Newsletter


Story Teller Wine Company
Thanksgiving weekend found me out in wine country with friends and family. It was bright and sunny (a rarity this time of year) and we all had a great time visiting old friends at places like Brick House and JK Carriere. But the highlight of the day for me was the discovery of two new wines at The Eyrie Vineyards. The wines, a Pinot Noir and a Chardonnay, are called “La Luz” and they have never been made before. And I’m hoping they never have to be made again. The La Luz wines were made by Jason Lett and for one year they basically replace his highly sought after and critically acclaimed Black Cap wines. The reason they exist at all is because of Guadalupe Hernandez, a wonderful mother of three and wife of Eyrie’s cellarmaster, Julio Hernandez. She is a very, very important part of the Eyrie family. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the inner workings of The Eyrie Vineyards, they take their relationship with all of their employees very seriously. The people who work at Eyrie, from the vineyard to the tasting room, are considered family. And when a family member is in need, the Lett family will do everything in their power to help. Guadalupe Hernandez is suffering renal failure and she badly needs a kidney transplant. Even though the Hernandez family has a great medical insurance package through Eyrie, it won’t be nearly enough to take care of all of the expenses. The first thing the Lett family did was organize a library offering of all of their Reserve Chardonnays. Last summer a group of us sat down to a complete vertical tasting of these wines as a way to kick off the fund raising effort. There was a large contingent of the international wine world present, including Jancis Robinson. The wines were glorious and they are available for sale through the winery. Funds from these sales are going to Lupe’s transplant fund. But anybody who knows Jason Lett knows his efforts would not stop there. And that is where we come in! Eyrie contributes proceeds from the sales of The La Luz wines to Lupe’s fund and I am going to personally donate 5.00 for every bottle we sell. NV La Luz Chardonnay of Oregon 36.00 (44 cases) The first thing I noticed about the La Luz wines was the beautiful label. It is a drawing of a grape cluster that has angelic wings attached. From that cluster of grapes rays of light extend to the edge of the label. Jason made the label and he certainly had an appropriate inspiration. Jason told me that since Lupe’s full name is Guadalupe, he drew inspiration from Our Lady of Guadalupe, a vision of the Virgin Mary that appeared to a Mexican peasant in the 16th century. “I was inspired by the traditional iconography of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who is always portrayed surrounded by rays of light. To me this light represents inspiration and compassion, both qualities we hope to draw on throughout this project. From that, the name followed naturally: “La Luz” is Spanish for “The Light.” So right away I had an inkling I wasn’t dealing with your average bottle of wine. When I sniffed the wine in my glass I knew for sure this was something special. The La Luz Chardonnay is a multi-vintage wine made entirely with fruit from The Eyrie Vineyards’ original planting of own-rooted Chardonnay vines. So we are talking about Chardonnay vines that are over 40 years old, not a common thing in these parts. And when you smell a Chardonnay made from these vines, made by someone with the last name Lett, there is no mistaking the aroma. There is a sophistication to this nose, a minerality and sense of restrained elegance I don’t find in a lot of New World Chardonnays. It’s the elegance of a Grace Kelley or a Cary Grant. They are so seemingly oblivious to their own charm and beauty that they end up radiating a genuine sense of style. Aromas of toasted filberts, talc, lemon verbena, Meyer lemon and a bit of butter waft up out of the glass. But there is something else here, a scent I can only describe as steel. This is a set of aromas that are truly remarkable and unforgettable. It was almost as if I were smelling one of those Eyrie Reserve Chards from the early 1990s. After a lot of discussion at the back of the Eyrie tasting room, I was finally able to swallow some of these liquid rays of light. The fruit flavor starts out as Golden Delicious apple skins and then makes a transition into a lemon and quinine kind of citrus. But after a few minutes in my glass those fruit flavors became more like tropical fruit. And there was also a nice bit of that nuttiness and steel I found on the nose. Toward the very long finish I thought I was picking up on some kind of lemon grass quality. Folks, this is really good Chardonnay. It’s just so darned elegant and sharp that just by holding the glass in your hand you will feel like Peter Lawford enjoying the stars in the desert sky while standing on the balcony at Steve McQueen’s Palm Springs pad. NV La Luz Pinot Noir of Oregon 36.00 (261 cases) The