As promised, the Chehalem folks contributed some notes to the tasting. Anything worth doing is worth doing to excess when it comes to wine tasting (although not wine making), so rather than taste a bottle or two, we tasted a small army of them from Germany, Austria and the Alsace. With a number of people leaving notes, that makes for a lot of tasting notes. You can tell the sales folks (like me) from the technical folks (everybody else), because they wrote very specific descriptors and I wrote things like, “yum”…

Without futher ado, here are the notes…

2005 Domaine Marcel Deiss Riesling
Molly:
Nose: vanilla, apricot, pear.
Mouth: Full mouthfeel, creamy, peaches citrus, creamcicle, pear fruit.

Brian:
Tangerine, creamy vanilla, honey, melon, slightest hint of petrol on the nose, bright acidity lingers with ripe tropical fruits.

Mike:
Licorice, citrus rind, slate.

Jason:
Stone fruit, spicy quality on the nose. On the palate: lychee, almost gewurtz-like, tropical, bright acidity, slight bitterness (in a good way).

Harry:
Clean, mineral, sharp/pungent–still some residual SO2; hard, brassy flavors; peach-yellow; firm on palate; nice texture and length. Weight is nice. Impressions of sharp edge in your mouth, yellow-orange, clean, rich; slight Grand Marnier hit–orange liquer; tight & structured, maybe too much so–definitely Alsace version of Riesling.

Daniel:
Nose is sweet, honey, perhaps some botrytis? Tastes off-dry and minerally. Finishes with lemonade and mandarin orange. Definite yum!

2000 Alzinger Riesling Smaragd Loibner Steinertal

Mike:
Spice, apricot, wet stone, honey, vanilla; broad, oily, mineral, short, dry, nice balanced acid.

Brian:
Honey, tangerines, minerals, citrus zest finish.

Molly:
Spice, wet earth, wet rocks, somewhat briney nose. Briney, mineral and cement palate.

Kevin:
Petal, spice — good fruit / balance.

2006 Schmitges Grauschiefer Riesing Trocken
Brian:
Sulfur / Reduced nose - sweet tarts, bitter weird sweetness

Molly:
Sulfur, lemon, minerality, mousy

Priscilla:
Nose unappealing, bitter

John:
Star fruit, citrus zest, slightly alcoholic / acetone, wet river rock. Decent palate weight, lacks focus / intensity.

Harry:
Spritz and SO2. Slightly reductive brassy nose (plastic cork), some phenolic bitterness; good yellow fruit character, nice weight, ripe peach richeness and flavor, nice finish. Nice bigger wine from Mosel not refined, but hearty; RS in balance for a “Riesling dry” but definitely above threshold.

Daniel:
Almost grassy, like a NZ Sauv Blanc. Dry, decent minerality, grapefruit. A bit of spice and honey. Simple but nice at first, but fell apart very quickly after opening.

2004 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Spätlese
Brian:
Ripe citrus, apricots - bright sweetness, key lime pie, mouth-watering acids, slight hint of petrol

Priscilla:
Sweet, coconut, sweeter than I like, yet nice.

Molly:
Coconut, lychee, apple, apricot. Creamy mouth, key lime, coconut cream pie. Could use a touch more acid to balance sugar. Meyer lemon.

John:
Pale yellow. Mineral, ripe pear and white pach. Citrusy key lime notes. Nice acid and palate weight with decent length. Nice wine.

Daniel:
Petrol and spearmint(?) smell; Taste is off dry with nice acid, mineral–a tingle on the tongue, lemon rind. Finishes with honey and flours. Clean, with little or no botrytis qualities. Very tasty.

Harry:
Bright, fresh fruit with SO2 barely receding; rich; moderate RS; ripe stonefruit; lovely acid and balance; perfect Spätlese example.

We had a couple other wines as well but one was, sadly, a bad bottle and we just didn’t get many notes on the other so I will leave those two alone. We had fun participating this month and will try and do it again when time allows. If you are wondering who this folks are, check out our people page.

Thanks to Tim at Winecast for hosting this month.

Happy WBW 45 everybody!

