Sip - McMinnville Wine and Food Classic

The McMinnville Wine and Food Classic is one of my favorite single-site wine events during the year. It's held at the Evergreen Space Museum and features nearly 70 wineries and 25 restaurants and catering companies from the Northwest. They also feature guest chef demonstrations with the opportunity to sample what they've made. We've been museum members for the past couple of years, so we get in to the wine event for just 4 dollars, with free parking - you can't beat that.

Rachel had a swim meet this weekend, but was able to come with me on Friday. We arrived shortly after they opened at 3pm, and after paying our $4 each we picked up our glasses (stemless - yuk), we did our usual walk through to see who was here. As at Newport, we were warmly greeted by John Olson at Palotai, Dyson Demara at Hillcrest, Amy at David Hill, and several others. Although it happens every time, it's still so cool that the Oregon wine industry is small enough that you can get to know the wine makers, owners and tasting room staff of your favorite wineries. We then started in tasting (tasting notes at the end). We had skipped a few wineries at Newport that we knew were going to be at McMinnville, so we made sure to visit most of those. We also went to one of the guest chef demonstrations where Robert Young of Spirit Mountain Casino made a cold seafood salad and oyster stew. Not bad for buffet food. We also ran into one of the boys' former piano teachers, Dana Libonati who was playing some nice piano jazz at the event.

Saturday I was on my own, and timed my trip down so that I went through Carlton at noon so that I could stop at Scott Paul for the release party for his new D122 Pinot Noir. Named after the 2-lane road that runs through many Grand Cru vineyards in Burgundy, this is a barrel selection of some of Scott's best fruit from Ribbon Ridge vineyard that he blended. It was subtle and refined with good red and black fruit.

Next, it was off to the space museum for more wine tasting. I tasted through quite a few more wineries, and attended a sausage making demo from Brian Potts, the chef at Tina's in Dundee. I had hoped to stick around until at least 6 so I could hear the Ellen Whyte trio perform (I know the drummer), but was just worn out so I headed home. I missed talking to some of our favorite wine makers and growers (Trudy and Keith Kramer among them), but just ran out of time and energy.

Overall, a great event, but the quality of wine (other than a few notable exceptions) was just not what I'd remembered from last year. I suspect that the wine was just as good, but we're getting a lot pickier about what we actually buy. I'm definitely planning to go again next year - the combination of a great venue, good wine, good food, cooking demos and good music make it a very worthwhile event. As I said last year, it's Newport for more serious wine tasters.

Tasting notes:

Viento - southern Oregon winery we hadn't tasted before. Met the winemaker who said I looked just like Dave Whitehouse, the winemaker at Trefethen. Maybe in a few years...

07 Verona white - generic white blend
06 Voigner - not enough acid, OK to sip, but would be overwhelmed by most food.
08 Riesling - very nice sipper, not enough acid
06 Pinot Noir - not bad for a warmer climate Pinot Noir.
05 Sangiovese - warm and fruity
07 Barbera - smooth and well integrated. Not overly fruity or big
?? Syrah - Dark, good example of warm climate Syrah
07 Rieswling select harvest - OK but kind of thick

Angel Vine - a small producer who started out with Pinot Noir, but fell in love with Zinfandel

08 Zin - Nice and fruity but too young
08 Zin Horse Heaven Hills - Young and a bit rough
08 Primativo - Less wood, also too young.

Cathedral Ridge

Chardonnay - don't remember, didn't write anything about it.
Riesling - not enough acid
Necessity Red - fun, spritzy blend
06 Cab - smooth and spicy
07 Merlot - very similar to my Merlot - fruity, simple
07 Cab/Merlot - smooth, slightly spicy
07 Syrah - spicy, pepper, very nice
07 Syrah Reserve - velvet mouth feel, maybe too smooth.

Marsh Anne Landing - OK, so what's with the UFO and alien theme? Oh, I get it - Marsh Anne Landing, Martian Landing... Anyway, a small family vineyard who makes there own (pretty good) wine. We very much enjoyed talking with the owners and tasting through their wines. All were very well made.

07 Caballo - Tempranillo/Grenache blend with interesting fruit, mellow tempranillo
07 Cab Franc - gentle, but varietally correct
05 Red Planet - B'dx blend. Good, but not a standout.
05 Merlot - fruit with structure
05 Syrah - Good, but not a standout.

Bradley - Another farm family making wine from their vineyards, I'd met them last year and again enjoyed their wines. They were using a very cool bulb aerator pouring spout on their bottles that was endlessly fascinating.

Dry Riesling - pretty good, but not enough acid
Off-dry Riesling - OK. Milky. Not enough acid
08 Baco Noir - very nice, fruity and slightly complex (for a Baco)
Sugar-n-Spice - Port-style Gewurztraminer. Strong with notes of melon and mango.

Johan - Another small Pinot Noir producer whose wines I'd tried last year and liked.

