Yesterday I spent a delightful hour or so with Allen Olson, one of the real deans of Indiana wine writing and a wealth of wine knowledge. Olson writes and manages HoosierWineCellar.com
The wine blog, and videos, serve a handful of south central Indiana newspaper readers and an entire wine community. He also does video updates that are informative and fun.
By now you've guessed that I was a guest for a taping Friday. We did two segments. In the first segment Olson asked me about my wine interests, writing and such. The second segment was a lot of fun with a wine buyer and winery owner.
We had Craig Baker from a new winery in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, in the studio. Baker and his brother have started a brand new winery - Ancient Cellars - in Dundee, Oregon. We sampled the Pinot Gris (Gilt) and a Pinot Noir (One Toe Duck). The Gris is on sale in Indiana and even offered at St. Elmo's Steak House in Indy. It was a really nice, and smooth Gris that didn't have the minerality or acidity of most.The oak fermentation gives the wine a nose not too different than a Chardonnay.
The Pinot had a nice structure but had only been in the bottle for a couple of weeks. It had the type structure that just might be a fine wine with a little more aging.
It's also exciting to know that the brothers are donating a small portion of the profits to two charit. Gris sales will benefit White River environmental concerns. The brothers hope that the Pinot Noir sales will help to start a wildlife rescue fund.
One other bright note is the Gris sells for just under $20. The Pinot Noir, which is not yet available but soon will be, sells for just under $30. The Pinot price point is a great value for Oregon wine.
Also at the table with us was Brad Wallace, fine wine specialist for Sahara Mart in Bloomington. Wallace is a wine sales veteran at a young age. I dropped by the Sahara Mart at 2nd and Walnut in downtown Bloomington and was really impressed by the wine selection and even more impressed by some of their prices!
I may try to see Craig's brother at the winery Wednesday or Thursday of this next week when I'm out there visiting. For those who follow the blog, I'm headed to Portland and Seattle Sunday on business but plan two days in the Valley. I'll be blogging.
I'm real excited to have an appointment Thursday morning with Jesse Lange of Lange Winery. I also will be visiting with the great folks at one of the newer wineries Winderlea about their 2007 wines.
I'll be sure to post when the videos go up.
Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com
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