Bud breaking on Corral Creek Vine

Better late than never, bud break hit at our Corral Creek Vineyard about two weeks ago and still isn’t quite there on all the Riesling. Finally, the sun is out and the temperatures are nudging the low 70s. I thought this winter would never end. Now we need a nice long, warm summer and cool, dry fall to create the elegant wines the Willamette Valley has become known for!

- Daniel

Vanquish might be too strong a word, but I had to try and catch your attention.

A little background: a group of us from the industry (and a couple of wine-interested spouses) get together every month or two at the winery to taste wines from around the world. Generally we choose a region, sometimes a variety and everyone brings a bottle for the blind tasting.

This month, the theme was Cru Beaujolais. It wasn’t the most representative tasting–only four Beaujolais villages were represented–nor was the blinding perfect–some of us knew there was a ringer in there, but we are proud of our little wine anyway. In the blind tasting, the 2006 Chehalem Cerise, a blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay Noir that we produce in small quantities–our version of a passetoutgrains–was the overall favorite, followed by the 2003 Dubœuf Fleurie.

There could certainly have been some house-palates in the room, as there were three Chehalem folks and one Chehalem spouse, but there was also representation from a couple of other wineries, too. Regional palate, perhaps? Or maybe it’s just tasty.

Regardless of why it won our little tasting, there is no doubt that it is showing well right now: pepper and violet with full red fruit on the palate and a touch of oak and more pepper on the finish. It certainly has been fun to watch this wine as it comes into its own. Even a couple of months ago it was tart and closed. Now it’s lovely. We didn’t produce Cerise last year and people have been asking for it. I bet it goes in a hurry.

Brian, Chehalem’s Cribbage King and Cellarmaster was nice enough to take a couple of us in sales through our 2007 white wines. While the 2007 INOX Chardonnay and most of the 2007 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris were bottled a couple of weeks ago, the 2007 Reserve Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and the Rieslings are still in tank and it was a treat to be able to see how those wines are coming along.

Yes, I am biased, but will nonetheless claim that these 2007 whites show why Chehalem is widely regarded as one of the best producers of white wine in Oregon, if not the country. Every white in the cellar has brilliant acidity that is perfectly balanced with beautiful fruit. The Rieslings are deeply layered and interesting. I think the 2007 Reserve Pinot Gris is the best we have made. I can’t wait until these are released.

Many Willamette Valley wineries have made their mark with Pinot Noir and we are no exception, but in many ways, the white wines are what set us apart from our peers. We are one of the few who make more white wine than red wine. And we like it that way.

“I just love making white wines and I love to drink white wines,” Brian said while taking us through the 2007s, “We make what we love.”

I think that is why we make them so well.

- Daniel

A few days ago, I told you about WBW#44 with the theme of French Cab Franc. While I generally like to participate in this event, a nasty flu prevented that from happening. The theme next month is something near and dear to our hearts here at Chehalem: Riesling from the Old World.

As many of you know, Oregon is quite a good climate for Riesling and despite its public relations problem in the recent past, Riesling is making something of a come-back. As recently as February Michael Franz made a compelling case for Riesling as the world’s greatest white variety. The Northwest has led the charge, trying to create Rieslings as compelling as our counter-parts in the Old World.

And we are getting close. Our Riesling is definitely in the spirit of many of those from the Alsace: crisp and dry with brilliant acidity and minerality. It pairs well with a wide range of foods but also stands well on its own. Perhaps I will do a tasting, throw one of ours in and see how we fare.

So I encourage you all to buy a bottle of Riesling from Alsace, Germany or Austria and write about it. I will do the same and see how many Chehalemites I can convince to contribute.

- Daniel

I have been puzzling for the last few days how to best describe Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. It is a book with a lot of ideas and it would be impossible to reduce it to a paragraph and do it justice. So I won’t try. Suffice it to say if you are interested in food, or for that matter, if you eat food, you should read this book. It is the most insightful examination of the modern industrial processes of creating and consuming food that I have ever read.

For those of you who don’t want to read another depressing Upton Sinclairesque manifesto on the evils of our modern industrial economy, please read this anyway. It has its fair share of disturbing information about the source of our food, but it also presents alternatives and as Pollan says at the end of the introduction, “.. this is a book about the pleasures of eating, the kinds of pleasure that are only deepened by knowing.”

