There is an independent streak in the Willamette Valley that runs as wide as the Columbia River. It all started when David Lett was told by his professors at UC Davis that he was crazy to even think about making Pinot Noir in Oregon. David loaded up his car, drove north and vowed “I’ll show them.” Today I think that every person in the Willamette Valley who tells their friends and family “I’m going to be a winemaker” and gets that long pause in response, well, I bet they quietly think “I’ll show them.”
It was that independent spirit that inspired David’s son, Jason Lett, and media strategist Lisa Donoughe of Watershed Communications to create a forum to showcase all the new, small production wineries that pop up every year. The Indie Wine & Food Festival began back in 2005 and it has become a highlight of the year for local winelovers. I can remember being on vacation in Oregon when the first one was held and I was blown away as I walked among all the tables. Even though I was working in Illinois at the time, I thought I had a pretty good read on every Oregon winery there was. But everywhere I turned that day I found energetic young winemakers with wineries I had never heard of before.
Sadly, because of the loss of the building where the event has been held the last several years, the festival is taking this year off. They will return bigger and better than ever in 2013 but for now there’s a bit of a void to fill. So this year I am showcasing a handful of talented winemakers that make such tiny amounts of wine you are unlikely to see ever see their bottles in your neck of the woods. The series began with wines from Bow & Arrow (Scott and Dana Frank) and Mad Violets (Stirling Fox and Kelly Kidneigh) and today I am very happy to introduce the wines of Mr. Drew Harper Voit!
Long before I got to taste Drew’s wines, his label captured my attention. It’s because of the word “Harper” on the label. The first time I saw it on a shelf at a local store, for some reason it reminded me of a southern literary setting. Was it the soft sepia tones on the label reminding me of an old Civil War photo? Was I thinking of Harper Lee? Then I read that Drew’s middle name is a tip of the hat to his family’s connection with English colonist Robert Harper, the fellow who founded the town of Harpers Ferry. For a Jayhawker like me who went through the first few years of grade school in Kansas, just the mention of Harpers Ferry conjures up images of a fiery John Brown raiding the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry. And in Kansas, where John Brown defended settlers from some less than savory characters from Missouri, John Brown is considered a hero! Kind of scary to a small kid, but one of the good guys nonetheless. Fortunately, Harper Voit is not just a cool label, as the wines conjured up some compelling images for me as well.
online pharmacy uk
This may the first vintage of Drew’s Pinot Noir but he is hardly a novice when it comes to making wine. Drew started out at UC Davis in California and migrated northward to make Pinot Noir, just like David Lett. While Drew was helping to make wine at Domaine Serene, Dick Shea took notice of Drew’s talents and set out to convince Drew to become the head winemaker and vineyard manager at Shea Cellars. But Drew knew deep down that he ultimately wanted to make his own wine, so a deal was struck. Drew would make Shea Cellars wines but he would also be free to create his own label. Given the results on both sides, I would have to say they were pretty smart guys to work this out.
The Strandline is named after the high water mark on a shoreline where debris is left behind. In this case it’s a reference to the shoreline of the ancient seas that used to cover this area and the soil deposits that were left behind for our modern vineyards. The Strandline is a blend of Pinot Noir from two different vineyards, with a majority of the fruit (75%) coming from the Old School Vineyards near Junction City, Oregon. It’s a sustainably farmed vineyard that has been getting a lot of attention lately because of its sale of Pinot Noir fruit to wineries like Antica Terra and Broadley. It’s a higher elevation site and the reddish-brown Bellpine soil there is packed with iron and bauxite. The other 25% comes from a secret stash up on Ribbon Ridge, a location where the microclimate is a bit warmer, a bit drier and filled with layers of maritime sedimentary soils.
As I poured the wine into my glass I was thinking about that Bellpine soil. The color of this wine was a rich, dark brickish red color that reminded me of an old red 1960 Chevy pickup truck that has been left out in the elements to rust away. After a bit of swirling the Strandline offers up rich, candied aromas of dark red cherries and smoky, musky mulberries. Nothing rusty about that! It’s the kind of aromatic set that gives one fair warning a hedonistic experience is about to take place. No wonder Miles and Jack liked this wine so much in Rex Pickett’s latest novel, “Vertical.”
In Rex Pickett’s sequel to “Sideways,” an unlabeled barrel sample bottle of Harper Voit Strandline makes a cameo appearance. Here is Rex/Mile’s tasting note: “I smelled the bouquet and it struck me flush in my olefactory glands like a vinous haymaker. In my mouth it was inky, plush, gorgeous, almost savage, a wild ride of pepper, black cherry, cedar and Cuban cigar - the full three-act structure so many Pinots lack. ‘Wow,’ was all I said.” And you can just bet, given that description, that Miles’ sidekick, Jack, did end up quaffing the whole bottle.
