Dessert Club for September 2007

Club Selections:
Syncline Late Harvest Viognier 06
Silvan Ridge Syrah Port 03

Syncline Late Harvest Viognier 06 375 ml $25

An unusual combination of weather circumstances allowed the Viognier grapes from which this wine was made to hang on the vine far into the fall. Flavors concentrated enough to allow this unusual dessert wine to be created.

Viognier typically shows an intense floral component, and this wine has it in concentrated form. Both the scent and flavors intertwine white flowers with peach, pear, and citrus flavors, and the wine, while sweet, finishes with hints of minerality and a long, refreshing, balanced finish with the right amount of acidity to keep from being cloying.

James and Poppie Mantone founded Syncline Cellars in the Columbia Gorge, in Washington State, but learned their winemaking in the South Willamette, near Avalon Wine. They met at LaVelle Vineyard in 1997 while working together, fell in love, and were married. Moving to Washington four years later, they founded their winery and began making wine, with a strong focus on the traditional Rhone varietals. Today, they make three Syrahs, Mourvedre, Roussanne, and Viognier.

This late harvest Viognier was made in such small amounts that it is not even sold on their website.

Silvan Ridge
Syrah Port 02 375 ml $23.50

The Black Hole of wine...so purple/black that it's opaque. Made from 100% Syrah from Del Rio Vineyards in the Rogue Valley, this blockbuster is brimming with black fruits, blackberries, satsume plum and black cherry. Remarkable for its intensity of flavor. It is surprisingly lush in its youthfulness and will satisfy those who give it the test of time.

Made entirely from Del Rio Vineyards fruit, aged 21 months in French oak.

 

New Discoveries Club™ for September 2007

Club Selections:
Cuvee Corvallis 06
Jezebel Pinot noir 06

Two Pinot noirs this month. Jezebel's winemaker takes advantage of his unique position in the Oregon wine industry to grab the very best grapes for his "Jezebel". Avalon Wine hired indie hotshot Chris Heider to make our own "Cuvee Corvallis" Pinot noir 05, exclusively from Croft Vineyard grapes.

Jezebel Pinot noir 06 $18

Highly Recommended by Avalon A yummy Pinot with cinnamon spice and sweet raspberry scents. Flavors are of red raspberry and sweet pie spices with hints of soft buttery toasty oak that keep dancing in the mouth. A super value, well balanced and surprisingly complex for the price. Made by Aron Hess of Daedalus Winery and $th & Maple Wineworks.

Aron Hess, winemaker for Jezebel and Daedalus

Jezebel is the second label for Daedalus Cellars, and is a ready to drink, easy to like, fruity, spicy Pinot noir. A blend of wine from several exceptional Oregon vineyards. The fruit was cropped around two to three tons per acre, fermented in small lots, and blended to produce a wine that is fruit-forward, well-balanced and surprisingly complex. It should be enjoyable upon release, but it should also cellar well for five to six years.

Cuvee Corvallis $24

Avalon Wine is excited to offer you Cuvee Corvallis! For years we've wanted to create a Pinot noir exclusively for Avalon, starting from the vineyard to the bottling. We were in the vineyard fall of 2005 tasting grapes for ripeness and flavors, and at the winery tasting the progression of the wine. Ultimately, we selected our favorite two barrels of Pinot noir from Croft Vineyards, a certified organically grown site 20 miles north of Corvallis.

Still al little shy after bottling, the Cuvee Corvallis opens with a blend of bright red and black berries, with shades of dried herbs. Initially soft and lush, with a finish that shows the potential for aging.