Wine Day

It was the first 'springlike' day of the season. Sunny and 50 degrees. Gives us hope that spring is just around the corner. We met Erin, Graham & Ollie in Newberg for breakfast and then headed to Owen Roe for a tour and tasting. The most interesting offerings were the 2007 wines from last year still in barrel. We first sampled the Pinot Gris under their O'Reilly label which almost had a sparkling "spritz" to it. It was then contrasted with the Pinot Gris under the Owen Roe label which was very good. I don't normally care for too many pinot gris's but this one was luscious. The last barrel sample we had was a merlot. It was quite different than any other merlots I have tried. I got a smoked meat aroma. Rick & Graham rattled off others, but I'm not so refined. The finish of this wine was amazingly long. I'm going to need a bottle of this! Next it was off to DDO for their 'valentine' bash. We tried their wines along with their french counterparts from their parent company 'Joseph Drouhin'. I think my favorite of those tried was the DDO Willamette Valley 2006. The place was packed and the only saving grace was the beautiful day as the doors were open & we could step out on the terrace and take in the breathtaking view of the valley and Mt. Hood. Then we were off to Scott Paul in Carlton were we tasted some amazing burgundies. Emily & Kelly were there and Scott & Martha showed up and chatted for a few minutes. The people there are amazing as are the wines. We then stopped at Carlton Winemakers' Studio to pick up our shipment of wine from Andrew Rich. He was there so we stopped and chatted with him for a few minutes. We finished up at the Dark Horse Wine Bar in Newberg. We tasted a Sineann wine and some Ferraro wines. It was a really fun day. Oliver quite enjoyed seeing everyone and flirting. He's on his way to becoming a winemaker!!