- Daniel

The web has exploded with wine-related resources in recent years. As you might expect, the major trade periodicals have all rolled out internet tools to keep their customers engaged. Some are good, some less so, but there isn’t a great deal beyond the usual array of web articles, discussion groups and blogs.

In my opinion, the most exciting stuff is coming from the grassroots. In addition to the expected reviews, rants and rambles, the wine-blogging community has come up with some interesting social-networking activities.

Case in point, Wine Blogging Wednesday. WBW is closer to an event than a site or on-line tool. Every month, wine lovers from all over the world consume a bottle (or more) of wine based on a theme selected by the host. By the designated day, each writer submits their review and the host posts them all.

Now, in its 43 month, the event brings together people of all levels of experience and widely varying views. It is non-hierarchical and non-commercial, so it provides unfiltered opinions and discussion from people who just love wine.

This coming Wednday, April 2nd, Crazy Gary from Wine Library is hosting. The topic is French Cabernet Franc. So grab a bottle and send Gary your review. The more the merrier!

- Daniel

After deplaning from the 12 hour flight from San Fran and Osaka, I was humorously greeted by the gentleman at customs in Osaka. As I lifted up my bags for inspection, he pulled out a large, two-inch binder filled with laminated pictures. He began to flip through a multitude of pictures that ranged from colorful Mexican coins, to what looked to be like really bad replicas of Picasso. Then he referenced my bagage with a point of a finger, connecting it with a page that looked to be straight out of a National ant0-drug campaign from the mid 70’s. Quickly realizing the pages were filled with fields of cannabis, used needles, coke, smack, boom, pow, whatever you call all that stuff, I raised my hands up “no way”, needless to say he pulled my bag aside for an extra careful inspection. 10 minutes later, and clean as a whistle, I walked down to the greeting area and travel terminal.

Hmm…I don’t really know who’s picking me up…oh, Misao…is that a guy or a girl? As I slowly descended down the escalator, is started scanning through the field of signs plastered with a world of names. Hmm, no House, or Johnosan, maybe one with Chehalem? Hmm, ah, a Chehalem newsletter! A beautiful, doll-like Misao graciously* greeted me, and we immediately moved toward the train to Kyoto, for a Chehalem-Elk Cove wine dinner at Le Bouchon was to take place in just a few hours. *Note: I do not use the term “graciously” lightly in any case in Japan, the people here are beyond what I’ve known in America. Going into my thrid day of residing in Japan, my initial impressions are only being fortified in that the people have a level of refinement, class and thoughtfullness that makes me think about how I’ve used those adjectives in the past…You know, what do they really mean? Refined (r-fnd) 1. Free from coarseness or vulgarity; polite. 2. Free of impurities; purified. 3. Precise to a fine degree. Even as Misao and I rode in the train to Kyoto, a couple with a crying baby apologized to us repeatedely, as if it were some vagary to have a tired baby. Anyhow, after a 5:30am rainy-Portland wake up, a 12 hour flight to Japan, a one and half hour train ride to Kyoto, a 20 minute cab ride to Le Bouchon, it is time to perform and eat classic French cuisine….wait a second! FRENCH cuisine?!?

That’s right folks, here are a few shots from a classic Provencal meal in Kyoto Japan:

Tourrine of the day, Bar at Le Bouchon , Hama and Shirley talking Oregon up! , Chocolate dessert, Gratine du Chocolate , My supposed Poussin du Jour, I’m pretty sure I got the fish of the day! .

And of course after all that eating and drinking we headed back to the hotel…or not! Who would of thought that after a French meal in your first few hours in Kyoto that you’d be going to a Champagne bar of all places?! Hey, I perk up when I hear bubbles. You’re not gonna want to know what I had, but it was oh so good, and who would’ve thought there would be a veritable selection of grower Champanges at fair prices? Larmandier Bernier Vertus NV , Perfection in service and opening a Champagne bottle .

So this is just what happened in my first few hours in Japan. What happened yesterday? Stay posted, and I’ll give you this hint…Hide Sushi + The beginnings of Lunch . Cheers, JHo

Sydney and I finally used our gift certificate to the Dundee Bistro last night. I think many of us in the wine industry have a tendency to order imported wines when we go out, and around here, more often than not, that means Burgundy. Last night, eating duck confit and roasted chicken, it seemed like a perfect option.