Pinot Noir is a multi-vintage wine made with fruit off of own-rooted vines from Eyrie’s own Rolling Green Vineyard (planted in 1988) and Jeremy Saville’s Bishop Creek Vineyard (also planted in 1988) out in the Yamhill-Carlton District. Jason managed the Bishop Creek Vineyard from 2003-2205 so he buys their fruit with confidence, knowing its own-rooted Pommard and Wadenswil clones are sustainably farmed with the highest of standards. As far as Eyrie’s Rolling Green Vineyard goes, according to Jason, “it is one of the four vineyards that make up our estate plantings in the Dundee Hills. The site is predominately Pinot and it makes one of my favorite contributions to Eyrie’s estate blend each year. Like all our vineyards, the grapes are farmed uber-organically and have been since they were planted.” The La Luz Pinot Noir has a nice, dark magenta color and fans of the Black Cap Pinot Noir are going to go crazy for this wine. It has heady aromas of savory meat fat (I’m going with lamb), a hay field after a summer rain, dark fruit (black cap raspberries?) and a note of wild strawberry. The nose on this wine, with that savory meat quality, could be a poster child for the umami movement. The palate is full and rich, with good acidity, tannins that are so dusty it’s like my mouth has been hit with a Pinot Pixie Stick and flavors that run the range from black raspberries and briary dark cherries to coffee and a damp forest floor. Given the savory quality of this nose, I can’t think of a better wine to pour with lamb. In fact, serve grilled lamb ribs and the La Luz Pinot Noir this holiday season and you will be worshiped as a god by friends and family alike. Folks, I’m going to ask your help on this one. There aren’t a lot of bad things in the world that we have the ability to make better with one simple action. If enough money is raised Lupe gets a kidney and three little girls will have a mother to watch them grow up. It’s that simple. These wines are very, very good and 36.00 a bottle is an amazing price for this kind of quality. Jason put his entire 2007 Black Cap vintage into these two wines. Please keep in mind that the Black Cap wines normally sell for 50.00 and 60.00 a bottle. So the base blend for each wine is approximately 80-90% of the 2007 Black Cap, with Jason adding wine from barrels from older Eyrie vintages to the mix. A pretty amazing blend for this price range. Each wine may be purchased for 36.00 a bottle. Given the charitable nature of the project, there will be no discounts. But for each bottle you purchase, I will donate 5.00 to Lupe’s transplant fund. Friday Night Wine Tasting Dec. 4, 6:00-9:00PM: The Return of the Todd! After all the Thanksgiving craziness it will be nice to return to a normal schedule for a change. And in honor of that, I have invited the least normal winemaker I know, Mr. Todd Hamina of Biggio-Hamina fame. Todd is cruising along, high on life, since the release of all those nice scores from Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate. So why not try a bunch of those wines this Friday evening? From the super tangy Pinot Grigio (Todd is no longer allowed to enter Italy) to the lifted Syrah that has a good bit of Viognier mixed in, there will be seven wines for you to sample. Oh yes, Pinot Noir will be represented as well. There will be no charge for this tasting but given Todd’s witty banter I really should consider charging a cover. Saturday Wine Tasting, Dec. 5, 12:00-5:00PM: Malbec! Nothing takes the edge of a chilly winter evening better than a bottle of Malbec. Join us on Saturday as we open a few nice examples for your perusal. There will be no charge for this tasting. Cheers, Michael Alberty Head Storyteller PS All Cameron fans should save the date Sunday December 20 on their calendar. From 5:00-8:00PM we will be holding a grand tasting of Cameron wines, from the current releases of all the big hitting Clos Electrique and Abbey Ridge wines, to some older vintages that John Paul is bringing from his private library. Oh yeah, did I mention that John Paul will be here for a rare public appearance? And he’s coming with magnums of older Cameron wines? That’s a pair of rare events, sort of like capturing video of Tiger Woods being interviewed by police officials. Add to that catered appetizers, some soulful holiday music and a few irreverent readings from the works of David Sedaris and Shel Silverstein and you have got yourself quite the holiday party. Advance tickets to this event will go on sale soon. Look for more information in the next Storyteller newsletter! Visit www.StorytellerWine.com >> 5511-B SW Hood Ave, Portland \| (503) 206-7029 \| 1.800.753.2531

Story Teller Wine Company

Thanksgiving weekend found me out in wine country with friends and family. It was bright and sunny (a rarity this time of year) and we all had a great time visiting old friends at places like Brick House and JK Carriere. But the highlight of the day for me was the discovery of two new wines at The Eyrie Vineyards.

