Wine With A Cause

In July I had the chance to take a hike around the grounds of Quivira Vineyards as part of the Wine Bloggers Conference.  I was immediately enamored with Quivira’s stewardship of their land via biodynamic and organic farming practices along with their commitment to the surrounding ecosystem.

In particular, Quivira has made a significant contribution to the surrounding ecosystem by restoring wine creek, a “once thriving habitat for Steelhead and Coho Salmon.  The creek had plenty of cool, oxygen-rich water and clean gravel that the fish required.  Over the years, agricultural development, gravel mining and other factors have had a negative impact on the fish habitat, mainly by removing shade and silting up the gravel beds.” 

In their continued commitment to restoring fishery conservation, Quivira’s Steelhead brand is now an official sponsor of Trout Unlimited, whose mission is to “to conserve, protect and restore North America’s Trout and Salmon fisheries and their coldwater watersheds.”

Steelhead 2006 Sauvignon Blanc

I picked this wine up for $12.99 at Harris Teeter.  This is a blend of 85% sauvignon blanc and 15% Semillon.  Nice golden color with nose of apricot, fig and grapefruit.  Lively acidity along with mineral and citrus in the mouth.  A solid effort for this price point, plus a wine with a cause!

A portion of the proceeds from every bottle of Steelhead wine helps fund Trout Unlimited’s creek restoration projects.

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Wine Book Club: A Vineyard in Tuscany

“The sunlit days of Tuscany can bewitch you: the cypresses pointing to the sky, the hard shadows, the cicadas, the long hot afternoons, the sunsets that set the edges of the clouds on fire.  But it’s the moonlit nights that steal your heart away!”  ~ A Vineyard in Tuscany, p. 238

This is the first passage I read as I thumbed thru this month’s Wine Book Club selection, A Vineyard in Tuscany, written Ferenc Mate. 

Sadly, August marks the final month for the Wine Book Club which was started, organized and run by Deb from Good Wine Under $20.   Although this is the last formal virtual meeting of the Wine Book Club, I’m sure our core group of monthly participants (Deb along with Kori from Wine Peeps) will continue to read wine related books, and post our respective reviews.   Long before I began participating in the WBC, I relied on book reviews written by wine bloggers for ideas and insights in to wine-related books to read.

A Vineyard in Tuscany is Ferenc’s fairytale account of purchasing a 13^th century friary located in the Montalcino region of Italy.  Not only did Ferenc and his wife Candance purchase a remarkable property located in one of the world’s renowned wine regions, the book includes Mate’s obsession with remodeling his new home with an uncompromising attention to authenticity.  As a side note, the finished product is absolutely amazing (pictures here ). 

“Planting a vineyard to make your own wine is not for those with short attention spans.”

As if remodeling a 13^th century structure wasn’t enough, A Vineyard in Tuscany includes Ferenc’s foray in to winemaking – preparing his land for a vineyard, entertaining potential customers and surviving the process of making wine.  All of the work paid off for Mate as his wines appear to have been well received by the wine scoring press.

Although the book is fairytale like – with a famous wine making neighbor, living in a historic structure in one of the most beautiful regions on earth – I actually appreciate the low-key moments of the book… the quality time the Mate’s spent with their friends the Paolucci’s, searching out porcinis, taking a family hike in the snow, and even having relations while their son was outside.

A.D.D. Summary = Quick read.  Engaging.  Humorous.  Fairytale-esque. Excellent book!  Buy it.  Read it.

To celebrate our final Wine Book Club, I tried to find Mate’s wines here in Virginia, but was unable to.  I also checked a few wine shops in Seattle and Portland while I was on travel, but alas none.k

A big virtual hat tip to Deb for taking this on and keeping the WBC going for so long!  I’ve read several great books that I would not have otherwise made the time for because of the Wine Book Club!  Also a hat tip to Kori of Wine Peeps for participating each month and writing such thorough reviews – you provide a great writing benchmark to aim for.

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Bergstrom Pinot Noir

I concluded my two-week trip to Seattle last night with a visit to the Vino Volo wine bar in Sea-Tac airport.   I took advantage of the wide selection of Washington and Oregon offerings that are not available at other Vino Volo locations, and not widely distributed here in Virginia. 

One of my favorite Willamette Valley producers, Bergstrom Wines, was on the list so I went with a glass of their 2007 Cumberland Reserve Pinot Noir.   Since 2007 was a very difficult year for Pinot in the Willamette Valley, I was hesitant to pay $17/glass for this wine, but knew that if anyone in the Valley could produce an excellent wine in a difficult year, it would be Josh Bergstrom.

 

The Bergstrom tasting room was on my list of places to visit during my Willamette Valley trip last weekend, but my time in the Valley was shortened due to the insane amount of traffic on I-5 between Seattle and Portland, so I unfortunately did not make it to Bergstrom.

Bergstrom is a true family business, including winemaker Josh Bergstrom, his father and four siblings.  The winery has three Biodynamic certified estate vineyards covering 40 acres which stretch across two appellations in the Willamette Valley.  Bergstrom produces a total of 10,000 cases per year, which includes Pinot Noir, Riesling and Chardonnay (sadly, I’ve never had their Riesling and Chardonnay).

Bergstrom 2007 Cumberland Reserve Pinot Noir   –  Definitely an Oregon Pinot.  Nice ruby color in the glass, with aromas of espresso, damp earth, cherry and a little funk (which I dig).  In the mouth, a cherry cola flavor jumped out at me along with chocolate dust, ripe cherry and even some raspberry. Nice acids mingled well with the cherry finish.  A pleasure to drink once it opens up.  5,500 cases made 
The retail price is $45 per bottle.  A solid effort in a difficult year.

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Phillips Hill Pinot

I am attempting to set a record as the slowest blogger in the world – this is yet another excellent wine I tasted during Wine Bloggers Conference last month.  On Sunday evening, following the WBC vineyard hike at Quivira, I headed over to Jill Klein and Steve Matthiasson’s home for a BBQ.

Jill and Steve invited a handful of other bloggers as well as their friends and several other wine makers.  In addition to great conversations, excellent fresh food (love the peaches Jill), there was of course an abundance of wine available that evening.  It’s always fun to attend events when wine makers bring their own wines – watching the looks of anticipation on their face as people try their wine is great. 

Of the 40 or so wines available at the BBQ that evening, there were several standouts – the Phillips Hill 2007 Corby Vineyard Pinot Noir being one of them.

Phillips Hill 2007 Corby Vineyard Pinot Noir    -  Located in Northern Anderson Valley (Philo).  One word = Excellent.  The retail price of this wine is $40/bottle on the Phillips Hill website.  Just 350 cases produced.  The wine is unfined and unfiltered.  Nose of freshly picked strawberries and raspberries along with cherry and a slight hint of earth.  Exceptionally smooth mouthfeel – bordering on light.  Flavors of more raspberries, cherry, spice, and the blue flowers (can’t remember their correct name, but know them as the little blue flowers).  Aged 11 months in oak (40% new), which was evident in the mouth, but well matched by the fruit. 

Thank you Jill and Steve for having all of us over – in addition to making exceptional wine, you are great hosts!

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