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The Promise of
Southern Oregon:
New AVA Sets the Stage

The Oregon Wine Mystique

1998
Oregon Pinot Noir

"Wineterview"
with
Terry Casteel,
Bethel Heights Winery

The Price of Value and the Value of Price

More about
Oregon Pinot Noirs

Barney Smith of Academy
pruning vines in January

February 2001 Column

Life Beyond Pinot Noir
Oregon offers unusual varietals
for tasting diversity

by Cole Danehower

Yes, Virginia, there are other winegrapes grown in Oregon besides Pinot Noir.

Sometimes it seems hard to believe that Oregon produces other great wines besides that famous "heartbreak grape" upon which so much of the state's wine reputation has been built. But one of the fascinating facets of Oregon's winemaking heritage is the individualism of our winemakers, and often that character is seen in the offbeat varietals that are grown here.

Hybrid grapes

Over the past century a tremendous amount of experimental work has been done to cross breed the traditional Vitis vinifera varieties with various other vitis species (especially American species) to see if new flavors and growing behaviors can be developed. While the most successful of these hybrids don't have nearly the market importance or consumer following as the noble grapes, they can produce interesting and delicious wines.

Take, for instance, the unusually named Marechal Foch variety. Little remembered in this country today, France's field marshal, Ferdinand Foch, led the Allied armies in France during part of World War One. Just how his name was given to a grape variety I haven't been able to discover, but Oregon is one of the few places in the world where Marechal Foch wines are made in any quantity.

A cross between an American Vitis riparia and rupestris combination with a kind of Riesling, the Foch vine is very winter hardy and ripens early. The resultant wine is quite darkly purple and fruity. It often has a plummy character, and carries oak very nicely. Sometimes, the wine has been loosely compared to Pinot noir (though I personally don't see it).

At least four Oregon wineries make Marechal Foch: Girardet Wine Cellars in Roseburg, Serendipity Cellars in Monmouth, Charteau Lorraine outside of Eugene, and Airlie Winery, also in Monmouth. While all produce nice wines, I am partial to Girardet's Foch (especially the 1998 reserve), and I have a keen interest in the most unusual port-style Marechal Foch made by Serendipity.

Another hybrid, this time a cross between Vitis riparia and the little known Folle Blanche, provides another dark and heartily fruitful glass that is grown in very few places in the U.S. besides Oregon. The Baco noir, a specialty of Girardet Wine Cellars, is an unusually good hybrid that makes long lasting wines with rich and complex flavors.

We'll close our look at hybrids with another wine produced by Girardet (Philippe and his son Marc have been leaders in the vinification of French hybrid gapes). The Seyval Blanc wine they produce is one of the
most successful white wine hybrids made today. It is reminiscent of a good Sauvignon blanc, but with perhaps less of the grassiness of that wine and a bit more light fruit. It is quite nice as a summer wine, and well worth seeking out.

Vinifera grapes

Besides the distinctly offbeat hybrids, Oregon winemakers have also taken the lead in some more obscure (to Americans) vinifera grapes.

Tempranillo is a grape known to many as the prime constituent of the great Spanish red wines of Rioja. Earl Jones of Abacela Vineyards and Winery has pioneered the growing of Tempranillo in the New World at his vineyards outside of Roseburg. Among the very few to grow this grape in America (and the only to make wine from it in Oregon), Earl's Tempranillo is a lush and full wine with rich berry flavors that complement heavier meat dishes extremely well. In fact, it is one of the finest wines made in Oregon, and probably the best non-Pinot noir wine in the state!

Viognier is very much in vogue right now, but some of the best wines of this varietal are made here in Oregon. A white wine with unusually deep color and a full, flowery nose, Viognier is a wonderful replacement for Chardonnay in your wine drinking regimen. While it does not yet have a long growing history in Oregon, it is clearly a successful variety.

Cristom, famed producers of Pinot noir, make an excellent Viognier, as does the Griffin Creek label of Willamette Valley Vineyards. Willamette Valley's Joe Dobbes also makes a late harvest Viognier that can be absolutely superb (the 1997 vintage was perhaps the best Oregon late harvest wine I've yet had!)

Finally, a vinifera grape that is becoming more unusual is the Muller-Thurgau. Though not as much Muller-Thurgau is made in Oregon as was the case a few years ago, Oregon remains one of the areas where this crossing of Riesling and Silvaner has produced its best quality. For my money these wines don't have the fruity character of a good Viognier, Pinot gris, or Chardonnay, but they are an excellent "beginner" wine because they are lightly and pleasantly flavored, and easily approachable by inexperienced palates.

A Variety of Varietals

Clearly, Oregon is more than Pinot noir! And while I love the wonderful Pinots we produce, there is a great deal to be said for sipping the more unusual wines we make as well! So, the next time you are in your local wine shop, seek out something special and try one of these very different varietals. At least it will broaden your tasting experience, and give you a better taste of what Oregon wines can offer.