07 Estate PN - very nice, slightly earthy and smoky.
07 Estate Reserve PN - less interesting. Smoother, but slightly bitter

Emerson - we tried some of these wines at Newport and were favorably impressed

08 Pinot Noir - Big smoke and earth, good fruit, not over the top. Simple mid-palate with a long finish. A real bargain at $20.

Youngberg Hill - Tried their wine last year and thought it was pretty good. Made by Joe Dobbes

09 Pinot Blanc - good acid, nice
09 Pinot Gris - kind of flat
07 Pinot Gris - slightly oaked. Meh...
07 Natasha Block Pinot Noir - wow, smooth and dark, smoky, and earthy.
07 Jordan Block Pinot Noir - very nice, elegant smoky, but more delicate than the Natasha

Crater Lake - We've had their wine a couple of times at Greatest of the Grape and at Newport. Lots of good red wine, but didn't take detailed notes here.

Syrah/Grenache blend - very nice
Recioto-style Merlot - excellent.
Cab - OK
Merlot 29 - big and bold
Merlot - OK
Grenache - nice and fruity
Syrah - nice warm-climate Syrah

Illahe

08 Pinot Gris - crisp, good
07 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir - Wow, very nice for $20, smooth, fruity, long finish
07 Reserve PN - a barrel selection, elegant and smooth

Wild Aire

06 Pinot Noir - nicely balanced, not over-fruity
08 Pinot Noir 'Timothy' - light with a good strawberry finish
08 Tempranillo - smooth, but slightly bitter at the end

Séjourné - Another local favorite new winery owned by one of the winemakers at Zenas along with his wife.

08 no-oak Chardonnay - very nice, crisp and fruity. Certainly not sterile.
09 Pinot Gris - good, crisp, and fruity
08 Pinot Noir - light, bright, nice
07 Pinot Noir reserve - light with strawberry and some depth. Not too big

Quenette - Tasted through their wines last year and liked them. Lots of big reds, all varietally correct.

Chard, Pinot Gris, Viogner (3 different wines) - all had pretty good acid, but were not that interesting.

Sangiovese - good, fruity

Barbera - warm and fruity, pretty typical WA Barbera

Cab - OK, not a standout

Zinfandel - nice peppery Zin

Syrah - nice, slightly peppery

Abacela - Southern Oregon tempranillo pioneer, they make lots of nice wine.

08 Viognier - crisp, slightly bitter

08 Rosado - nice, bright and light

07 Garancha - dark fruit, very smooth

06 Malbec - subtle, not tons of fruit, nice

07 Tempranillo Umpqua Cuveé - big and slightly tannic

05 Tempranillo Reserve - big, fruity, and structured, but not all that "warm"

00 Port style - nice traditional port-style wine. Smooth and warm.

Stone Wolf - We used to buy this label of Pinot Noir from the grocery store before we really got into wine.

08 Chardonnay - all stainless. Not enough acid.

08 Muller-Thurgau - off sweet, not bad

05 Cab Suav - pretty typical southern Oregon cab. slightly bitter.

Vitis Ridge - I like their wine, but Rachel won't taste them because she doesn't like their label design. Foch has been consistently good, but they weren't tasting it today.

Chardonnay - stainless, fairly forgettable

Riesling - crisp, but not quite enough acid

Merlot - very good, smooth tannins

Malbec - very nice and fruity

Pinot Noir and Pinot Noir Reserve - not bad, but nothing special

Cab Franc - very smooth and fruity, not bitter as Cab Franc can be.

Barking Frog - We first met Ron and his wife at a First Wednesday in Forest Grove, and have been enjoying his wine ever since. He's a meticulous winemaker and lets the grapes and vintage speak.

07 Pinot Noir (all Wädenswil) - very nice, subtle and earthy

07 Pinot Noir Blakeslee - more structured, fruit and earth.

08 Sangiovese Elerding - light and bright with good fruit

08 Barbera - fruity and warm. 16.3% ABV but well balanced

07 Syrah - wonderful. Some pepper, but not as much as the 05, chocolate notes

06 Cab Sauv - warm and very smooth

08 Syrah Ice Wine - wow, smooth and sweet but very well balanced

Dukes Family Vineyard - Another winery we met at First Wednesday, they have a vineyard and have just finished building an on-site winery (currently making their wine at 12th and Maple). Their first few vintages were made by Gary Andrus who passed away in Jan 2009. They make some really great Pinot Noir, but since we'd just tasted it over the pre-Thanksgiving weekend, I decided just to try their new offering:

09 Rosé - very light, bright and pleasant

Biggio Hamina - We had tried their wine once before, at last year's Yamhill-Carlton tasting event in Portland.

07 Pinot Noir Deux Vert Vineyard - very nice, dark and deep
08 Pinot Noir Zenith - good, but not a lot behind it
07 Syrah Deux Vert - spicy, but slightly bitter or "pinched"

River's Edge

Semi-sweet Gewurztraminer - good flavor, floral, but not enough acid
07 Pinot Noir barrel select - smoky, complex, and very nice. We've had this one several times from different vintages and consistently like it.
08 Pinot Noir - smoky, fairly simple. Good, but not all that interesting.