Wine Tasting: Purple Cow Vineyards

I fell in love with this winery by chance. We stumbled upon it a year ago and never looked back. It is a fabulous winery with fantastic reasonably priced wines. Purple Cow comprises over half of my "for drinking" wine cellar. Although I intend to lay a few down, I think these wines a perfect for drinking now and enjoying. The winery is a home for some of Forest Grove's most eclectic wine drinkers and the winemakers/owners want to keep it that way. They are down to earth, head out of the clouds, feet on the ground, good people. The wines are so good I'd even share these with friends and family, well maybe not the Gabby (you'll learn about that one later).

Wine: The wine is wonderful! We love their Tempranillo. There is a reserve and the Elena Edition. Both are fantastic! I really love the 2005 just released, but can't wait until December to get my hands on the 2004!!! Now, my fiance and I have a debate over their whites every time we drink them. He's leans towards more acidic wines than I do, so he prefers the Muscat, I prefer the Chardonnay. When you actually break down the Chards they have released, I prefer the 2006 to the 2005. The winemaker, Jon Armstrong, told us that the 2005 is significantly more acidic too.

Vineyards: As you come onto the property, there they are, the Marechal Foch. Cute little red grapes that make me very happy. The Foch is delicate and light bodied for mellow picnic drinking, there were only 25 cases made this year, and I have 1 of them :) . The vineyards surround the Armstrong Family's home, which is also the tasting room. They have mostly young vines, they are a young vineyard and have many new Tempranillo vines planted this summer. One of the vines took off and really showed her power in the vineyard. While her neighbors grew at a healthy rate through the season, she wasted no time and at harvest time had gargantuan clusters. They appear to use the native vegetation and grasses to induce water stress in the vineyard. Unlike the Dundee hills, the soils are rich and fertile. But the slopes lend themselves to limited agriculture, thus, the perfect vineyard site.

Tasting Room: Their tasting room is awesome, they are really relaxed and sometimes have a football game on. That's because it's their house! They don't have your typical bar, it's one my friend has at her home too. They have a great "staff," including Gallo and Matt, two very charismatic men you don't want to miss out on knowing, that are funny and down to earth people. They aren't pretentious about their wine, maybe that's why it's so good. They are about making good wine for good people, and they do a great job making it.

Service: Always fabulous, especially if you catch them having an event. For a small winery, they sure go all out for their events. I don't know any large winery that has as friendly a face and such great personality as a whole. They have more events than most wineries I know, and they have less than 10% of the case production of almost every other winery in the WV. They also serve Dublander cheese which is without a doubt my favorite cheese!!!

Something special: Everything...They actually plant Tempranillo up in Forest Grove! That's super cool, no one grows it north of Roseburg except them -- I think. They ferment their Muscat dry, they keep the membership low so it's pretty intimate at the events, they are very generous people, the list goes on and on. They are warm people and even when the day ends and they are technically closed, they are willing to chat with you and show anyone a great time. I wanted to include my details about the Gabriela wine here, because Gabby is a very, very special something. Gabby is a Cab Sav, Cab Franc blend that I could talk about for hours. It is a delicious combination and I think anyone who didn't get out there just to taste this wine is insane! You have to taste this wine twice to get the full effect. First taste it just on the tongue. Allow the wine to go straight back. It is so fruit sweet and feminine, that's predominantly the Cab Franc. Now for the second taste, chew it, swish it, get it everywhere in your mouth. The peppery power of the Cab Sav is now dominating and is soooo amazing! Gabby is named after Gallo's daughter, I think because she's sweet and packs a peppery power, but I've never met her so I'm going on Gallo's word ;)

***If you don't purchase your favorite wines when you're there, you'll be sorry. They are a true boutique winery and made only 600 cases of wine last year. If you sit on your hands you won't be able to get more next time. They have a small supply and a large following!!! So get out there and get your stash!***


Overall Wine Experience Score: 97

Stats: Purple Cow Vineyards
Address: 52720 NW Wilson School Rd. Forest Grove, OR 97116
Tasting room is open Saturdays 11am-5pm
Tasting Fee: $5
Website: purplecowvineyards.com
Wines: Pinot Noir, Tempranillo, Marechal Foch, Muscat, Chardonnay, GABBY

Wine Tasting: David Hill Winery

After our trip to Cooper Mountain Vineyards we drove the 20 miles to David Hill Winery. What a delightful drive through the countryside it was to get there.

Wine: You have to start with their sparkling brut! It tastes of honey butter to me and has delicate little bubbles. They have a lot of varietals of wine, but they are all good. They have a 1/2 bottle called the Sweet Simplicity. It is a sweet dessert wine with high residual sugar content, but not an Ice Wine. I really like their ports and if you pay the extra $.50 you can taste the Black Jack, a very robust wine that should be laid down for a few years for sure!

Vineyards: Some of the oldest vines in the Willamette Valley here. Nicely groomed. As it is harvest time, some of the grapes are still on the vine and covered with netting, but you can still see the tasty fruit as you drive up to the adorable yellow farmhouse.

