Taste of Oregon: Wine Rating #1 of 5

The Wine: Henry Estate Pinot Noir 2000 Oregon Umpqua Valley Barrel Select

Winery: Henry Estate
Country: United States

Region: Oregon, Umpqua Valley

Category: Red Table Wine

Vintage: 2000

Price: $25

Decanted or Not: No, but bottle was open for 2 hours before tasting

Alcohol: 13.5%

Tasting Notes:

The Color: Ruby

The Nose: Strawberries, some plum and a bit of earthiness on the nose.

The Taste: Sour cherries, nice acidity with great vanilla notes on the finish. This is not a New World fruit bomb. Great mouthfeel and silky texture, perfect balance of fruit with good tannins. A pinot in the Burgundian style. Very impressive. Paired very well with an aged sirloin and horseradish mashed potatoes. It's a little more than I tend spend on wines, but we'll worth it. I have to give credit to Grand Harvest Wines in Grand Central Station in New York City for pointing me in the direction of this bottle. If you've never been to this wine store, I would recommend it purely on that fact the staff is extremely knowledgeable. You'll pay a couple dollars more, but think about the real estate they're paying for, and as I said they know their sh*t. They always seem to point me in the right direction.

The Verdict: 9 Corks

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...

US Wine Production Explosion: Is NJ in the Mix?

When you think of US wine production, the first thing that pops into your head is likely California, right? Maybe more specifically Napa or Sonoma. So what are the other 4 states in the top 5 for US wine production? Depending on how long you’ve been drinking wine, and how much you read about it, you may be able to guess a few. And the reason for that is because wine production in this country has just absolutely exploded. All 50 of the United States are now producing wine. In addition, since 1995 the number of wineries nationwide has gone from 1,187 to nearly 4,000. That is just incredible growth! Could that have something to do with the fact that more US consumers are buying wine (see my post below “To the Moon Alice”). Anyway back to the point of this post.

I’m willing to bet that some of the top 5 would likely never cross your mind. I’ll tell you what they are, but you have to promise that if you haven’t had a bottle from one of the states I’m about to mention, you will go out and buy one in the next few weeks and post your thoughts on it here.

So you got California (#1), big deal. And maybe you know that Washington (#3) produces some wine you’ve tried. And of course, if you live in the tri-state area you know that New York’s (#4) Long Island (my old stomping grounds) is known for its east end vineyards. Yeah, hmmm, now where do you go? Well, Oregon (#2) has risen on the scene and is producing some beautiful wines from chateaus such as Bethel Heights Vineyards, Adea Winery and Elk Cove. Now who the heck is #5? Here’s a hint…the HBO hit The Sopranos often does a good job of making this state look sketchy. That’s right, New Jersey is the #5 wine producing state in the nation. Are you surprised? Don’t be.

According to the NJ Dept of Agriculture, New Jersey has approximately 30 wineries in 10 of the state's 21 counties, on 2,000 acres of land - that number is growing rapidly. It is expected that by 2007 the state will have around 40 wineries and from the number of inquiries, there will be a steady increase for the next few years. What’s more impressive is that even in our climate and geologically diverse state, there are more than 40 varieties now growing here - from Pinot Noir and Riesling in the North, to some of the more popular Italian varieties such as Sangiovese and Barbera in the South.

Apparently though, NJ wineries are not completely unknown. The state's wine industry has received many awards locally, nationally and internationally.

So go out and support your local wineries, NJ residents. There are plenty of vineyards to visit. If you’re interested, visit the Garden Stat Wine Grower’s Association website at (http://www.newjerseywines.com/). And for crying out loud, grab yourself a bottle of some local juice and support your local wineries.

That’s all for now. Remember to swirl, sniff and swig. Cheers!