Mondavi Carneros Pinot Noir is Surprisingly Good

Robert Mondavi = Napa Valley.

Robert Mondavi = Cabernet Sauvignon.

Robert Mondavi = California wine icon.

Now if we were playing a word association game all of those responses would be good ones if you mentioned the name of legendary winemaker and wine ambassador, Robert Mondavi.

But what if we offered this one - Robert Mondavi = Pinot Noir.

Huh? Pinot? Who? What? Why? Pinot Noir? Mondavi?

It might go something like that. Fair or not, Mondavi is associated with Cabernet or maybe his iconic white Fume Blanc (or Sauv Blanc, if you want to get technical.)

So when I received a 2010 Mondavi Pinot Noir sample I wasn't skeptical, I just didn't really know what to expect. Fair or not, not many people associate the great Mondavi name with Pinot. When we think of Pinot we think of the Sonoma Coast and the Russian River Valley.

Now, it's also fair to say the Carneros region in Napa Valley was cool long before Pinot was cool when it comes to Pinot Noir.

I recently popped open the bottle and like, 'wow dude, (or dudette), this is good Pinot!'

Okay, it has 7 percent Russian River Valley fruit to complement the Carneros but it's very nice Pinot. The grapes hare hand picked, it sees about one-third new oak barrels, and the wine is still pretty young.

I loved the really nice spicy, soft black fruit flavor. The wine was marvelously balanced and smooth. It had hints of a forest floor and a few fall pumpkin pie spices. It was beautiful wine.

I've written before that we take the icons for granted. I tasted five or six $100-plus Mondavi Cabs earlier this year and was really impressed with the consistency and quality. This little $27 Pinot is a welcome brother to the winery's better known bottles!

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Something New, Something Old for Holiday Turkey Pairing

The Golden Rule of wine and food pairing is a simple one – if you like it, drink it!

But when the family gathers for the turkey feast or at Christmas time something more is often expected. How about something different? Or maybe it’s time to serve up something a bit more extravagant!

An occupational hazard for wine writers is the expected column of wine recommendations for the holidays so who am I to disappoint?

The first rule of picking wines for a big meal is do not overly focus on the main protein. Think about all of those side dishes and the different flavors. That makes almost any wine a good pick. But with the Turkey and main course there are some certain winners and perhaps a few you’ve never tried worth picking up.

A good domestic Chardonnay will work every time. You can buy palatable bottles at the grocery or most liquor stores. I recommend value labels Robert Mondavi, Mirrasou, and flip flop as very drinkable wines if you want to keep you’re price point under $10 a bottle.

Dry Riesling is another outstanding choice. Frankly, there is so much good Riesling made in the U.S., you don’t need to think foreign to find a great bottle. New York and Michigan are areas really emerging with their Riesling wines. Washington state winemakers are producing great Riesling. Several Midwestern wineries are doing Riesling as well.

If there is a decent wine shop nearby there are several other great choices. 

If you like drier wines but want a big nose of autumn in your glass try a Gewurztraminer or Viognier.  Gewurzt is one of the most aromatic wines in the world. It can be fairly sweet to off-dry. Viognier, my choice of the two, is a drier white wine with hints of apple, pear, and spice. For an even better pairing go drier with a Pinot Gris or Chenin Blanc.

For the extravagant dinner gathering, splurge for the world’s best white wine – Chablis. Better wine shops will have a few labels to choose from. Chablis is Chardonnay made in a dry, crisp style with tremendous minerality and acidity. Real Chablis comes from Chablis, France and nowhere else. 

Frankly, don’t buy the other stuff. Chablis would be awesome with any poultry. You can find great bottles starting in the $20 price range and up. Domaine William Fevre, Billaud-Simon, and Drouhin are just three labels which consistently make outstanding French white wine. 

Here is an option many people just won’t think about or consider, but Rose’ wines make a great pairing with poultry. Rose is that nice middle point between white and red wines and the quality continues to skyrocket vintage to vintage. Find a French Provence Rose or an Oregon Pinot Noir Rose for your Turkey.  Midwestern wineries make pretty good to outstanding Rose’ wines. Just go for the dry Rose wines regardless of region to match well with your dinner.

The red of choice has long been Pinot Noir for Thanksgiving. And again, if you are sticking with value look for the labels mentioned above.  But if it’s off to the wine shop, consider a French Beaujolais – and not that Nouveau stuff. Find a Beaujolais Cru wine from Julienas, Morgon, or Fleurie. The Gamay-based wines are very affordable at $12-$18 and great with food.

If you want to impress pick up any bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir above the $30 price point. It is sure to be a huge hit with your guests. (Lange is a personal favorite.)

Next Column: Gadgets for the wine lover on your Christmas list!

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Re-visiting Ladies at Republic of Jam in Willamette Valley

Any travel to wine country turns up some real gems when you look beyond the glass and check out the businesses around the tasting rooms and what wine country has to offer beyond the juice.

Lynnette talking jam with me.

One of my best all-time non-wine discoveries in wine country occurred last year in the Willamette Valley. At the insistence of a wine writing friend, Ryan Reichert, I made sure to stop at the Republic of Jam in Carlton.

 I had a bunch sent home and have found some great uses for their unique products. The jams will work on a piece of toast but best when used more creatively. The jams are not your traditional sweet jams. For example, I love to put their Spiced Strawberry Pinot Noir jam on a dab of goat cheese on a cracker.

I wrote about the experience the day I visited, which you can read here.

But I also did a quick video interview I had hoped to use as part of another project that never materialized. I've been posting of few of those videos here in recent weeks. This is the last of those vids.

Check out Lynnette Shaw and Amy Wilder's chat about Republic of Jam.


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Catching Up on a Bunch of Good Wines

Whenever I'm looking for something on my desk and keep stumbling across notes on wines I've tasted, it's time to write some reviews.

Some of these wines span back a few weeks but I always make a few notes on what I thought. I'm not ever excited about reviewing wines and not sure how important it is to readers. But I do figure if someone reads the blog regularly and finds my recommendations favorable to their palate, then it's worth doing.

So let's catch up ...

Clayhouse 2010 Syrah  - I'm a Clayhouse fan and have written that before. This value line under the Adobe label rocks and is widely available. I don't drink Syrah often but when I do I drink Paso Robles. Hmmm, sounds familiar?

This wine has the stereotypical dark berry and fruit flavors of plum and caramel. I liked the full mouth feel and nice long finish. This juice gets just 10 month in oak making that long finish smooth instead of tannic. It's a relatively low 13.8 percent alcohol wine.

Clayhouse 2010 Syrah, SRP $15, Trade Sample, Recommended

Valdubon 2003 Crianza - Beautiful red wine from the Ribera del Duero region of Spain which always rocks my juice palate.

I tasted pronounced black raspberry and vanilla with that wonderful silkiness you get with well-made and aged Tempranillo-driven wines. But this 100 percent Tempranillo was bolder than some. It was beautiful wine.

Even with additional press in recent years, Spanish wines remain a great value delivering superior quality for the price.

Valdubon 2003 Crianza, Around $20, Trade Sample, Highly Recommended

Jigar 2009 Pinot Noir - This Sonoma Pinot Noir is a California keeper. It comes from the Pinot-rich region of the Russian River Valley.

It's a more full-bodied Pinot than many you'll pick up but with good balance. It's rich with nice minerality and acidity on the finish. There is some dark cherry on the palate. It's really delightful wine.

Jigar 2002 Pinot Noir, Retails around $30, I got a buy under $20 at Zionsville's Grapevine Cottage. Recommended.

NOTE: I have a few more reviews to post as well and hope to get those up Tuesday night.



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Vidon One of Oregon's Great Boutique Wineries

A few weeks back I started posting a few of the individual videos I had shot while in Oregon last summer.

Don Hagge .. Apollo Engineer and now a winemaker.

These were videos I shot for a full Oregon feature for a national online site that didn't pan out. I wrote several pieces about my visits, the winemakers, the region, and the wine. But the videos sat untouched until earlier this year.

I have two more and should have gotten them up by now. These two are arguably the most interesting stops of my four days in the Willamette Valley.

First up today is Don Hagge of Vidon Vineyards. I wrote about meeting Don the day we met him. He has such an interesting background story that I mention in that blog post. He also makes some of the most fabulous Pinot Noir you'll sample in the valley.

What really got us on our trip is we asked at two or three different wineries what spot we should visit not on our agenda. Nearly everyone, knowing we were seeking small boutique wineries, said we just had to go see Don.

The video is most unedited - just clipped at the beginning and end. It gives you more of a feel for being there and chatting with the winemaker.


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Chatting with Oregon Pinot Noir Icon Don Lange

I wrote in an earlier post that I had done several video interviews while in Oregon last summer. The intent was to create a video feature for the national online magazine, Palate Press. That idea never materialize and it's way past time to get some of these marvelous interviews up on the blog.

I've stopped at Lange Estate Winery during all three of my Willamette Valley trips and even as I explore new Oregon wineries, Lange remains a favorite.

On previous trips I had met Jesse Lange who oversees most of the day-to-day operation. I had another appointment set up with him last summer but he had to cancel. I've got to know the folks in the tasting room and they responded they were trying to get 'the Don' to talk with me upon arrival.

'The Don' was Don Lange, Jesse's father, and the founder of Lange Vineyards. The Lange family came along after Erath, Adelsheim and those Willamette Valley pioneers, but the Lange name remains one of the icons in the Valley and Dundee Hills.

Lange makes some of the best Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris in Oregon. The name is known across the country.

It was great fun to finally meet Don and sit down to chat. I've left the videos largely unedited to give the view a feel of being there listening to us chat. There is a second video with Don coming in a few days.The audio on this video is a little low. It was boosted as much as possible without causing distortion. Just crank up your audio and it should do okay.

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Domaine Serene Delivers Vintage to Vintage

Domaine Serene Tasting Room

I visited Oregon's Willamette Valley in July, 2011, and had one of the best 'wine times' of my life hitting up a number of prominent wineries.

I did a photo essay for Palate Press, blogged each day here about the trip, and wrote a newspaper column about the experience. Part of my wine-writing work got left in a folder for way too long. I had pitched a full video about the experience to Palate Press but they never bought into the idea. So I have some really interesting interviews with prominent winemakers and others who make Willamette a special place.

Obviously, those pieces have set too long. But the information is as fresh today as the day I first heard it. I'm going to share a number of those over the next two weeks. I had a long chat with Don Lange of Lange Vineyards, Don Hagge of Vidon, the two delightful ladies who own/make and entertain at the Republic of Jam and more.

One of our most enjoyable stops on that trip was Domaine Serene. That winery consistenly scores big points from the two leading national magazines and wine critics for its supurb Pinot Noir. The price points are a bit higher than the already significant prices of most Oregon premier Pinot. But you have to taste the wines to understand.

Talking and touring with Serene's Willett

The entry level is "Yamhill Cuvee" at $45, though you might find it slightly lower at retail stores. What you learn when you visit vineyards is how premium producers take extraordinary care in every step of the winemaking process.

During my July visit we met Lucas Willett, Hospitality Director, who gave a great tour and fabulous tasting of the Domaine Serene wines. He also shared what was my first white Pinot Noir. Yes, you read that right.

These videos I'll share over the next two weeks are largely unedited or raw. It puts you in the tasting room and vineyard in a way that a slick edited piece doesn't. I decided to leave the vids as they were shot.

Below is Willett talking about the care Domaine Serene takes in making its wines and also about Serene's very unique white Pinot Noir.



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Russian River Magic: One Winegrower, Two Winemakers

Kathleen Inman pours her Klopp Vineyard Pinot for me to taste

GRATON, Ca. - There is nothing like talking to winemakers, winery owners, and vineyard managers/owners to really learn about wine.

Ted Klopp, Kathleen Inman, and Merry Edwards bring all the components together to make some of California's Russian River Valley's best Pinot Noir.

Klopp pulls a barrel samle for us to taste.