Tasting Room: Their tasting room is cute and is an old farmhouse. There's enough room you can have small weddings indoor and have great parties like baby and bridal showers. The glass was a standard wine glasses, but that's alright because they have so many wines, using the Oregon Pinot Glass would be ridiculous. They have lots of knick knacks that I didn't care for because I'm all about the wine, but if you need a decanter or are interested in local photography, its got it all. The bathrooms are quite fitting as this is a little old farmhouse, it has cute and simply bathrooms too.

Service: The service is great. Will is awesome, charismatic and has plenty to talk about. He really knows the area and can recommend great places to eat and other wineries too.

Something special: There really isn't anything too special about them, they are a well rounded winery. You can have a picnic and purchase their wine by the glass or even better, by the bottle. The view is great and the history is rich. They are a stellar place, they just don't have something that really pops...yet.

Overall Wine Experience Score: 94

Stats: David Hill Winery, Oregon
Address:46350 NW David Hill Road, Forest Grove, OR. 97116
Tasting room is open from noon to 5pm daily
Free tasting for all but 4 wines, $.50 each optional tasting of those.
Website: http://davidhillwinery.com/


Wines: Sparkling Brut, Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Merlot, Port, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Malbec

The great closure debate

I'm not the most articulate of people, so here's my prattle...

I love corks, there is something so sexy about the idea of popping a cork off of a bottle of wine in front of the fire on a blustery December evening. HOWEVER, not all wine requires a cork. I think stelvin caps (screw caps) are great for some wines. Yea, screw cap looks kinda cheap, may even reduce the value of a bottle of wine, but it works to keep wine fresh for a long time too.

I have found that the misconception of many of my friends is that wine can last forever in stelvin, this is not so. These wines are not any more age worthy based on their closure. Something like 99% of wines are not to be aged longer than a year, most stelvin, especially those sold for less than $20, are not meant to be hung on to that long. There are exceptions of course. It is important to remember that just because a wine doesn't have a cork, doesn't mean you can abuse your wine by placing it on the fridge, or anywhere in the kitchen. These places still change too much in temperature for wine, regardless of closure.

I think that synthetic corks are the worst, they are not corks so they don't hit against the entire surface of the glass to be as good as the real thing, and don't reduce oxidation the way screw cap and glass stoppers do either. Plus they are plastic, what's that petroleum product doing to the environment? Yea, they're recyclable, if you recycle them! They have you in the worst position possible with synthetics.

I say, if you like a closure type, there isn't a reason to change your purchases, but denying your palate a wine simply because it doesn't have your ideal closure is foolish too. Not all wine is age worthy to begin with, so closure most likely doesn't matter for most bottles. Take each wine as it comes to you, and when you become a winemaker, you can decide which wines you close how.

Taste the difference for yourself (if there is a difference in fact). Willakenzie actually puts 1/2 of certain wines in to each, corked and stelvin. You can lay it down side by side for a few years to see if it makes a difference that you can distinguish, and which is tastier to you. I think Penfold's does this too with the Grange.

I love a good cork, but the day I turned 21 the first bottle I bought was a screw cap. Neither defines who I am as a wine drinker. But if I had to choose a wine needs to lay down for a few years or one I should drink young, I'd take the corked cellar wine over the stelvin early sipper any day.

Bottom line: I've made my decision. Make your own and respect others. Oh, and if your agenda is political for why you don't like cork, just think of all the more important matters you could be thinking about, like health care and job security, and if your bank will still be open tomorrow.

Wine Tasting: Cooper Mountain, Chehalem Mtn. AVA, Oregon

My friend and I went to Cooper Mountain Vineyards on a whim after shopping in Beaverton.

Wine: Their Old Vine Chardonnay is a great wine. They do 50/50 fermentation in oak and stainless so it was definitely something to talk about. I am a big, big fan of the Vin Glace, this is an Ice Wine and they do a great job. Very sweet and almost creamy in texture. I wasn't impressed with their Pinot Noir as much. I am learning about Malbecs and found theirs to be interesting and flavorful. I am not a Pinot Gris fan, but I found theirs to be the best I'd had in a long while - and it wasn't chilled. They do a Reserve Gris and an Old Vine Gris, both were pretty tasty.

Vineyards: Many of their vineyards are 30 years plus. They have a great windy drive that goes right through one of their vineyards. The vines are gnarly and old looking and made me excited to taste the wine. The rows were pretty wide, but they don't do any mechanical harvesting.

Tasting Room: Their tasting room is cute and is an old barn made into an office. It doesn't seem large enough to accommodate too many large groups. If there were 20 people there at one time, it'd be insufficient, but there were 2 of us so it was fine. The glass was a standard red wine glass. They sell wine skins there, these are great for taking your wine back with you in your luggage.

Service: We were helped by their finance person, she was lovely. The bathroom was clean and had some biodynamic information for reading material that I thought was kind of funny.

Something special: They have the Vin Glace, an ice wine that is heavenly! More importantly they are Biodynamic. They use BD preparations 500-508 and use only native yeasts that grow in the vineyard.

Overall Wine Experience Score: 89

Stats:
Cooper Mountain Vineyards
Chehalem Mountain AVA
Address:9480 SW Grabhorn Rd, Beaverton, OR 97007
Tasting room is open from noon to 5pm daily
$7 tasting fee for 5 wines
Website: http://www.coopermountainwine.com/
Wines: Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Malbec

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