Do not overlook this wine region: Oregon’s Willamette Valley

They've been making wine in Oregon for well over 100 years now, but it's been kind of shy to come forward. It's only in the last 40 years or so that they've really discovered that this is a place for premium Pinot Noir. So it's interesting, there's sort of like this post-prohibition era of winemaking in Oregon, and they have this first chapter in the 1970s where winemakers are coming in and pioneering the area, and then there's the second chapter kind of around the 2000s, the aughts. So that's the case with this winery here. The grapes were planted in the 1970s, but the owners bought it in 2006. The Willamette Valley is very close to the Pacific Ocean, but it's protected by a coastal range of mountains, so it's not quite as warm as California, not quite as cool as Washington State. In fact, they found that the local climate here is very similar to that of Burgundy in France, so it makes total sense that they'd be growing cool climate grapes, things like Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, and of course Pinot Noir. Is it unheard of for people actually from winemakers from France to actually come to the United States and look for an area that would be similar to the homeland per se? There's two major producers in Burgundy. Joseph Drouin is one of them, and Louis Jardot is another one. So they were over in the 70s and they bought up land. And very similar to French tradition, in Oregon, in the Willamette Valley, most of the vineyards are really small, and wineries contract out and buy grapes from other vineyards. This is very popular in Burgundy, and oftentimes you'll see single vineyard wines made from one single parcel of land with the name of the vineyard on the bottle. And this is the perfect example right here. This is Winderley, but they sourced the grapes in this case here from the Weber Vineyard and over here from Merctiv. Here's something else that's very French in style too. These are produced biodynamically, which is essentially organic farming, but it's done with a little bit of like mystical power involved too. It's done according to the astrological calendar. Are you serious? Yeah, so that's what biodynamic is. My mind is blown. No idea. Well now that we've channeled our cosmic energy, is it time to taste these yet? Yes, definitely time to taste them. And it'll be interesting to see if there is an actual discernible difference between these two different parcels of land. All right, we've already got the Weber open. I've been tasting this, but you look like you could use a little refresher there. And according to the website, these grapes were planted in 1976. So they're the OG. OG. Wow, man, this is all fresh raspberries in there. All fresh red fruit. Little Frank's Black Cherry Wishniak. Yes. Yeah, it really does kind of almost have like a little bit of a cherry cola kind of thing going on there. We're showing our frilly side with the Franks. A little tannic. There's a little bit of green element on there. It's a touch Burgundian, so it's lighter and more elegant. But there's also kind of a muscle in there too. That's what I was going to ask you. How do you think it compares to say, well like a French wine from Burgundy? It's definitely got a lot more like kind of like power. And the fruit extract, they call that extract like the concentration of the flavors, is a lot more intense than a French Burgundy. I guess to use a word, I would call this clean. It's very pure. How about the myrto? Yeah, let's do the myrto. And these vineyards here, the myrto vineyards, were planted in the 1970s as well. And they're about a mile away from the winery and apparently at like 700 feet above sea level, which means cooler climate. So it'll be interesting to see how that affects the flavor here. Oh, well, first and foremost, look at this. And one of the things I read on the website was they said the myrto vineyard is known for its concentration of color. So this is a little bit deeper in color. Definitely, you know, there's some red fruit in there. But to your point, I think a little more plummy. Pencil shavings. Pencil shavings. That's something that they use to describe Cabernet Sauvignon quite a bit. Smells like the first day of school. So yeah, this one's definitely a lot more like round and savory. Round sounds funny, but it's actually a term that they use in the wine business a lot. It describes a wine that's kind of like soft and it's got like a really like juicy quality to it. Yeah, the Weber is lighter, a little more elegant, and the myrto is more savory. Same year, different vineyards. It's interesting to see the juxtaposition though. Really cool. Okay, so how about food pairings? Let's talk about food pairings. Yeah, you think the same kind of foods? Generally speaking, yes, they are close enough in flavor profile that you could probably pair them with the same things. Pinot Noir is great with roasted pork and roasted poultry. So I would start there. White meats, always really good. White meats. Got a little excited, a little overzealous. Duck is always a good pairing, but I know duck is kind of hard to get your hands on here in the United States. So for the myrto, which I found to be a little bit more savory, this almost drinks like a heavier red wine, and I would even lean in like the direction of red meats. How are you feeling about sweets for other reviews? Sweets are, you know, we're getting close to Easter and I'm kind of feeling like white chocolate, you know, like the white chocolate Easter bunnies. Yeah, white chocolate's definitely got a different texture, different flavor to it, but something like that would really bring out sort of like the red berry fruits in these wines. All right, Mark, bottom line for us. The takeaway, for me anyway, is that these wines have sort of like one foot each in Old World and New World. As always, some fantastic wines coming from WTSO. These are available currently this month through the Premium Wine Club, and if you join, you get these delivered to your house and you get to taste with me on the third Thursday of next month. But you can also do a private tasting with me as well too, which I would love to do. As always, thank you so much for joining me today and drinking and learning together with us too. I'll see you for the next adventure and the next bottle of wine. Cheers!