The Wonderful Wines of the Willamette – Part II the Legends

Posted on   August 29,2019   By John Compisi

We recently returned from a week in the Portland area with a focus on the Willamette Valley. We were part of a Wine Writers Education Tour (WWET) organized by wine impresario and founder, Fred Swan. As previously reported, Swan has phenomenal connections in the Willamette Valley. We were able to meet the legends, founders and winemakers, young and old, of this amazing wine region. Part I reported on our arrival and Day 1 adventures. This is Part II, the day we met the Legends.

Day 2 started early with an 8:30 am (a little tough after the previous night’s late dinner) 10-minute bus ride from our home base in McMinnville to the Dundee Hills AVA and Sokol Blosser Vineyards. Bill Blosser and Susan Sokol purchased their property in the Dundee Hills in 1970 four years after graduating from Stanford. They had their first child, Nik, current Sokol Blosser Board Member, that same year. Their first vintage was 1977. Susan, alongside children Alex and Allison, continues to produce exceptional Pinot Noir, among other varietals on their beautiful property.

Our first seminar at Sokol Blosser was a spotlight on Dundee Hills Pinot Noir with Swan serving as moderator. The panel consisted of Jason Lett, proprietor/winemaker The Eyrie Vineyards; Arron Bell, winemaker Domaine Drouhin; Robin Hawley, associate winemaker at Sokol Blosser;  Michael Kerr, Hospitality Manager Beacon Hill Winery; Melissa Burr, VP winemaking Stoller Family Estate Vineyards and Jacques Tardy, winemaker Torii Mor Winery. All six of these lavishly crafted Pinot Noir were representative of the Willamette Valley stylistic profile representing the terroir and place. However, these three were especially pleasing to my palate. The Torii Mor ‘Olson’ PN 2016 was delightful as were the Domaine Drouhin 2015 ‘Laurene’ and the Beacon Hill 2017 ‘La Colna’.

The second Seminar was the real highlight of this day. Five of the original founding families of the Willamette, the only surviving members, were represented in this seminar of ten wines including seven Pinot Noir, two Chardonnay and one Pinot Gris. The founders present were Dick and Nancy Ponzi (Ponzi Vineyards); Jason Lett (dad David founded The Eyrie Vineyards), Susan Sokol Blosser (Sokol Blosser Vineyards); David Adelsheim (Adelsheim Vineyard) and Harry Peterson-Nedry (Founder of Chehalem Winery and RR Winery – formerly Ribbon Ridge Winery). Their personal stories were inspiring and filled with risk taking and a willingness to not follow the conventional wisdom.  Equally impressive is the passion they have successfully passed to their children who have moved into the ‘tractor’ seats.

They shared current releases and some library wines like the 1986  Adelsheim ‘Elizabeth’s Reserve’ Willamette Valley Pinot Noir; 1993 Chehalem ‘Ridgecrest Vineyards’ Ribbon Ridge Pinot Noir; 1999 Ponzi Vineyards ‘Abetina’ Pinot Noir Chehalem Mountains and the 1997 The Eyrie Vineyards ‘Original Vines’ Pinot Gris. These wines showed amazing age-ability with continued balance of acid and fruit characteristics.

We did not want the ‘Legends’ seminar to end but the schedule demanded we move outside for our Willamette Valley Pinot Gris lunch. While enjoying a delicious Paella we listened, and tasted of course, as five winemakers/vigneron described their individual expressions of Pinot Gris (the second most plated grape in the Valley). Present were Andrew Belzer, winemaker at the King Estate, Marc Myers, winemaker at The Four Graces, Dan Papa, assistant winemaker at Lange Estate, Ian Borrows, winemaker Proteus Wines and host Susan Sokol Blosser. The variations in these wines in terms of balance, acidity, aromatics and fruit assured that the Willamette has a Pinot Gris for every palate.

After lunch and before boarding the bus to our next generation, Susan Sokol Blosser invited us to visit the lower level of their tasting room for dessert and a chance to see a pictorial history of her family’s years on their estate. This mural clearly reflects the love and passion that Susan, Bill and now their children have for the land, grapes and family.

Bethel Heights Vineyard  (another heritage family operation from the late 1970’s) in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA was our destination for a seminar on Willamette Valley Climate and Climate Change by Dr. Greg Jones of Linfield College. Jones is a national recognized expert on climate and we have had the pleasure of learning from him in Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley on a previous occasion. His presentation was an objective review of the climate history of the Willamette and compared the various temperature bands that support world class wines from Pinot to Cabernet in France, Napa, Sonoma and of course the Willamette. Exceptional well researched and communicated.

We continued our visit to Bethel Heights Vineyard with a comparative tasting of Pinot Noirs with an eye to vintage variations and aging. Ben Casteel, winemaker Bethel Heights, described four vintages (2007, 2008, 2011 and 2012) of the ‘Flat Block’ Eola-Amity Hills. Fascinating and noteworthy! The rain and temperature variations that affected each vintage were apparent. Ben was followed by Adam Campbell, winemaker Elk Cove Vineyards (established in the late 70’s by Adam’s family). Adam was equally astute as he shared the 2010 and 2016 ‘Clay Court Vineyard’ Pinot from Chehalem Mountains and the 2010 and 2016 ‘Mount Richmond Vineyard’ from the Yamhill-Carlton AVA. #YumFactor!

The last seminar at Bethel Heights featured Pinot specifically from Eola-Amity Hills. The four tasted were from Bethel Heights 2017 ‘Flat Block’ (my personal fav); Lingua Franca, 2016 Estate Pinot; Big Table Farm ‘Pelos Sandberg’ 2016 Pinot and Zena Crown 2015 ‘Slope’ Pinot Noir – all delicious. The winemakers were fun and insightful.  Favorite quote was from Shane Moore, Zena Crown, who said, “Terroir is everything you know nothing about!”

With no time to breath, we boarded the bus for our final destination of this very long day. Left Coast Estate is a fabulous property with a couple hundred acres of endangered White Oaks some of which are over 450 years old. This family operation (Susan Larson and her children), started in 2003, was a perfect setting for dinner and more great Willamette wines! Larson was the perfect host for this estate prepared dinner in their quaint tasting room. The delicious food was accompanied by wines from five unique properties and none of it was Pinot Noir!  We enjoyed a 2015 Brut Rosé of Pinot Meunier and 2016 Rotie’ Syrah Noir (Left Coast Estate), a 2017 ‘Prost’ Sparkling Wine (60% apple cider and 40 % Gewürztraminer) and a ‘Cuvée Blanc’ Müller Thurgau from Chris James Cellars, a 2017 Dolcetto and a 2014 Tempranillo from Bryn Mawr among several other wines from Helioterra Wines (loved the  2017 Arneis), Minimus Wines and Origin. All well matched to our food and deliciously different in styles, varietals and flavor profiles.

Exhausted and perfectly satisfied, we boarded our very comfortable Aspen Limo Tours bus for the 25-minute ride back to our hotel. The bus, usually filled with laughter and craziness was quiet. 8:30am to 10pm was a good long day. Could Day 3 be any more fulfilling and exhausting?

Stay tuned for the highlights of Day 3 coming soon!

Follow us on  Social Media twitter, Facebook,  Instagram or LinkedIn to stay up to date!