper's Cabernet Sauvingnon was a good value at $18 ($15 by the case) and much better than O'Reilly's Cab at $13. Of their two Syrahs, the Lady Rosa was much superior to the Ex Umbris, but at nearly twice the price ($45 vs $24) it priced itself out of consideration.

Our next stop was to a brand-new winery just opening its doors for the first time: Barking Frog. As with Sineann and Owen Roe, we found their Pinot quite acceptable but at $32, too expensive for what you get. However, their two hot-climate varietals, a Sangiovese ($25) and a Syrah ($30), were quite nice and great values for that quality of wine. The Sangiovese was fruit-forward and lightly tannic but surprisingly dry in the finish. The Syrah was bold and round but still soft on the palate with a moderately fruity finish.

Stop number three was Adelsheim Vineyard. I skipped the Chardonnay as I've had it often, but the Auxerrois was a nice, crisp white in limited production; it probably will run out this weekend. Their 2005 Willamette Valley Pinot was excellent and at$30 ($24 case price) was well worthwhile. The 2005 Elizabeth's Reserve at $44 ($36 case price) was an outstanding wine but not worth $12/bottle more IMHO. The 2005 Bryant Creek at $42 ($34) is more acidic and assertive and will age well, but it flavor was still a bit sharp and is not ready to be served on my dinner table.

Brick House had only three wines to taste, and if I were not on their mailing list, I might not have stayed for the $20 tasting fee (which included a souvenir glass). However, I'm glad I did get to taste. I'm not a fan of Chardonnay, typically, but theirs was light and crisp - more of the French Style than the sweet California-style wines we more typically get here in Oregon. Their Gamay Noir is an aggressive, fruit-forward wine that would complement any meal and at $22 will protect your more expensive wines and still give great satisfaction. Brickhouse did not produce their usual Cuvee in 2005 due to low yields, but instead produced a blended Pinot Noir that was smooth and balanced, with a definite fruit nose and palate and enough acidity and tannins in the backbone to give it good aging quality. At $30 this wine out-tasted all of the $40+ pinots we'd had all day; however, that price goes up $5 as of November 24.

Brickhouse also offered tastings from the barrel of a 2006 Pommard clone. The partially fermented juice was big and bold, particularly for a Pinot. Vineyard staff tasted and tested their crop twice daily to find the optimum point for harvest in terms of yield, sugar content and acidity. Whereas they, like probably all Pinot vineyards, suffered a low-acid but high-Brix crop in 2006, proper acidulation as practiced by Brickhouse winemaker Doug Tonnelier will make 2006 a banner year for Oregon wines, especially Pinot Noir.

Our final stop was Brickhouse's neighbor, Grochau Cellars, housed with Aramenta. Due to growing palate fatigue we limited our tasting there. Grochau and Aramenta wines vary in quality with the character of the yield more so than many other wines I have encountered, but they are good value wines in strong vintage years. Unfortunately 2005 was not one of those in my opinion: they were unable to soften the harsh acidity that many winemakers encountered. Their Reserve Pinot Noir ($34) was significantly better - softer, more balanced, with well-defined fruit - than their "regular" 2005 Pinot Noir.

Overall, we found that many Oregon winemakers are pursuing top-dollar price points with their pinot noirs and no doubt are finding willing buyers. High demand for this increasingly popular wine will continue to push its price up, particularly for low-yield years like 2005. 2006's high-yield, high-Brix, low-acidity crop will enable skilled winemakers to fulfill this growing demand next year and increase profits without, hopefully, raising prices. Meanwhile, the Oregon market, and particularly the Willamette Valley, maintains its diversity with hot-climate wines such as Syrah and Sangiovese from the Columbia Valley and southern Oregon region, giving price-sensitive consumers alternatives in a Pinot-dominated region.