Here we are just a half hour south of Portland getting ready for the “crush”. It is a fun, but strenuous time in the winemaking cycle- but it doesn’t have to be too serious!
We were founded by European immigrants Josef & Lilli who knew that getting to harvest is a lot of long hours and hard work. So they brought a little bit of European fun into the season by hosting a “GrapeStomping” festival to kick off the harvest. What started with friends and neighbors having a glass and stomping in a metal milk buckets has evolved into a nearly famous good time. The 27th annual Grapestomping Festival - occurs this weekend Sept 26 & 27thfrom 12-6. The fest is complete with a Bavarian Band playing some great music (it’s not all chicken dancing), 400lbs of St Josef’s special recipe bratwurst, homemade kraut, wine tasting, stomping in an 800 gallon oak barrel and much more.
Come on out for some fun and to taste our special Willamette Valley reserve wines. We will have all of our current releases and reserves open for tasting this weekend including the highly regarded 2003 KB Cabernet and multiple award winning ‘03 KB Merlot. And to make sure everyone knows how good 2003 really was- we are finally ready to sell our ‘03 Kitara “Starling Hill” Pinot Noir. This single block vinetage from one of our southwest facing hillsides was made from an outstanding year- and unfortunately a year that the birds ate nearly everything in sight. We were able to salvage only a few tons of fruit from our best hillside lot and made only 100 or so cases. It has aged nearly 3 years in the bottle and is now fully ripe- great cherry on the nose with a long lingering finish of fine tobacco & smoke. Absolutely lovely.
Come on out & try some Oregon Pinot Noir that is worth the price- not overpriced.