The Tasting Panel magazine

December 2011

Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/49694

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 91 of 128

"Because of the slope here in Underwood Mountain, I don't ever have a frost problem," Ziegler says. He believes Columbia Gorge wines "kick butt," and will make this area an eventual wine tourism destination. But though the infrastruc- ture is in place, it's still not an easy sell, as people are more accustomed to the area's water activities, skiing and local brewpubs, though a bourgeoning food scene helps draw tourists with a penchant for wine. Down the road at Memaloose, Rob McCormick is kick- ing out low-alcohol wines, nothing over 13 percent, which solidifies his sales within the restaurant industry in Portland and Seattle. He has 17 acres planted on south-facing slopes perched above the Columbia River. "We look for structure and acidity and our cooler temperatures give us that," says McCormick, who knows food and wine from his days with McCormick spices. "We have a European perspective, Old World style, lower alcohol; we take what the vineyard gives us." Memaloose and their sister label, Idiot's Grace, turn out exclusively Columbia Gorge wines, including Primitivo, Cabernet Franc and Riesling. "The style of wine in the Gorge, the region, it's a clear point of difference; nobody else is doing what we're doing." Hood River, on Oregon's side of the Columbia River Gorge, is home to eight tast- ing rooms, including Stoltz Vineyards, where winemaker Garrit Stoltz, a Hood River native, sells the idea of a local making local wine. "Our vineyards are planted at Rob McCormick left the spice business to pursue the wine trade. 1,500 feet; we have volcanic soils," he says. But he only guns for one cluster per shoot from tightly spaced, low yielding vineyards. This means he routinely produces one-barrel lots, including Chardonnay and organic Pinot Noir, as well as the peculiar though inviting Portuguese variety Ferano Pires (also known as Maria Gomez) and the odd-ball Zweigelt. "We differentiate our- selves in the Gorge from Willamette Valley in that we we're a mountain region," Stoltz acknowledges. The wind, which others might fear, allows for dehydration of the berries, something Stoltz is fond of. "That's the Holy Grail—those concentrated flavors. I like to take fruit until the frost saps the canopy, let it go as long as I can, then pick." Stoltz is known to be something of a renegade: Their tasting room used to be a funeral home. Every renegade learns from someone, and for many Gorge Franco Marchesi produces Italian varieties such as Sangiovese, Dolcetto and Barbera. wineries that someone is Italian native Franco Marchesi at Marchesi Vineyards. "When I arrived here in 2001 wine was a novelty," he says. Now he has lots of company, but more wine in the Gorge, Marchesi believes, serves everyone. He produces Italian varieties including Sangiovese, Barbera and Dolcetto, among others, grown about a mile from the banks of the Columbia River. Marchesi favors one-meter spacing of his vines, practices cordon trellising and uses no pesticides. Cerulean Wine uses fruit from both Oregon and Washington to create a broad portfolio, including Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Tempranillo. "The two things we like in the Gorge are wind and UV," says co-owner Pat Graham, since the wind keeps potential mildew issues at bay. "The white grapes grow well, but we don't chance it on the reds. We only grow Pinot Noir and Tempranillo, which grows like blackberries," he says with a laugh. For reds such as Syrah and Merlot, they look further Pat Graham at the Cerulean Wine tasting room. east, where the Gorge gets warmer as it abuts Columbia Valley. Cerulean's sleek downtown Hood River tasting room helps sell the wine, but they focus on restaurants to move product. Like most Gorge wineries, case production is limited, about 2,000 cases, though Cerulean and their Gorge brethren sell everything they make. december 201 1 / the tasting panel / 91

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of The Tasting Panel magazine - December 2011