In December of last year, the influential wine magazine Wine Enthusiast named Oregon’s Willamette Valley their Wine Region of Year for 2016. AdVINEtures decided to take trip down there and see how things had evolved since we were there two years ago. What we found was a wine region that charms visitors with its lack of pretension, a terrific food scene that focuses on local, farm-to-table cuisine, and a group of winemakers that embrace a sense of community and collaboration that has resulted in them producing wines at the top of their game. We thought their award was richly deserved.
Read MoreWe have been fans of Oregon wine for a very long time which has translated into multiple trips to the State over the past several years. Our most recent trip was prompted by two things: the Willamette Valley region being named “Region of Year” by Wine Enthusiast magazine, and the praise being heaped on the 2014 and 2015 Pinot Noir vintages currently being released. What we discovered is that while Pinot Noir is what put the Willamette Valley on the world wine map, it is what the area offers as a whole that makes it the perfect place to visit time and again.
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2006 Bergstrom Vineyard Pinot Noir
Dark red in colour and showing some slight age on the rim. Wonderful floral aromatics combined with black cherry and cranberry on the nose. The palate also revealed dark fruits and kirsch along secondary notes of baking spice and earth. A lovely velvety mouthfeel, with an equally lovely long finish, this wine is in perfect balance and drinking at its peak. A wonderful example of why Oregon Pinot Noir is among the world’s best.
Excellent
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ROCO Winery’s founder and winemaker, Rollin Soles, makes an impression as soon as he walks in the room. We arrived at his tasting room outside of Newberg, at the north end of Oregon’s Willamette Valley, at 9 a.m. for our appointment with him on a rainy Saturday morning in March. Rollin arrives a few minutes later and takes over the room before he says anything. He has a triathlete’s lean body, a big handle bar moustache, broad smile and a twinkle in his eyes that make you think he would have some great stories to tell. Even though he left Texas almost 30 years ago, he still has plenty of a Matthew McConaughy like drawl. We waited for the “allright, allright”… but it never came. Underneath the drawl, and the twinkle and the warmth is an educated, and articulate man who is passionate about wine and is making some of Oregon’s finest Pinot Noir.
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