Chef Lauren Jackson [source: Jackson House]
Woodinville has no shortage of tasting rooms or polished spaces for sipping Syrah, but true restaurants—those that blend a sense of place with a sense of occasion—remain surprisingly rare. Enter Jackson House, the latest creation from Chef Lauren Jackson, whose name will be familiar to anyone who dined at Valdemar Estate’s former restaurant, where she earned a loyal following for her deft, globally inspired dishes.
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The stunning view from the winery patio.
When most wine lovers think of BC, their minds drift to the Okanagan with its shimmering lake framed by golden hills, sprawling vineyards, and a well-worn wine tourism circuit. But tucked away in the Fraser Canyon under the gaze of the towering Coast Mountains, lies Fort Berens Estate Winery, a Lillooet gem that continues to surprise and delight.
We’ve written about Fort Berens before (see our earlier pieces here and here), so rather than rehash their back story, it’s worth re-visiting them with their recent release of 3 Lillooet VQA wines that feel perfectly suited to the cozy, celebratory spirit of the holidays.
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L to R: Guillaume Large, Ryan Clark, Thibault Gagey.
The invitation promised more than a dinner. It offered a passage across time and place. On one side of the Atlantic, Burgundy, where centuries of patient stewardship have made Pinot Noir a language all its own. On the other, Oregon’s Willamette Valley, younger but no less compelling, carving out its own expression of the same grape.
At the heart of it all were two guides: Guillaume Large, winemaker at Résonance, and Thibault Gagey, third-generation steward of Maison Louis Jadot. Their presence was felt from the moment they entered the room: Guillaume with a warmth shaped in the vineyard, Thibault carrying the weight of legacy.
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Michael Etzel.
By any measure, Michael Etzel’s impact on Oregon wine is indelible. The founding force behind Beaux Frères, one of the most respected Pinot Noir producers in the Willamette Valley and a winery that helped put Oregon on the global fine wine map, Etzel is the sort of restless visionary who can’t quite sit still, even in “retirement.”
Now, with his son Mikey at the helm of Beaux Frères and another son, Jared, forging his own impressive path with Rodeo Hill and other projects, Michael and his wife Carey have turned their energy toward a deeply personal endeavor: Sequitur Wines, a 12-acre biodynamically farmed vineyard and boutique winery on their serene Chehalem Valley property known as Etzel Farm.
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Fall at Folly of Man vineyard.
When Tracy and Aaron Kendall purchased their vineyard in 2023, they did so with characteristic humility and a healthy dose of disbelief. They hadn’t set out to start their own winery. As accomplished winemakers already deeply embedded in Oregon’s Willamette Valley community —Tracy formerly as associate winemaker at Nicolas-Jay, and Aaron as assistant winemaker at Beaux Frères and now winemaker at Compris—their work spoke for itself. But when the right piece of land came along, it was impossible to resist.
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Barrel tasting with winemaker Guillaume Large.
Each time we visit Guillaume Large at Résonance Wines in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, there’s a quiet certainty in the cellar. The barrels may hold the stories of different years, but the thread that ties them together is unmistakable: precision, patience, and an unwavering pursuit of expressing place.
Since Maison Louis Jadot established Résonance in 2013 as its first project outside Burgundy, the goal has never been to recreate Burgundy in Oregon, but to apply Burgundian sensibilities to the singular terroirs of the Willamette Valley. Under the meticulous hand of winemaker Guillaume Large, the wines have not only proven their consistency year after year but continue to show a deepening complexity and confidence with each vintage.
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