NEW ARRIVALS
AND RELEASES-
See all listings here

Viento

The wines of Rich Cushman
We are in love with his rich and complex Viognier, his wild and wooly Syrah, not to mention his gushingly fruity Sangiovese.
All his wines are so reasonably priced, they are all best buys!

Owen Roe and Sineann-
NEW RELEASES!

Sineann
Old Vine Zinfandel 2001- Yes!
Pinot Noir "All Oregon" 2001
Pinot Noir Reid & Reynolds 2001
Pinot Noir Phelps 2001


Owen Roe
Abbotts Table 2001
Chardonnay Casablanca 2001
Pinot Noir Casablanca 2001
Zinfandel 2001 (Big Reds Only)

Oregon Chardonnay-
The Expert Perspective

Chardonnay seems like such a natural for Oregon: in Burgundy, so often the model for Oregon vintners, their white wine is Chardonnay-and there is certainly no lack of great Chardonnay wines from Burgundy. When Oregon's early modern vineyards were planted, Chardonnay was planted along with the Pinot noir. If we could make great Pinot noir like Burgundy, why shouldn't we be able to make great Chardonnay like Burgundy as well?
..................MORE.........

Auction of Washington Wines Raises $1.3 million For Charity

Wine Spectator 92 Points 8/29/02
SALE $20.99
suggested retail $25
Kiona Cabernet Sauvignon 99
Wine Spectator says: "Firm-textured and beautifully focused, this powerful wine has a gamy note weaving through the ripe, peppery currant and plum flavors, finishing with chewy tannins. Best from 2004 through 2010.—H.S."

Boy did Andy Perdue of Wine Press NW call this one! Months ago, his Platinum tasting gave this wine their HIGHEST RATING against many $60-$100 wines. And there's still some available. We highly recommend this great buy. Yet another example of Washington wineries coming through with better Cabs at $20 than California Boutique wineries do at $80 and up!

ORDER HERE

In the interest of clarity, we would like to note that Seven Hills Vineyard does not belong to Seven Hills Winery. The wine reviewed above was made by Casey McClellan at the Seven Hills Winery with fruit purchased from Seven Hills Vineyard.

News from the Vineyards

I've been up and down the Willamette Valley this week and there's a lot of action out there- it's the time when the wineries are getting ready for the harvest, and most wine in barrels and stainless need to be filtered, moved, bottled, re-racked, etc etc etc. There's a non-stop line of trucks going to the Abbey delivering wine to cellar, picking up bottles and packing materials, and Lana has the phone even more glued to her ear than usual!

I saw Patty and Dan at Patty Green Cellars knee deep in hoses and equipment as they filtered their white wines, the whole crew at Ken Wright Cellars bottling, boxing and cellaring the 2001 Pinots, Laurent Montelieu at Willakenzie supervising workers dropping fruit, and so forth.... from now through Christmas, it's a busy busy time at the wineries.

The vineyards are also busy, with lots of fruit being dropped, and some Southern Oregon vineyard managers trying to salvage badly sunburned fruit. It's been hot hot hot down there!

Check out Viento this week- really excellent wines- and we love Kiona, something that Wine Spectator has confirmed with their first 92 point rating for this tiny and really excellent winery.

If there's a theme I've noticed recently about OR and WA wines, it's that we keep seeing high high scores for NW wines that cost a fraction of their California equivalents!

A customer in the store last Saturday told me he was avoiding CA reds, the prices have gotten so high. I agree- I see wines that we sold for $30 five years ago that now sell for $70, and you know what, the reviews are not as good! So BUY NW! Go NW! Save $$ and get some wonderful wines! -------jy

Pinot Noirs
Under $20

Yes you CAN get a delicious
Pinot Noir from Oregon
for under $20, and
here's our current favorites:

Benton Lane Pinot Noir $19.99
Belle Pente Pinot Noir $19.99
O'Reilly's Pinot Noir $15.99
Academy '99 Pinot Noir $14.99
Academy '00 Pinot Noir $14.99
River's Edge Pinot Noir $ 16.99
Dundee Sprgs Pinot Noir $20.00
Brooks Pinot Noir $17.99

Reviews and
ordering info here

Wine Spectator recently gave 90 points to Seven Hills for their Klipsun Cabernet Sauvignon.
($29.99 on sale at Avalon).

1999 Seven Hills
Cabernet Sauvignon
Columbia Valley Klipsun Vineyard
90 points $29.99
Wine Spectator says: "Dark and brooding, this dense Cabernet is packed with currant, plum and exotic spice aromas and flavors, which echo beautifully, picking up just a kiss of spicy oak on the long finish. Best from 2004 through 2009. 500 cases made. (HS)"

Danielle and Solena
Andrus Montalieu-
next week, read the story about SOLENA, Danielle and husband Laurent Montalieu's new winery....