The wines, a Pinot Noir and a Chardonnay, are called “La Luz” and they have never been made before. And I’m hoping they never have to be made again. The La Luz wines were made by Jason Lett and for one year they basically replace his highly sought after and critically acclaimed Black Cap wines. The reason they exist at all is because of Guadalupe Hernandez, a wonderful mother of three and wife of Eyrie’s cellarmaster, Julio Hernandez. She is a very, very important part of the Eyrie family. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the inner workings of The Eyrie Vineyards, they take their relationship with all of their employees very seriously. The people who work at Eyrie, from the vineyard to the tasting room, are considered family. And when a family member is in need, the Lett family will do everything in their power to help. Guadalupe Hernandez is suffering renal failure and she badly needs a kidney transplant. Even though the Hernandez family has a great medical insurance package through Eyrie, it won’t be nearly enough to take care of all of the expenses.

The first thing the Lett family did was organize a library offering of all of their Reserve Chardonnays. Last summer a group of us sat down to a complete vertical tasting of these wines as a way to kick off the fund raising effort. There was a large contingent of the international wine world present, including Jancis Robinson. The wines were glorious and they are available for sale through the winery. Funds from these sales are going to Lupe’s transplant fund. But anybody who knows Jason Lett knows his efforts would not stop there. And that is where we come in! Eyrie contributes proceeds from the sales of The La Luz wines to Lupe’s fund and I am going to personally donate 5.00 for every bottle we sell.

NV La Luz Chardonnay of Oregon 36.00 (44 cases)

The first thing I noticed about the La Luz wines was the beautiful label. It is a drawing of a grape cluster that has angelic wings attached. From that cluster of grapes rays of light extend to the edge of the label. Jason made the label and he certainly had an appropriate inspiration. Jason told me that since Lupe’s full name is Guadalupe, he drew inspiration from Our Lady of Guadalupe, a vision of the Virgin Mary that appeared to a Mexican peasant in the 16th century. “I was inspired by the traditional iconography of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who is always portrayed surrounded by rays of light. To me this light represents inspiration and compassion, both qualities we hope to draw on throughout this project. From that, the name followed naturally: “La Luz” is Spanish for “The Light.”

So right away I had an inkling I wasn’t dealing with your average bottle of wine. When I sniffed the wine in my glass I knew for sure this was something special. The La Luz Chardonnay is a multi-vintage wine made entirely with fruit from The Eyrie Vineyards’ original planting of own-rooted Chardonnay vines. So we are talking about Chardonnay vines that are over 40 years old, not a common thing in these parts. And when you smell a Chardonnay made from these vines, made by someone with the last name Lett, there is no mistaking the aroma. There is a sophistication to this nose, a minerality and sense of restrained elegance I don’t find in a lot of New World Chardonnays. It’s the elegance of a Grace Kelley or a Cary Grant. They are so seemingly oblivious to their own charm and beauty that they end up radiating a genuine sense of style. Aromas of toasted filberts, talc, lemon verbena, Meyer lemon and a bit of butter waft up out of the glass. But there is something else here, a scent I can only describe as steel. This is a set of aromas that are truly remarkable and unforgettable. It was almost as if I were smelling one of those Eyrie Reserve Chards from the early 1990s.

After a lot of discussion at the back of the Eyrie tasting room, I was finally able to swallow some of these liquid rays of light. The fruit flavor starts out as Golden Delicious apple skins and then makes a transition into a lemon and quinine kind of citrus. But after a few minutes in my glass those fruit flavors became more like tropical fruit. And there was also a nice bit of that nuttiness and steel I found on the nose. Toward the very long finish I thought I was picking up on some kind of lemon grass quality. Folks, this is really good Chardonnay. It’s just so darned elegant and sharp that just by holding the glass in your hand you will feel like Peter Lawford enjoying the stars in the desert sky while standing on the balcony at Steve McQueen’s Palm Springs pad.

