Johnny Brose, the winemaking instructor at Chemeketa College’s Northwest Wine Studies Center in Salem, would be letting down his students if he doesn’t use this Pinot Gris, under his new personal brand, as a lesson plan. Other winemakers could take notes, too. Brose worked a year in the cellar at King Estate before spending two vintages making wine in Washington’s Yakima … [Read more...] about Flora Jane Cellars 2021 Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley $22
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Mt. Hood Winery 2021 Estate Pinot Gris, Columbia Gorge $26
When the Bickford family built their tasting room, they took out a few of the 80-year-old pear trees on their Century Farm. Perhaps it’s no coincidence the Pinot Gris which Rich Cushman makes for them seems loaded with Hood River Valley orchard fruit — pear, peach, apricot and apple. There also are slices of lychee, cantaloupe and nectarine that head into the layered finish of … [Read more...] about Mt. Hood Winery 2021 Estate Pinot Gris, Columbia Gorge $26
Pete’s Mountain Winery 2021 Stoneridge Vineyard Ceille’s Block Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley $24
One of Oregon’s most heralded winemakers — Laurent Montalieu — has been behind the wines for Mike and Kris Thayer along the Mt. Hood Wine Trail since 2005. For the same period of time, the Thayers have been leasing a portion of neighboring Stoneridge Vineyard from Dr. Leigh Campbell, wife Ceille and their family. (The Campbell family’s customers of Pinot Gris, planted in 1986, … [Read more...] about Pete’s Mountain Winery 2021 Stoneridge Vineyard Ceille’s Block Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley $24
King Estate Winery 2021 Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley $20
This spring, there were more than a dozen expressions of Pinot Gris — styles, vineyard-designate, block-specific — commercially available at King Estate. And the flagship wine for the King family, heck, arguably for the Oregon wine industry, was rated among the best in this comparative tasting. While the estate accounts for 51% of the bottling by Brent Stone’s team, close to a … [Read more...] about King Estate Winery 2021 Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley $20
Chehalem Wines 2021 Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley $20
This fall will signal the 30th anniversary of the first release from this brand launched by the Stoller and Peterson-Nedry families, and the 2022 vintage marks Katie Santora’s 10th anniversary making wines at Chehalem. It’s a delicious perspective, featuring dusty starfruit, ripe lemon and honeysuckle with a lick of butterscotch and a pinch of cardamom in the crisp close of … [Read more...] about Chehalem Wines 2021 Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley $20