August Cellars as you can see, has a lovely building. They rent out the facility for eight other wine makers, so they have a wide variety of grape juice to try. We took home a bottle of Port.
Category Archives: Reds
Troon Carlton Wine Bar
What’s a Troon? Beats the heck out of me. I was figuring it’s some kind of Yeti, but we forgot to ask while we were at Troon’s Carlton Wine Bar.
Here’s a silly photo, just to show that they have a sense of humor.
Hey, check this out! They’ve got a lovely back patio and encourage you to bring a picnic and enjoy the afternoon.
We had a nice time there, I bet you will too. A little more on Carlton for you: http://www.visitcarlton.com/
Remy Wines Opens New Tasting Room at the Vineyard
Our friends at Remy Wines have recently opened a new tasting room on their vineyard west of Dundee.
Here’s Remy herself, winemaker and hostess-with-the-mostness!
Remy treated us and other members of her wine club to a pleasant tour of the vineyard. (Yes, she’s wearing all black in 98 degree sun. Some people, I tell ya…)
The farmhouse / tasting room.
Relaxing in the back yard.
The warm, personable hospitality of Remy and her team keep us coming back. Recommended!
Shafer Vineyard Cellars
Well the photo on their web site is so much better than our attempts you’ll just have to go look at it here: http://www.shafervineyards.com/
Just west of Forest Grove Shafer Vineyards is worth the trip just for the view itself. Something we noticed right away is they’ve been doing the do since 1978 and you can see it in the size of the vines they’ve got growing out of the ground there.
…and they are friendly. Here’s myself and Ryan, our man behind the bottles:
Shafer puts an unusual twist on the winery tasting room experience by also having an extensive collection of Christmas decorations available for sale … nearly every possible item the mind can conceive is available as a Christmas tree ornament, including St. Louis. You might as, “why, god, why?” And I would have to agree with you. However, there it is. Once you’ve figured out how to stay away from the Christmas stuff, you’ll find they have some very nice picnic tables just begging you to stay awhile and enjoy yourself, and I think you should!
The big winner in today’s wine lineup is clear, and it’s a white! (Frequent readers will know we’re more tickled by phat reds generally) Their 2014 Müller-Thurgau has an unusual and very pleasant flavor. Well, we like it at least, and maybe you will too.
2017 Truffle Shuffle — Walnut City Wineworks
Our last Truffle Shuffle stop for the day was Walnut City Wineworks.
…and we made some friends. That’s John, Ninette and Brooke (the tasting room manager).
2017 Truffle Shuffle — Brittan and Winderlea
The next stop on the 2017 Truffle Shuffle was at the combined tasting room of Brittan Yineyards and Winderlea Yineyard and Winery
The interior is a bit ultramodern for our tastes, but was full of happy people having a good time. They probably wouldn’t want to hear this, but the most memorable part of this stop was the truffle cheese and truffle salami they were serving. The staff was too busy for us to find out where they found these fine items, but I can assure you, these truffle-y wonder nuggets were salty taste nuggets of joy!
2017 Truffle Shuffle — Dominio IV
And it’s Dominio IV for the Truffle Shuffle win!
In truth, there were no losers on the Truffle Shuffle path through McMinville, but Dominio hit it on all cylinders. Delicious red wines, attractive space, friendly staff and excellent truffle snacks, as you’ll see below!
Dominio IV’s wines are also biodynamic, which in our opinion is even *better* than organic. Why? In short, organic strives to grow food without the use of chemical additives, etc, and of course we believe that is good. Biodynamic takes that a step further … in short a system in balance manages pests, soil fertility, etc without much additives of any kind.
For additional fun, check out our visit to El Toledo, biodynamic coffee farm in Costa Rica. They were once a “traditional” coffee farm until the pesticides nearly killed the owner. Long story short, they’ve developed a biodynamic farm that today is more like a native forest that happens to have a lot of coffee plants.
The walls are adorned by art from the winemaker which attempts to show visually what happens on your palette as their wines cross your tongue. Fun and unique!
Our lovely and helpful hosts today were LJ on the left and Nicci on the right. LJ was pouring and Nicci chef’d on up the delightful truffle snacks! The best combo of the day!
We found the site of these barrels stacked by the giant agricultural building quite visually attractive.
Joyce prefers this photo to the one above, which I prefer, so you get to see both.
…and after all the beauty, here’s a bland industrial photo, just to even things out.
Update August 2018: Dominio VI has moved their tasting room to the country outside of Carlton. They are no longer tasting at the winery in McMinville. Click here to read our full report on the new location.
2017 Truffle Shuffle — Eyrie Vineyards
Next stop on the 2017 Truffle Shuffle — Eyrie Vineyards
We’d been warned that they could be a little snooty, but not today and not to us. They make organic wines and served a fine Oregon black truffle biscotti and truffled chicken liver mousse crostini. We snuck back for seconds!
Here’s their home-grown version of an argon wine thief device.
2017 Truffle Shuffle — Remy Wines
Our second stop of the 2017 McMinville Truffle Shuffle was Remy Wines.
As frequent readers may know, we’re more fans of the heartier reds than the lighter pinots that rule the Willamette Valley. Remy specializes in european styles and they are ready to drink! Our favorite this visit was the Nebbiolo.
Her tasting room is also “da bomb”, as the kids once said. Very comfy to hang out in with knowledgeable and pleasant staff.
The only blemish on this visit was the truffle risotto. While indeed creamy, didn’t seem to have any truffle in it. Oh well.
Remy Wines
Saturday we stopped in Remy Wines in McMinnville.
Ah, the breadsticks…
Pretty!
We have a terrible secret to share. We’re just not that into Pinot Noir style wines. There’s nothing wrong with them, we just prefer beefier flavors. The Willamette Valley is all about the pinot and some of the places out here are getting snooty and expensive. That’s no fun!
Joyce picked Remy because they make a more standard array of red wines and not six variations on pinot noir. She liked their wines so much she joined the club! (Joining the wine club means she has to go out there and visit the quilt store.)
The tasting room is also a comfy place to hang out. Thumbs up!
Remy gets my award of Excellence in Artistic Use of Pallets
I also like their labels.