Thursday morning I tasted the wines of Merry Edwards, who has an almost cult-like following for her small production Pinot Noir and almost magical Sauv Blanc. The next visit was with Kathleen Inman at Inman Family Wines. Then in the afternoon Ted Klopp shared a couple of hours talking about grape growing and working with winemakers to make the best wines possible.

Our first stop was at the Merry Edwards winer at Graton. Ron Hayes, who  has worked with Edwards for nine years, poured the wines and shared his considerable wine knowledge. The entry level Russian River Valley Pinot ($42) was nicely balanced, medium to light bodied Pinot. The Meredith Estate Pinot ($57) was the powerhouse of the lineup. It had bold Pinot fruit, a smooth mid-palate for powerful wine, and a lingering finish. The 2009 Klopp Ranch Pinot ($57) had a little less power but a longer finish - my favorite of the line up. We tasted an Olivet Lane Pinot ($60) that was similar in elegance and style to the Klopp.

Ron also pulled a 2007 Tobias Glen Pinot ($54) to show the wine's aging ability. He suggested the entire lineup would age nicely for up to 10 years. The Tobias was also a winner with a soft balanced Pinot palate with a very Burgundian mouth feel.

Obviously, these are not value wines. This is boutique wine made by one of California's most honored, recognized, and darn best winemakers. The product proves it. Edwards has a reputation for meticulous attention to detail. In our afternoon visit to Klopp, he talked about Edwards frequent visits to the vines to check on growth, taste fruit, and give Ted all the feedback necessary worth of Pinot Noir at these prices.

The second stop Inman Wines with owner/winemaker Kathleen Inman. A charming host and winemaker/grower concerned about sustainability and the environment, poured her lighter style Pinots for us. We tasted several of her wines and a couple of those choices in the 07 and 08 vintage. She buys grapes from Ted Klopp and grows her own in the adjacent Olivet Grange Vineyard. I liked both styles and but found the Klopp Thorn Ridge Ranch Pinot a bit more to my taste. The fruit was slightly bigger but all of her Pinots were well made with silky mouthfeel an a beautiful finish. Inman's Pinots all sell at the $56 price point.

I liked Inman for her modest and practical approach to running a winery. She farms with sustainable methods, adds very little sulfite and only if necessary. She's not interested in being certified, she's interested in making wine the right way and taking care of the environment. She built her winery and small tasting room using totally recycled materials. She could have had the building certified for it's unique use of materials, like recycled car steel, for the siding but again didn't want to pay the thousands of dollars for certification. The point for Kathleen is simply to do things the right way.

Talking grapes and wine with Ted Klopp

Klopp was generous, knowledge, and funny during our two-hour afternoon visit. A native of the Midwest and Wabash College graduate spent most of his career in higher education at Marin College in California until changing lifestyles.

He bought the ranch north of Graton and inherited apple and pear trees. Neighbors, consultants and friends told him he would be 'crazy' if he didn't plant vines. He took their advice and now supplies multiple wineries. He makes a little wine at home himself we sipped while sitting on a nice porch with a beautiful vineyard view.

Klopp loves that Merry Edwards comes by regularly to check the crop. He appreciates Inman's questions about his farming practices.

I have enough material for stand alone newspaper columns on Klopp and Inman. I hope to have those up in the very near future.

Late in the afternoon we visited Arista Winery near the river and tasted through their very well done Pinot Noir. We didn't think much  of the wine made from the Russian River Valley fruit but loved the Russian River valley line and one line made with grapes from Mendocino County.

Rochioli, an iconic name in California Pinot, was not disappointing though some might be a bit put off if they don't know about the winery in advance. They make some of the best high end Pinot in the U.S. They only pour three wines in the tasting room. We tasted Chardonnay, a nice Pinot Rose', and a single Pinot Noir. Most of their Pinot Noir wines are reserved for club members. It's a club that has a long waiting list just to BUY their wines. It's not Pinot for today or tomorrow - it's a bottle you buy and put a way a couple of years to enjoy at it's best.

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Dudes Taste Four Pinot Noirs for the Holidays

Dude Alex

There is nothing better than enjoying great wines with great friends. I've written before, and even done a couple of videos, with my wine drinking buddies. We call ourselves "Dudes on the Porch."

