Posts Tagged ‘Wine Making’

White wines & roses…enjoy Portland!

Monday, May 24th, 2010

It is spring in Oregon…that means little league tournaments in 50 degree weather combined with hail & rain.  Many of my friends from across the country think we’re crazy for living here!  But we in the wine business know the truth.  When we get one sunny day we take advantage of it and we ignore the other days as just being normal weather.  And yes- we have great wines  to help us ease the pain of living somewhere sunny, warm, crowded and conventional.

We have been working on a blended white wine since early fall & now we have finally released it.  Winemaker Josef has put together a crisp, aromatic wine that contains five of the varietals that we grow in our estate vineyards. This lovely combination of Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Riesling with a little bit of Gewurztraminer & Sauvignon Blanc is everything we’ve hoped for.  Layers of interesting fruit & evergreen notes on the nose, subtle fruit & smoothness in the mid-palette and a long dry finish.  Great for sipping & sharing.  It is called “Lilli” and is named for  ‘the boss’ and matriarch of the family.

Currently only available in the tasting room & wine club- come on out & try it!

Articles — Tags: , , , , , , , — May 24, 2010

Thanksgiving is over- now it’s time for holiday wine & cheers….(and Syrah)

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

Yeah! We lived through the H1n1 AND the Thanksgiving weekend all while enjoying some good times & good wines!  While many folks tour the Willamette Valley and get soaked in tasting fees and crowds- we are lucky enough to be off the beaten path.  Meaning fewer folks and more time to hobnob. The family ‘worked’ the tasting room this past weekend- as we always do.  And when I say ‘worked’ I mean its a privilege to be able to have an alternate lifestyle than what corporate America allows.  Here we are- chatting up visitors from all over the place while sampling our Estate grown wines and enjoying life.

Over the past year we have watched our small bottlings (most in the 100-300 case range) grow & develop into new wines.  The 2004 Kitara Syrah started out as a deep, tart, peppery wine.  Now it has matured and mellowed in the bottle creating a rustic, Rhone style wine with complex dark fruit & long tobacco finish.  A different wine from just a year ago- and it will grow to be a different wine next year.  Syrah is a fabulous grape and grows into a different character  based on the soils and climate.  Our cool climate here in the Willamette Valley is nicely suited to a more earthy version and does more than compliment it’s Syrah cousins grown in the hotter locals of Paso Robles or the Columbia Valley.  If you haven’t had a Willamette Valley Syrah yet- try one.  We aren’t the only ones that have planted some Syrah to take advantage of a great grape in a great growing region.  So try some - before they get too popular.

Articles — Tags: , , — December 1, 2009

Harvest is over- now it’s time for wine tasting in Oregon

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

The fog is thick across the valley this morning- but thankfully we have just finished picking our 2009 harvest.  And it a word- ‘fantabulous’!  We started harvesting this year about a week early- and since we had a long dry summer and warm dry fall the sugar is quite nice.  It is really something to have both great quality fruit and enough of it to make some really unique wines.  In 2008 we had great fruit- however the late spring caused the vineyards in the Willamette Valley to have half the harvest of a normal year.

Next up on the agenda is getting the reds through fermentation- (we’re about halfway) and starting to rack off the whites.  Come on out & see what’s happening at our crush pad patio.  You can even sample some of our white wines that are halfway through fermenting.  In Germany its called Nue-Wine (new wine) and it’s like drinking a NW Heffeweizen beer- cloudy & cool.   While it’s sounds weird to many ‘winos’ it is actually a normal occurance in a winery- you need to taste the product while its evolving though it’s life.

Stop on by & enjoy!

Articles — Tags: , , — October 22, 2009

What’s going on during the harvest here in Portland Pinot Noir land…

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

We’ve had a long strange summer here.  Not just long because my kids have finally gone back to school,  but long due to the incredible heat days that we have had in the vineyard.  What started out as a slow wet spring has evolved into a grand summer and fall-so far.   We are now about 6 days early for the harvest.  We are picking & crushing Pinot Noir all this week, since we’ve picked the Gewurztraminer first as we do in most years.  We’ve hit over 23 brix in the sugar content on the Pinot – which is really outstanding and hopefully the weather will continue to cooperate.

We are excited for the crush as we have upgraded our equipment and redesigned the crush area. Our new destemmer is made especially for Pinot Noir and it gently releases the grapes without crushing them.  So we have a more gentle touch and extraction.  Come on out & watch the ‘action’ on the new ‘crush pad patio’ with a glass of wine & picnic.  (please don’t feed the animals- or winemakers).  Since we estate grow nearly 90% of our own fruit we can be crushing literally minutes after the grapes are harvested.  It makes for a long day- but the payout is great as our affordable wines have continued to win praise and awards from the wine community.

The harvest season lasts through October and we will be sampling some of the fresh white wines – called Neu Wein in German (ones that are still going through fermentation) in 4-5 weeks.  It’s like a Hefeweizen beer but better- it’s made with 100% fruit- not water & hops.  Give us a call & we’ll keep you up to date.

Articles — Tags: , — October 6, 2009

We are getting ready for wine and tastings in of Pinot Noir in Portland

Friday, May 1st, 2009

Spring has sprung and the first bud break has hit our vineyards.  You may know that when the buds come out on the vines that it kicks off the season at a winery. Last year the ‘bud break’ was really late due to a cool spring.  What happened is that less fruit developed – but what did develop was much more intense in terms of both flavor and body.  We are currently going through secondary fermentation on our Estate Pinot Noir and 2008 is really shaping up.  Lots of pepper, spice and vanilla. I was stuck in the cellar for a couple of days tasting the barrels to see how the process was going. (yes- it’s a tough job but somebody has to do it). Unfortunately I couldn’t decide which barrels I liked the most.  We are looking forward to having some folks come out & do some tastings with us.  Let us know if you have some friends who might like to ‘help’ out.

Articles — Tags: , , — May 1, 2009