The 2005 Domaine Jean-Marc Pavelot Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru La Dominode exhibited a deep, dark red color. Pretty red/black fruit aromas with a touch of barnyard. Sour cherry fruit and cocoa flavors which showed a bit of leather after some time in the glass. A big, sharp hit of tannin and a bitter bite at the end.

This strikes me as a wine being consumed about a decade too soon. As the wine sat, the tannins eased a bit and the bitterness mellowed, although it didn’t entirely disappear. Eating it with the duck, and even the chicken, contributed to making the wine seem softer and rounder and the fruit on the palate really pop.
Everything about this young wine is beautiful and balanced until the finish, when things go a little ajar. While showing some very lovely qualities, the La Dominode is running a little rough which fits with everything I have been reading about the evolution of the 2005s. I gather they are going to sleep, not to awake for many years, at which point the expectation is that they will amaze. In the meantime, we will have the 2006s to keep us occupied since, by all accounts, they won’t require as much time in the cellar to shine.

Now if only the dollar would come out of the hole…

The Pavelot La Dominode is carried by our good friends at Triage Wines.

- Daniel

The Portland restaurant scene seems to be at a high point right now. Well established chef’s like Vitaly Paley at Paley’s Place and Greg Higgins at his eponymous restaurant are as consistent and creative as ever and newcomers to the scene like Le Pigeon’s Gabriel Rucker and Andy Ricker at Pok Pok are garnering acclaim from beyond the northwest. Eric Asimov from the New York Times claims that Portland is experience a “Golden Age of Eating and Drinking.” I find it hard to disagree with him.

Case in point: I finally had a chance to dine at Sel Gris, the latest of Portland’s exciting and innovative restaurants. Chef Daniel Mondok is producing excellent food with an unsurpassed attention to detail. Everything is delicious, but what sets Sel Gris apart in my mind is the artistry with which food is assembled. Every dish comes off the line looking like a work of art.

On Friday we ate at Sel Gris for my wife Sydney’s birthday . At the chef’s counter, we had the opportunity to see the precision of the kitchen operations. The space is tight and so each person has to stick pretty close to his or her station, but everything was perfectly planned, or at least appeared so. A few highlights:

Regrettably, I did not have a camera with me, so I wasn’t able to capture the beauty of the Calamari Frito Misto, a simple but visually gorgeous dish with delicately fried pieces of squid highlighted by the greens and yellows of green beans and preserved lemons. Similarly the Foie Gras “Two Ways” showed off Mondok’s culinary and visual artistry: The salt-cured Au torchon with sweet candied ginger and the lovely pan-roasted with a delicate salad of slightly-bitter greens.

For entree, I had the salmon, something I rarely do because, frankly, I tend not to find too many preparations for it that I like more than my own simple applewood grilled. A delicately butter-poached prawn, foie-gras melted leaks and a bed of perfectly cooked risotto complimented the firmly cooked, almost meaty, salmon. Sydney’s grilled Escolar with lemongrass coconut broth was also lovely.

We allowed Mary, our server/bartender and the Sel Gris winebuyer to pair each dish, which she did well. The highlights were the 1996 Kristoffel Riesling which she matched with the Escolar and a sweet Moscat (which unfortunately I didn’t get producer or vintage) which paired perfectly with the salt-cured foie gras and the sweet ginger on top of it.

The desserts, an apricot bread pudding and coconut cream tart, were also excellent, although I must admit that I was getting pretty full by this time. Next time, I would forgo dessert or else split one dessert and one appetizer; servings are substantial and much of the food is very rich.

Finally a word on atmosphere: the space is certainly impressive, particularly the open kitchen and glowing glass bar. However, the feel is much different than many of Portland’s best restaurants. Very clean, almost slick, the interior feels like restaurants and bars I have been to in larger cities. It doesn’t have the homey, comfortable feel of Le Pigeon or the cozy bistro feel of Higgins. This place is, for lack of better terms, urban and contemporary. This is not a complaint–I rather liked it–but it is a little more formal than the Portland norm.

In short: very impressive. Add Sel Gris to your list of restaurants-not-to-miss; my list is pretty long at this point, especially since I want to go back to so many of them again, and again and again…

- Daniel