Drink the Vine: Guest Review

Hey folks. I hope your week is going well so far. Now I know you guys are used to hearing from me and Grape Nut regarding our tastes in wine. But, I thought it'd be cool to start to offer you something different from time to time. So today, I'm happy to introduce what will become a regular monthly column...the DTV Guest Review. This seems like a fun way to get our readers perspectives on the wines they are drinking...some of which may very well be recommendations from us. So, without further ado, I am proud to introduce our first ever guest review.

This review was submitted by Jim Tax, a friend and fellow wine lover who lives in Seattle, WA. Jim has the luxury of frequently drinking the wines of Washington and Oregon (many of which don't make their way this far east). Having had the luxury of working on a project with Jim for some 2 months in Chicago last year, we frequently discussed and drank wine together. I can honestly say I trust his judgement when it comes to wine recommendations. Thanks to Jim for sending this over.

If anybody else would like to provide a guest review for next month, please email us at drinkthevine@gmail.com. We will select the best written reviews for use in future columns.

The Wine: 2005 Owen Roe Abbot’s Red Table Wine
Country: USA
Region: Oregon, Walla Walla Valley
Category: Red blend (Claret-esque)
Price: $22.99 retail ($45 in restaurant)
Decanted or Not: No

Tasting Notes:

Color: Medium Ruby Red

Nose: Not what you’d expect from Oregon (power and charm). Some oak, pepper and fruit hit the nose all at once and it is hard to tell which is the strongest. Great balance.

Taste: Plum and pepper open with a long tobacco and chocolate finish. The spice pairs it well with a hearty Italian meal and the finish makes this the perfect pairing for about any red meat. Don’t expect to have just one bottle. This wine is perfect if you have the stereo-typical Napa person that will only drink California reds. Stellar wine with a great range and smooth finish, all at a pretty good value.

The Verdict: 9 corks

Note: While I have never had this wine, I have seen this wine rated from 85 to 93 on cellartracker. So clearly it is a crowd pleaser. Jimbo, if you happen to order this puppy in bulk, I expect a bottle.

World Wine Tour: Welcome to Oregon, USA

Hey folks. Welcome to Oregon. This is pretty exciting for us, because it's our first opportunity to showcase some domestic wines. But as usual, I will give you an intro first, then we'll publish our first rating later today...so check back often. Here we go...

Oregon wineries are generally small and decentralized within each official wine region of the state. They are often winemaker- or family-owned. The fact that the wineries tend to be smaller in size, has not stopped explosive growth in Oregon. In fact, Oregon is now (depending on what you read) the second largest wine producing state in the US. Most Oregon wine regions lie in valleys between the southern Cascade Mountains that run through the state and its Coastal Range to the west. Three quarters of the wineries are located in the Willamette Valley.

The Oregon wine region was born during the 1840s, when Italian and Swiss immigrants began planting wine grapes and bottling wine. Like so many wine regions, Oregon's wine industry was suppressed during Prohibition, only to emerge as a productive wine-growing region in the mid-1970s.

The Willamette Valley, which stretches from Eugene in the south to Portland in the north and encompasses two-thirds of Oregon's population, is the largest wine-growing region in Oregon. Sheltered by the Cascade Mountains to the east and Oregon's Coastal Range to the west, and on the same latitude as France's famed Burgundy region, the valley has gained international recognition as a world-class growing district, especially for cool-climate varieties like Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Chardonnay.

To the northeast of the Willamette Valley are the Columbia Valley and Walla Walla Valley appellations, which Oregon shares with Washington These warmer, drier appellations are well-suited to the cultivation of red varieties such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah.

In the southwest of the state are the Rogue Valley, Applegate Valley and Umpqua Valley appellations. Although generally drier and warmer than the northern wine districts and well-suited to Bordeaux (Cabernet, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc) and Rhone Valley (Syrah) varieties, each contains cooler microclimates allowing for the successful cultivation of the Burgundian varieties that flourish in the Willamette Valley.

Collectively, these six wine-growing regions contain over 11,000 vineyard acres and over 200 wineries, which together produce over one million cases of wine annually.

Anyway, that's Oregon in a nutshell. We'll get to the ratings a little later in the day.

Have you tried anything we've rated?

If so, we want to hear what you have to say. This is supposed to be about sharing, and it seems more like Grape Nut and I are downloading info. If you've tasted anything we've reviewed here, we are very interested in reading your assessment. Please post your comments here.

Also, from this point on we will visit a new place every other week, as opposed to every week. It will give us more time to rate wines, and give you more time to drink some of the wines we recommend here. We will visit Oregon starting Monday.

Our trip to Oregon should be a lot of fun, as the state is really producing some amazing domestic wine. And, if we're lucky, we may even get some up-close ratings from a friend in Seattle who has a lot of experience drinking wine produced in Oregon.

Stay tuned...