I had no idea what to expect when I made the trek to Aramenta Cellars, the winery up on Ribbon Ridge where John Grochau makes his wines. I had been told by a few friends there was this lanky bicyclist out in the valley that was making a killer Sauvignon Blanc by day and working the front of the house at Higgins Restaurant and Bar in Portland by night. I had also been told to look for the guy who looked like he was kicked out of Blink 182 for not having enough tattoos. Which made him pretty easy to find up on Ribbon Ridge. Fortunately there wasn’t anything pop punk about John’s wines. The wines of Grochau Cellars, as I discovered that day, are serious bottles made in an honest, straight-forward way.

Which makes perfect sense considering John cut his teeth as a winemaker while working for Doug Tunnell at Brick House Vineyards. The minimalist, “stand back and let Mother nature do her thing” approach that first caused me to become a Brick House fan is very evident in John’s winemaking as well. So whether he’s making Tempranillo from southern Oregon or a single vineyard Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley, John’s wines are thoughtfully made, thoughtfully priced and a true expression of the grape variety and the soil from which it came. Oh yeah, the fact that John and his wife Kerri graduated from the same high school I did only made his wines taste better. I can honestly say John is the greatest winemaker ever produced by Sunset HS in Beaverton, Oregon!

2005 Grochau Cellars Anderson Family Vineyard Pinot Noir 35.00

The Anderson Family Vineyard is something special. As you leave Newberg, Oregon and drive towards Yamhill and Carlton you can see the steep, rocky slopes of the vineyard climbing up from the valley floor. The 667 clone Pinot Noir vines there have to work hard in the Jory and Nekia soils because all those rocks go down to a depth of about 500 feet. That hard work results in fruit that produces a wine that displays power and grace. This wine is packed with dark cherry fruit flavor, along with hints of bacon fat and minerals. The nose has that same dark fruit and a really nice coffee reduction note. Nice fruit, perfectly balanced with the tannins and some very juicy acidity. Only 25 cases of this wine were made and you would be hard pressed to find it anywhere else in America.

2005 Grochau Cellars Upper Five Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 16.00

This is the wine that led me to seek John out. Made with certified organic fruit from Terry and Molly Sullivan’s vineyard in southern Oregon, this is a wine for those trying to escape the feline uric qualities found in so many Sauvignon Blancs in other parts of the world. Instead of muskiness and gooseberries, the Grochau Cellars Sauvignon Blanc has a highly aromatic nose of stone fruits, running the range from apricot and quince to white peach. The wine is full-bodied and creamy, with flavors of tangerine, orange blossoms and a trace of wet rocks. A blockbuster of a white wine. The good news is that John upped the production from last year’s initial vintage of 50 cases. The bad news is the total production is still only 110 cases.

2005 Grochau Cellars Upper Five Vineyard Tempranillo 24.00

Many folks will tell you that parts of Oregon have the perfect climate for Tempranillo. But those same people will often tell you they are skeptical the soils have the proper amount of calcium and limestone to create a wine similar to what you might drink in Spain. I’m not sure what lies underneath the dirt in the Upper Five Vineyard near Talent, Oregon but the fruit down there is producing a very interesting wine. This wine does have a nice dark raspberry and black cherry fruit thing going on and there is that spicy chocolate note from the oak. But what baffles me are the notes of leather and tobacco I was picking up on the day I first tasted this wine with John. There are some thoroughly modern wines coming out of the Ribera Del Duero, wines with dark colors and plush fruit. Wines just like this. I may start calling this wine “baby Flor de Pingus.”

2005 Grochau Cellars Rogue Valley Syrah 19.00

The fruit comes from three incredibly rocky, wind-strafed vineyards that range in altitude from 1,900 feet (Upper Five) to 2,300 (Paradox Vineyard). The cooler microclimate up there really helps in creating a wine that is elegant and restrained. It has a wonderfully perfumed nose, with the violets and honeysuckle reminding the senses of the 2% Viognier John blended in with the Syrah. It also has some serious structure, great acidity and flavors of sweet dark fruit and hints of minerals and white pepper. If you enjoy wines from areas in the northern Rhone like Hermitage, or if you like wines from Australia like Clonakilla’s Shiraz-Viognier, then you owe it to yourself to try this wine. Only 130 cases of this little gem were made, so don’t wait too long.