David Hill Winery (Willamette Valley, OR)

While in Longview, WA this past weekend with Joy, my parents came down from Seattle to see her newly remodeled home and to join us for a day of wine tasting. We visited three wineries and ate at two fantastic restaruants, all of which I will discuss, but this posting is primarily concerned with David Hill Winery, located in Forest Grove, OR, just outside of Portland. I had yet to discover this winery, but upon the recommendation of our family friends who own a vineyard in Forest Grove, we made it a point to check it out. And it was certainly worth it!

First of all, the scenery doesn't get much better than the beautiful vineyards tucked amongst the hills outside of Portland. That said, it was no surprise to find them preparing for a wedding later that day at the winery. If you get a chance to visit them, make sure to follow NW David Hill Rd above the winery because there is a great pull-off where you can overlook the vineyards.

Now on to the wines! David Hill is no miser when it comes to wine. Rarely have I found a winery with 18 wines to taste that are all so delicious. And the cover the spectrum, so no matter what your personal preferences are, you're likely to find something to enjoy. Where do their grapes come from? Well, with the exception of their table white wine, all of their whites are estate grown, along with their Pinot Noir (since Pinot Noir, to my knowledge, is the only major red varietal that can tolerate the cold weather west of the Cascades). Currently their Tempranillo and reserve Merlot are sourced from southern OR, the table red from eastern WA, and the table white from the pacific NW.

WHITES
*2007 Estate Pinot Blanc ($15): beautiful floral and citrus nose, med/full body with a crisp finish. enjoyed the nose more than the taste.
*2007 Estate Gewürztraminer ($16): strong honeysuckle, very nice smooth finish
*2007 Estate Pinot Gris ($15): peach and citrus nose, nice acidity
*2007 Estate Semillon ($15): nutty and nice
*2006 Estate Reserve Chardonnay ($18): vanilla and butterscotch aromas come through, creamy, but not too heavy, quite tasty indeed!
*2008 Estate Riesling ($16): describing its nose, I wrote "oh my gosh!" just delicious smelling, the palate is complex and rather tart, personally I would prefer to smell this wine instead of drinking it
*2007 Estate Muscat ($15): an off-day muscat with a very floral nose, sweet and finish just falls off (in a way that I enjoyed), great wine ***Troy, make sure to try this and their muscat port***
*Farm House White ($10): a blend of Semillon, Muscat, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Viognier, very tropical, hard to pass up a great wine at a great value

REDS
*2007 Estate Pinot Noir ($20): coffee and toast on nose, lots of tannin and acidity, little fruit, meh
*2006 Estate Barrel Select Pinot Noir ($28): better fruit, okay, but $28 okay, not so sure
*2006 Estate Reserve Pinot Noir ($38): great nose! wonderful fruit, complex, incredibly drinkable
*2006 Estate BlackJack Pinot Noir ($45): vines where planted in '65, nose has very nice cherry, vanilla, and earth, absolutely delicious!
*2006 Tempranillo ($24): plum and pepper on the nose with a smooth vanilla finish, nicely balanced tannin, sourced from southern OR
*2006 Reserve Merlot ($30): cherry and chocolate aromas, also from southern OR, love it!
*Farm House Red ($10): a blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc, Barbera, Merlot and a little Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah sourced from eastern WA, very tasty and a great value, brought some back to NY

DESSERTS
*2006 Sweet Simplicity ($10/375ml): 68% Semillon & 32% Sylvaner, not too sweet with a light finish for a dessert wine, great wine for its price
*Estate Solera Tawny Port ($35/500ml): 100% Pinot Noir, palate is dominated by berries, vanilla, and wood, an absolutely great wine (Joy got a bottle and hopefully there will be some left when I come back!)
*2005 Estate Muscat Port ($21/375ml): a rare white port, apricots and cloves, very sugary, and delicious

SUMMARY: First off, David Hill makes great table wines that should not be passed over. While I enjoyed all of their whites, the Gewurt and Chardonnay really stood out. And when it comes to Pinot Noirs, I would strongly suggest either spending the money on the 2006 Reserve and/or the BlackJack, or looking elsewhere. At this point, I'm not convinced the other two are worth the price. It's also hard to beat $10 for a tasty desert wine. And don't forget to try both the ports!

Walla Walla Winery Series #2 (Patit Creek)

In my second installment of Walla Walla wineries, I will be discussing another wonderful winery located out at the old airport, Patit Creek Cellars. Typical of many wineries in the Walla Walla valley, they have a very nice tasting room, and their staff was great.

While they had been traditionally exclusively focused on Cab and Merlot, the winery is beginning to venture out under their new owners. The first step is a dry riesling. I found their 2007 release ($16) to be fairly typical of a dry riesling, and pleasant to enjoy (though I've had better ones elsewhere, East Fork Cellars in Ridgefield, WA makes a delicious one).

Moving on...

*2005 Merlot - sourced from Pepperbridge and Seven Hills vineyards, very balanced wine and quite tasty. $29
*2004 Merlot - from Columbia Valley (as most of the grapes in Walla Walla were lost due to bad weather that year), rich, earthy, bold fruit, and I felt it was better than the 05. $35
*2005 Cab - walla walla, currant and black cherry on palate, delicious! expect to get even better in 3-4 years. $29
*2004 Cab - Columbia Valley, smooth, a bit lighter, but very fruity and very good
*2002 Cab - its been my experience that on rare occasions a winery will open one of their library (or older) vintages. and when they do, its a treat! this cab was sourced from the Walla Walla valley, and it was spectacular! a perfectly balanced cab.

WINE TIDBIT: Aging Walla Walla Wines
As soon as I became interested in wine several years ago, I wanted to better understand the concept of aging wine and how best to go about it. Some of the most incredible wines I've tasted were stored carefully for decades before they were enjoyed. However, I have also been reading that perhaps the era of laying up wines for decades is coming to an end. In fact, I've heard an owner of a winery in Walla Walla comment that since he's in his seventies, he wants to be able to enjoin his wines now. Can't blame him there! That said, here's what I've discovered. By and large, the standard expectation of any wine coming out of Walla Walla is that it can be enjoyed right now. That is especially true of the $15-20 red table wines that make for great daily consumption. However, a number of the single red varietals (esp cab) can really become something else if given the chance to age just 12-18months. Maybe even 2-3 years. Allowing them to have that small time frame really enables these wines to fully come together, especially if they come from one of the better vintages. If you want to learn more about cellaring wine, check out my review of Jeff Cox's Cellaring Wine.

FORTHCOMING...
* Continued installments of Walla Walla Wineries
* Summary of my visit next week to several wineries located in Clark County, WA, just north of Portland.