When I tasted this wine I wrote down “slippery.” For me that’s a short hand to indicate a full, round-in-the mouth experience with a good amount of nice, sweet, dark fruit. It’s the kind of wine I like to hold in my mouth as long as I can in order to hold on to that slippery goodness. Yes, there is new oak here but I found it be nicely integrated at this point, with enough fruit and acidity to keep it company. Yes, it clocks in at 14.5% but I’m not one of those dogmatic types that feels it is impossible to achieve balance once you pass 14%. The Strandline is definitely toward the dark side, but it is balanced and has more than enough acidity to keep everything interesting. In addition to the peppery black cherry Rex/Miles noted, I could also pick out a bit of something like iodine or mineral. Bone marrow perhaps? Anyway, it’s going to be delightful with a whole host of foods, from gnocchi with Hedgehog mushrooms to pork chops. In fact, I ate lunch a restaurant in Newberg, Oregon yesterday and I tasted a bit of my friend’s duck leg confit. Next time I go to that restaurant (Chef Paul Bachand’s Recipe) I’m taking a bottle of the Strandline and I’m going to order some duck confit for myself.
online pharmacy uk
Serving up something where a white wine might be a better fit? Like oysters? Then boy do I have a wine for you. Coincidentally, just as I was sitting down to write this newsletter, somebody sent me a link to an article in the new edition of Portland’s MIX Magazine. In the article, Christopher Handford of Davis Street Tavern fame is talking about his favorite comfort foods for winter. While he waxes on about the comforting joys of sea food, he singles out the Harper Voit Pinot Blanc as a perfect pairing. According to Handford, “I smell this and think of all the time I spent on Nantucket,” says Handford with a sigh. “I love seafood: oysters, clams, lobster. It’s very comforting when wine can remind you of a place. You can close your eyes and picture being there.”
I know how Handford feels. When I first smelled this wine I immediately thought of all those weekends where my parents and their friends would set up camp on the sand spit at Nehalem Bay on the Oregon coast. Crab traps would be set and a big fire would be started on the beach. As the Dungeness crab feeding frenzy ensued I would watch the adults drinking ice cold white wine out of water glasses that were covered with condensation. I’d like to think they were drinking something just as crisp and dazzling as this wine.
The Harper Voit Pinot Blanc is made entirely of fruit one of the Willamette Valley’s oldest vineyards, Sunnyside Vineyard near Turner, Oregon. The vineyard was planted in 1970 and owners Tom and Lucy Wisniewski now have it LIVE (sustainable) certified. I have had some really nice wines over the years made with this fruit from the likes of Myron Redford of Amity, but this Surlie Pinot Blanc is superb.
First off, it’s barrel fermented in neutral oak barrels and then aged on its lees, sur lie style. It clocks in at 13.6% alcohol and that sur lie treatment does a nice job of providing a set of yeasty and saline aromas that will make you want to find the nearest beach. With flavors and aromas of a crisp sea breeze, lemon zest and a touch of not quite ripe white peach this is going to be quite the bottle to accompany the onset of spring. There is a streak of lemony acidity to this wine but the body provided by the sur lie treatment manages to provide a nice counter-point. And for you Old Worlders out there, if you are a fan of Muscadet from the Loire Valley, then I think you might enjoy giving this wine a whirl.
These are the very first vintages of Harper Voit wines and I’m pretty confident you will be hearing a lot more from Drew Voit in the next few years. But I also realize that many of you will have never tried these wines. Sure, Drew is the head winemaker at a pretty famous Oregon winery and most of you have probably had Shea Cellars wines before. Still, you may be on the fence about ordering wines from a brand new venture. So allow me to give you a bit of a nudge because I’m anxious to get as many people as I can to just try these wines. Any purchase of Harper Voit wines, no matter how large or small, will receive a 15% discount. Embrace the independent Oregon winemaking spirit with some nice wines at nice prices!
online pharmacy uk
In what I hope will become an annual event, this Friday we will be featuring wines from Mt. Etna and the Canary Islands. In addition to the Frank Cornelissen wines, we will be pouring the 2009 Vinudilice, a very difficult to locate Etna rosé from Salvo Foti, the 2010 Tajinaste Tinto Tradicional from the Canary Islands and a pretty impressive “mystery wine” from a bit further north in Italy. There will also be a “super pour” on Friday night, the 1989 Château Doisy-Védrines from Sauternes. Given the nature of the wines, there will be a ten dollar tasting fee for the regular portion of this tasting. The tasting fee will be fully refunded with any total purchase of 100.00 or more and that includes any wines in the store. There will be a ten dollar fee for the “super pour.”
online pharmacy uk
It’s always good to find some nice wines in the 10.00 to 15.00 range for everyday quaffing. On Saturday we will have some wines open for you to try that fit that bill. There will be no charge for this tasting.
Cheers,
Michael Alberty
Head Storyteller
5511-B SW Hood Ave, Portland | (503) 206-7029 | 1.800.753.2531
