I spent the majority of the day touring several vineyards in the Willamette Valley of OR. I was led about by Jason Brumley (who spends his time at Cana’s Feast Winery while waiting for his (and another’s) vines to bear fruit). The countryside was beautiful. We had a touch of light rain, more than one rainbow, and much wine. Harvest is being complicated as the weather is not cooperating…everyone is a little tense…but it appears they will start picking in earnest toward the end of the week.
It really was great fun. It reminded me of going on tours of special collections libraries *with* other special collections librarians…as a general rule, you get to see better, cooler, more interesting things. Touring vineyards with a wine geek and grower is similar. As a result, I got to see processing rooms, talk about dirt, and eat a lot of grapes.
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- Pinot Noir grapes on the vine.
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- First stop. Their dessert wine is simply outstanding (even if they do have to freeze the grapes in freezers as it doesn’t get cold enough here)
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- Our Flight list at Sokol. Great way to start the day.
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- Corks in situ. This is a green industry, stripping the tree doesn’t hurt it (they shed their bark)…on about a 9 year cycle.
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- As we approached Adelsheim Winery a rainbow appeared, one end squarely falling over their vines. Nice.
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- Adelsheim’s offerings of the day. So. Very. Good.
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- Pretty countryside.
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- Shot from in front of Lange’s winery.
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- Part of Lange’s operation.
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- Best sandwich I can remember. Roast beef, caramelized onion, and blue cheese.
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- Coelho’s wonderful flight. We also were able to taste their newest Port, which will not be released for a couple weeks.
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- Grapes being processed at Coelho.
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- Rejected bits from processing…stems and other bits…
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- Good bits during the processing being collected.
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- 1000 pounds of grapes being raked onto the belt
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- Owner Dave Coelho talking about the grapes…we ate some out of all bins. Outstanding.
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- Coelho’s not-yet-released port. Made with extra yum.
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- Table tops are barrel lids, seats and back from barrel slats.