We started about a year and a half ago gathering every 2-4 weeks and drinking some wines. We graduated to theme nights and dinners. We are still doing it and still having just as much fun.

We recently enjoyed our holiday edition of 'Dudes' by planning a Pinot Noir night. We had an inexpensive Burgundy, a mid-priced Napa Pinot, and two Oregon Pinots.

We had a spread of some Italian meats, cheese, a great French goat cheese, crackers, and were about as wine geeky as we ever get.

Dude in Training - Cameron

In other words, we had a ball. I constantly encourage wine newcomers to get a group of friends together and drink some new wines, old favorites and just try things!

Let's go through the four wines and I'll share the group's thoughts. I was having way too much fun to play journalist and take "quotes." But, I did take enough notes to get a good handle on the group thinking about each of the four Pinot Noirs.

We don't always agree but we ended up with pretty similar feelings about each of our Pinot Noirs. We had four of our five regular Dudes and a 22-year-old college senior who has joined us on a number of occasions.

Bouchard Pere & 2008 Reserve Bourgogne - This would fall into the category of a basic entry-level Burgundy. There was very little wrong with it just not enough right to give it a recommendation.

We opened it shortly before drinking and that was a mistake. The wine did improve the longer it was open. At times the wine just didn't seem to have much going on - typical of bargain Burgundy. But with a little time we all detected some strawberry. It was very light bodied and a nice cherry red. There was little finish and not the spicy or earthy finish you'd get on many Pinot Noirs.

Dude Patrick brought this one and couldn't remember exactly what he paid for it but knew it was around $15-$16. (Not Recommended)

Beringer Napa Valley Vineyards 2007 Pinot Noir - We struggled with this wine more than any of the evening. It had a short decant and improved with all the oxygen it could absorb. Many will see the Beringer name and think only of the supermarket wines. But Beringer makes wines at other price points as well.

Dude Alex brought the Beringer. I found it online anywhere from $16-$24 - and that's a pretty wide range for the same bottle of juice.

I thought the wine was disorganized. There was no mid-palate but all of us got pronounced oak on the finish - big oak. That is something many people are not going to like but others will appreciate the added structure. For my palate, the Beringer's oak was just too much. I love oak in Cabs and big, big red wines but want my Pinot really well balanced.

Alex got big strawberry after about an hour of having the bottle open and we all agreed. It had all the hints of expected dark fruit but not much terroir or spice.

Still, this might be interesting in another year or so and with a longer decant, perhaps up to two hours. It wasn't bad. It's just not that hard to find better Pinot in that price range. (Recommended)

The Dudes are admitted Pinotphiles and big fans of Oregon Pinot Noir. So we had two great Oregon Pinots at a big price point that really sparked some of our best wine conversation in a long time. Patrick brought a 2008 Cooper Mountain Vineyard Pinot. I dug into my hidden stash of great Pinot and pulled out a 2008 Winderlea Vineyard Pinot from the Dundee Hills.

Cooper Mountain 2008 Mountain Terrior 5 Element Series - We all loved this wine. This is a big fruit-forward Pinot with a really soft finish. The guys were getting a hint of citrus off the mid-palate and back of the palate that was delightful as it was unique.

Patrick described his wine as a Pinot "with layers of dark fruit with a bit of a bite on the back with acid." I can't really disagree with that.

Cooper Mountain sits in the Willamette Valley but is one of the closest wineries to Portland in all of the region. This bottle retails around $45 normally but Patrick picked it up as part of a case discount for $36.

This is fruit-forward wonderful Pinot Noir. It's certainly more widely distributed than the next wine. (Highly Recommended)

The setup for Pinot night!

Winderlea 2008 Winderlea Vineyard Pinot Noir - In the sense of full disclosure, this one of my consistent favorites. I have several favorites actually, but Winderlea is a wonderful story and marvelous wine.

The Winderlea Pinot is a $50 bottle of wine. Alex was the first to utter an opinion and offered "supple" as an adjective. Alex also called it understated.