NV La Luz Pinot Noir of Oregon 36.00 (261 cases)

The Pinot Noir is a multi-vintage wine made with fruit off of own-rooted vines from Eyrie’s own Rolling Green Vineyard (planted in 1988) and Jeremy Saville’s Bishop Creek Vineyard (also planted in 1988) out in the Yamhill-Carlton District. Jason managed the Bishop Creek Vineyard from 2003-2205 so he buys their fruit with confidence, knowing its own-rooted Pommard and Wadenswil clones are sustainably farmed with the highest of standards. As far as Eyrie’s Rolling Green Vineyard goes, according to Jason, “it is one of the four vineyards that make up our estate plantings in the Dundee Hills. The site is predominately Pinot and it makes one of my favorite contributions to Eyrie’s estate blend each year. Like all our vineyards, the grapes are farmed uber-organically and have been since they were planted.”

The La Luz Pinot Noir has a nice, dark magenta color and fans of the Black Cap Pinot Noir are going to go crazy for this wine. It has heady aromas of savory meat fat (I’m going with lamb), a hay field after a summer rain, dark fruit (black cap raspberries?) and a note of wild strawberry. The nose on this wine, with that savory meat quality, could be a poster child for the umami movement. The palate is full and rich, with good acidity, tannins that are so dusty it’s like my mouth has been hit with a Pinot Pixie Stick and flavors that run the range from black raspberries and briary dark cherries to coffee and a damp forest floor. Given the savory quality of this nose, I can’t think of a better wine to pour with lamb. In fact, serve grilled lamb ribs and the La Luz Pinot Noir this holiday season and you will be worshiped as a god by friends and family alike.

Folks, I’m going to ask your help on this one. There aren’t a lot of bad things in the world that we have the ability to make better with one simple action. If enough money is raised Lupe gets a kidney and three little girls will have a mother to watch them grow up. It’s that simple. These wines are very, very good and 36.00 a bottle is an amazing price for this kind of quality. Jason put his entire 2007 Black Cap vintage into these two wines. Please keep in mind that the Black Cap wines normally sell for 50.00 and 60.00 a bottle. So the base blend for each wine is approximately 80-90% of the 2007 Black Cap, with Jason adding wine from barrels from older Eyrie vintages to the mix. A pretty amazing blend for this price range. Each wine may be purchased for 36.00 a bottle. Given the charitable nature of the project, there will be no discounts. But for each bottle you purchase, I will donate 5.00 to Lupe’s transplant fund.

Friday Night Wine Tasting Dec. 4, 6:00-9:00PM: The Return of the Todd!

After all the Thanksgiving craziness it will be nice to return to a normal schedule for a change. And in honor of that, I have invited the least normal winemaker I know, Mr. Todd Hamina of Biggio-Hamina fame. Todd is cruising along, high on life, since the release of all those nice scores from Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate. So why not try a bunch of those wines this Friday evening? From the super tangy Pinot Grigio (Todd is no longer allowed to enter Italy) to the lifted Syrah that has a good bit of Viognier mixed in, there will be seven wines for you to sample. Oh yes, Pinot Noir will be represented as well. There will be no charge for this tasting but given Todd’s witty banter I really should consider charging a cover.

Saturday Wine Tasting, Dec. 5, 12:00-5:00PM: Malbec!

Nothing takes the edge of a chilly winter evening better than a bottle of Malbec. Join us on Saturday as we open a few nice examples for your perusal. There will be no charge for this tasting.

Cheers,
Michael Alberty
Head Storyteller

PS All Cameron fans should save the date Sunday December 20 on their calendar. From 5:00-8:00PM we will be holding a grand tasting of Cameron wines, from the current releases of all the big hitting Clos Electrique and Abbey Ridge wines, to some older vintages that John Paul is bringing from his private library. Oh yeah, did I mention that John Paul will be here for a rare public appearance? And he’s coming with magnums of older Cameron wines? That’s a pair of rare events, sort of like capturing video of Tiger Woods being interviewed by police officials. Add to that catered appetizers, some soulful holiday music and a few irreverent readings from the works of David Sedaris and Shel Silverstein and you have got yourself quite the holiday party. Advance tickets to this event will go on sale soon. Look for more information in the next Storyteller newsletter!

Visit www.StorytellerWine.com >>
5511-B SW Hood Ave, Portland | (503) 206-7029 | 1.800.753.2531

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