Jesus...the concept is interesting, as water IS different from place to place, brand to brand, etc. But that guy is trying to sell 100k water bottles. Just a money grab IMO.
For those that have waited the 2013 Oregon Pinots are starting to turn finally. For my nicer ones probably another 2 years on bottle will help, but these ones took longer like the 11's to come through. 2014 and 2015 were both hot years with a lot of wine makers comparing 2014 to 2009 which was a banner year. Rabid pick up the 13's and 11's at a discount right now. Not as approachable early and they are both a point lower in alcohol compared to 12, 14, and 15.
Mmm. Burgundy. This was a 2008 Premier Cru from Aux Murgers vineyard in Nuits St. Georges that we picked up on our honeymoon in 2013. The wine was good but still a little young with the fruit still very primary.
It is so good. The best part about making it from scratch is you get two great meals in succession with short ribs one night and stroganoff the next. Knowing that we wouldn't be able to eat all of the cream of mushroom soup, I made enough beef short ribs on Sunday to ensure two days of leftovers so I still have enough leftovers to do this again later in the week.
I've been on a waitlist to buy an allocation from No Girls Wine for about 5 years. It is an offshoot of Cayuse which is probably the most sought after Washington wine at this point (along with Quilceda Creek but the Cayuse waitlist is much longer). I'm very excited because I received a notification of allocation tonight!
I'm nearly wetting myself with anticipation of tasting the first round of 2016 barrels in March. Lots of claims in the Sonoma/Napa area of the rain season being a replica of 2007. If so, oh holy fuck.
Funny - just put my name on the list for Quilceda yesterday. It's on Cayuse as well but god only knows how long that will take.
Rabid or any others Doing a trip to willamette in early April, need recs for vineyards to visit if anyone has any. I know the larger wineries up there but was hoping to go to some of the smaller, more exclusive ones and try to get on their lists.
I think QC took me about 2 years. They produce a larger volume of wine with fewer bottlings (4 total--1 flagship wine, a "2nd wine" and two single vineyard wines--which are much harder to get access to because of limited quantities) and they've been out there for a long time so I think there is more cellar fatigue. For instance, if you've been buying a case of QC for 5-10 years that is an awful lot of the same wine so I think mailing list customers either reduce or fall off the list which opens more space for new members. Cayuse is newer and sells a bunch of single vineyard wines in 3-packs so I think it takes a lot longer to get fatigue. Even if you buy a case per year from Cayuse, it is probably in 4 different wines but I think they produce at least twice that number of wines under the Cayuse label. I signed up for the Cayuse and No Girls in 2012. Obviously I got the No Girls invite this week but I'm still waiting on Cayuse.
The last time I was there was 2011 and I sense the landscape has changed a bit. My Gophers are playing at Oregon State so I'm actually planning to head out there this fall. I'll give you a few of small producers that I really like but otherwise I'll defer to DistantFactor as I'm hoping to pick up some ideas for myself. Patricia Green Cellars Soter Le Cadeau De Ponte Cellars St. Innocent
Gf and I paid to do a tour when we visited Portland last Memorial Day. We used this place http://backcountrywine.tours/ and they took us to some places that they said are some of the smaller ones. We visited Colene Clemens (not my favorite wine but easily the best views), Harper Voit (they said they only do private tours, really small but very good), Roots Wine Company (my favorite wine we had and their tasting was 8 wines when all the others we visited were 4-5). There was one more winery we visited that I can't think of the name right now
I took this picture at the aforementioned Colene Clemens and was very impressed with how it turned out being on a phone. I actually had a 12x16 print made of it for a wall hanging and really like how that turned out as well Spoiler Edit: spoilered for pic size
Also, in the process of picking out wine for my wedding. Unfortunately, it will have 400 people ranging from oeneophiles to casual wine drinkers like me to people who can't tell shit from shinola. There will be a full liquor and beer selection as well At any rate, the size is somewhat limiting, trying to stay in the $20 and under per bottle range. For those who have done something like this before: 1. Do I need to offer more than one red selection, one white, and one sparkling? 2. How many bottles per person? I've seen recommendations ranging from 0.4 to 1.0 bottles per guest (full bar, no children). I can return wine if needed so that helps me not undersupy, but still want to plan. 3. Does 55% red, 30% white, 15% sparkling make sense? We are serving veal chops, but I don't think I want anything to heavy or tannic...want something pretty drinkable for all guests. Was thinking a PNW or Australia Rhone blend might offer the best value but wasn't sure if I needed something even lighter like Pinot (new zealand?) or Gamay in addition. White maybe a dry riesling from finger lakes or viognier from australia? Sauvignon blanc seems like a popular choice...I'm pretty clueless here. Would I need to add a chardonnay with light to med oak from somewhere as well? Sparkling leaning towards cava or prosecco probably. Sorry that was long. Any advice from those with more experience?
Drank a 2009 from deponte over the weekend...holy shit. Wasn't expecting to love it given that was a hot year but it was very good. Wondering if it was just the right age that contributed maybe. Thanks for the rec on that club.
Yeah I've read about that, kind of out of the way for my route but I plan to buy some in the country in general
Elizabeth Chambers has my favorite Pinot's in the area. About to go to work but let me get back to you on this. Distant has a better understanding of wineries, he is the expert. I'm a noob (last 2 years getting into it) but do live 10 minutes from newberg and have probably visited 50+ in the area now.
Getting married in June so this may or may not help. The one curveball I'll throw at you is a dry rose for a summer wedding.
If you have an open bar I would expect wine consumption is going to be to the low side of the estimates. For context, we got married in our low 30s: We had 240 guests of which 193 were of legal drinking age. Wine consumption was approximately 90-100 bottles (30 Prosecco, 12 Sauv Blanc, 12 Oregon Pinot, 24 Napa Cab blend and the only one I don't have final numbers on is a CA Chardonnay that we had 24 on hand but I know we returned some to the vendor). The Napa cab and CA Chard were the wines poured with the meal. Meal served was about 70% beef, 25% Chicken, 5% Butternut squash ravioli. Other alcohol was 2 kegs of craft beer, light beer available by bottle, 2 "signature" pre-mixed drinks of which there were 50 (100 total) and hard alcohol was available for purchase.
I think for the wine that servers pour at the table with dinner go with one red and one white. At the bar during the cocktail hour and reception after dinner have a wider selection of wines (as rabid posted)
Key takeaway here M'ark Pepperonio is note the amount of Prosecco served. Also damn Rabid, you guys had a lot of kids at your wedding.
Don't look at me. Only 6 of the under 21 were on my guest list. My wife and I took very different approaches to the guest list. I had far more friends and she had far more cousin's kids. The 240 was actually meal count so it includes about 5 vendors that I excluded from the 193 of drinking age.
Pinot Noir, i guess, but I like a lot of different things. Just wasn't sure how necessary it was to have multiple red options or if one is sufficient. If I'm only going to have one, I figured Pinot was too light and acidic and I'd stick to something more in the middle.
Actually I just found the final invoice. 26 Prosecco consumed (30 was the estimate) 26 Cabs (we pre-purchased 2 cases that I couldn't return and then switched to a cheaper returnable wine after the good cab ran out) 12 Pinot (this was the full purchased amount) 12 Sauv Blanc (this was the full purchased amount) 22 Chardonnay (these were all returnable to the vendor) Total 100 bottles for 193 guests
Try the Penner Ash Rubeo, $24 a bottle retail so with case purchases the price goes down. It's a Pinot/Syrah blend, not overly acidic and really easy on all palette. Almost everyone I know who drinks it enjoys it, whether they are into wine or not. Let me know your per bottle budget and I can give you some recommendations.