I loved the floral notes and beautiful dark fruit and finish. This wine shows the terrior of the Dundee Hills ... you can just taste that wonderful red dirt that makes these great wines. I gush about the Winderlea because I think it's just that good.

The Dudes thought the perfect wine would be Cooper Mountian's fruit forward style with Winderlea's supple, spicy, and earthy finish. I'd like to taste that wine but for now, I'm glad there is more Winderlea in the wine cooler.

(Very Highly Recommended)

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Willamette Valley, Day 3 - Day of the Dons

Three days in wine country bring me to the always tough struggle of wanting to share the wine experience through my writing and enjoying a real vacation.

I posted Thursday's photo album to my Facebook page but didn't get it posted here last night. But I was productive this morning. Drew shot nearly all these phots, nearly 30 in the Thursday album here.

Thursday was simply one of the best "wine days" I've ever had. Magnificent Oregon Pinot Noir combined with three interesting and gracious winemakers made for a great day with my friend Drew.

I'm not going to write great detail, rather I'll let the photo album and cutlines do the talking. Lange wines have long been one of my favorites. We started our day by going high up in the Dundee Hills - 750 feet above sea level to be exact - and tasting their incredible wines.

During a 2009 trip I met Jesse Lange and learned a lot about the Lange operation. I had an appointment scheduled with Jesse for yesterday but he had to cancel at the last minute. Instead, patriarch Don Lange joined us and I was thrilled. Don Lange is one of the real Willamette Valley pioneers and a soft spoken, funny, gracious man.

For those who don't know, Don made his living as a songwriter and musician before starting the vineyards. His college degree is in poetry. It seems more than poetic and beyond my words at 7 a.m. (without coffee) to draw the obviously and symbolic ties in his life. But what a great guy!

Our second stop was just as interesting for differen reasons. Cliff and Allison Anderson planted vineyards in the early 90s and sold their grapes to other producers for years. Now they are making their own wines - Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir. They don't have a tasting room, no signs point to their property, and furthermore, Cliff says they never will.

"We want to provide the type of experience I'd like to have," he said. They have plenty of visitors and welcome anyone who'd like to visit and taste their wines but don't want the rat race of a tasting room. At Anderson, the wines will be poured by Cliff or Allison. It's the type of experience you get frequently in Willamette Valley but not the better known names. It's also the type of experience that barely exists in California and bigger producing areas.

Everyone told us we had to visit Vidon Winery and we did Tuesday. Don Hagge, owner, winemaker, and local legend, missed us and invited us back. So yesterday we went back to see Don. Don worked in the Apollo space program and is as vigorous today approaching 80 years old as anyone you'll meet.

He takes a unique approach to his wine making. He uses three Pinot clones which he bottles individually and then blends them for his popular "Three Clones" wines. We tasted the 08 and 09 which were quite different. I seldome use words like "silky, stunning, and elegant" but his wines were that and more.

Our day concluded at another valley icon Lynn Penner Ash. We did the Pinot flight in a crowded tasting room and enjoyed the view.

Today is my last day here and it's doing to be another big one. If yesterday was "Day of the Dons" today will be "Domain Day." We're off this morning to visit and tour the highly-regarded Domaine Serene and then this afternoon Domaine Drouhin. We'll sneak a couple more visits in and then it's dinner in downtown Portland tonight and a redeye flight home.

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Have a Plan For Your Trip to Wine Country

Planning a trip to wine country doesn’t require a tour guide, limousine, or a lot advance planning.

Many travelers are including day trips into wine country as they visit regions around the world. Then there are the real wine geeks among us who plan most of their vacation time around wine.

Newspaper Columns like Grape Sense and many internet bloggers seek to demystify wine. Making wine travel simple and enjoyable can be a similar challenge. My wine travel includes two trips to Napa and Sonoma. I’ve made pre-planned trips to Paso Robles and Mendocino County. I’ve done three-day trips into Michigan and Wisconsin wine regions and a single day in Tuscany, Italy.

I’ll be making my third trip to Oregon’s Willamette Valley in mid-July.
While not claiming expertise, I’ve certainly learned some things you should and should not do!

- You should spend time on the internet and read about the wineries you’re going to visit. Double check hours, tasting fees, and tours.

- Do take a full vineyard tour at one stop. If you want to learn more about wine there is nothing better than a vineyard to winery and then tasting tour. One is enough; tours usually last 1-2 hours and cost double or more the cost of a tasting. Tasting fees range from $5 to $20 depending on the wine region. Some wineries will deduct tasting fees from a purchase and some will not.

(In photo above right, I joined a group of wine writers in January touring Mendocino County, California. Here we are tasting the wines of Jeriko Vineyards. Copyright photo, Tom Liden 2011)

- Do ask a lot of questions. Anyone serving in the tasting room should be able to tell you the basics about the winery and each wine. If the servers can’t answer the basics – the type of grapes and how the wine is made – leave and go to another winery.

- Don’t over-plan your visit. I always plan on going to two or three wineries a day. I have done my internet research so I know others in the area I might like to visit. It allows some spontaneity. Three to four winery visits a day is plenty.

- Do not think of winery visits as drinking. It’s tasting wine. If you can, learn to spit – it’s how the real pros can taste so many wines in a day. If you can’t fully appreciate a wine without swallowing it, learn to stop after a sip or two and pour the remainder in the dump container on the counter.

- Do think outside the box. Sure, if you’re in Napa Valley visit Mondavi. But ask people in the tasting room, other visitors, your motel clerk, the waitress about the smaller wineries that don’t have tour buses in the parking lot. Such wineries will often be your fondest memories.

- Don’t assume all wine vacations start and end with Napa/Sonoma, Paso Robles, Mendocino, Oregon, Virginia, Michigan, and Washington state. Check out wine trails in your state and states nearby. A great start is the Uplands Wine Trail in Southern Indiana. Or, get that internet map out and make your own wine trail!

- Do not drink and drive. Many wineries will offer designated drivers some bottled water or a soft drink.

- Do not try to taste everything at each winery. I ask the tasting room personnel to pour their biggest selling red and white, maybe something that interests my wine palate, and always end with, 'Is there something else you would have me taste?'

- Do have bottled water and some crackers or snacks to balance the alcohol throughout the day.

(In the photo above, our traveling group takes a vineyard tour with Chris Nelson of Nelson Family Vineyards. Copyright photo, Tom Liden 2011)

I will be in Oregon’s Willamette Valley July 19-22 tasting some of the world’s very best Pinot Noir. I will post a lot of photos and write about the experience here each day.

Get in the car this summer and try some new wines!

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A Lovely Tempranillo - NOT from Spain!

When you think of Spain's wines the first one to come to mind is the noble Tempranillo grape!

If you think about Oregon's wines, it has to be Pinot Noir off the top of your head!

But, when you mix the two what do you get? Lange Estate Winery and Vineyard's Tempranillo.

When I visited Lange in 2009 I was purchasing a case of wine and threw in a bottle of the Tempranillo to round out the case. I tasted it in the tasting room and thought it was "okay." I've tasted enough through recent years to know when I really like them.

I opened the 2007 Tempranillo last night to walk down to my neighbors for dinner. They serving a roasted pork loin and it sounded like a good match. I snuck a sip when I opened it and was frankly unimpressed - but wait!

As the wine opened up it really lived up to the Lange name. I got some chocolate, spice, and those earthy tones I love from Oregon Pinot Noir and France's Cotes du Rhone wines.

Two wine drinking friends at the dinner were singing Lange's praise before dessert was served. It was a little lighter than some Tempranillo you'll have from Spain but Lange's masterful touch which results in balanced wines makes it worth the price.

Lange buys these grapes from Umpqua Valley in Southern Oregon. It sees a combination of American and French oak. The alcohol is 14 percent on the '07. The other thing I like, which is so true with Lange and other Oregon wineries, is this is a small batch wine.

It isn't inexpensive is the catch, especially for a Tempranillo. The '08 is listed at $35 on the Lange website. Frankly, I don't remember what I paid but I recall full retail being just over $30 when I bought this one.

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