Leaving Grapes On The Vine in '09

According to Dana Tims of The Oregonian tough economic for the economy times are taking a toll in the Willamette Valley wine industry.

Softening consumer demand and downward price pressures, combined with increases in equipment costs and reluctance by distributors to take on new accounts, are adding up to huge new headaches for many of Oregon's nearly 400 wineries.



In some areas, particularly the northern Willamette Valley, growers appear to be taking even bigger hits than vintners. For the first time since the recession-plagued 2001 harvest, significant amounts of grapes were left on the vines.

"There simply wasn't an adequate market for everything that was grown," said Kevin Chambers, chief executive of Oregon Vineyard Supply in McMinnville and owner of Resonance Vineyard in Carlton.

In the first week of September, independent growers without long-term contracts were demanding $2,500 per ton for pinot noir grapes, he said. By season's end, only weeks later, that price had collapsed to $900 per ton.

"I can't think of a time in the last 10 years," Chambers said, "where we've seen that precipitous a drop."

Leaving grapes on the vine is a bummer. I wish I, or someone, was in a position to buy the overage and make wine with it.

Sunday In the West Hills

It's Sunday and a great day to visit the northern Willamette Valley. We hightail it out Highway 26 to Forest Grove, home of Pacific University, a quaint downtown and increasingly, new homes on the outskirts. We motor up David Hill Road, leaving pavement and worldly concerns behind, to David Hill Winery which welcomes us and our dog, Lucy.

David Hill's tasting room is located in an historic farmhouse, originally built in 1883. The farm is on 140 acres with some of the oldest vines in the state. We buy a bottle of 2007 Estate Pinot Noir, on sale at $16.00 and a bottle of Farmhouse Red for $10.00. We pop the pinot and enjoy it immensely in the picnic area with some bread and cheese that we toted from the city. The $16.00 bottle sure tastes like a $30.00 to us.



Next up, a rendevouz with Kim and Alan at Lion Valley Vineyard in Cornelius. Except it's not Lion Valley anymore. It's Ardiri. That's what the sign says. Hey, we're adaptable. The gates are open and when we get out if the truck, a gentle Rodesian Ridgeback greets Lucy. Proprietor John Compagno comes out to meet us and explains the multiple changes in ownership (remind me to get a new guidebook). He also says they're planning to build a tasting room. I ask if he will sell us wine and he graciously agrees, noting that he's right in the middle of harvest. I say don't worry about us. He says help yourself to the picnic area and I'll be out with some wine in ten minutes.

We buy a $20 bottle of 2006 Carneros Napa Valley Pinot Noir. The wine is made from California grapes from Ardiri's Napa vineyard, but it was aged and bottled in Oregon (under contract with Gypsy Dancer Estates, the property's owner after Lion Valley and before Compagno and his partner Gail Lizak took over in 2008). The grapes the team is collecting and de-stemming today will go into Ardiri's first pinot noir vintage from this land, John says. He says he plans to blend wine from this vineyard with wine from their Napa property. That's one way to make California and Oregon get along.

Kim and Alan show up with their dog Hilo in tow. The winery manager's dog, Joshu, loves Lucy but Hilo's not sure about Joshu. He is big!



Gail escorts Kim down into their wine cellar and hands over another 2006 Carneros Napa Valley Pinot Noir. We open the second bottle and nibble olives and some of Kim's homemade jalapeno jelly on crackers, while soaking up what's left of the sun and stunning scenery in all directions.

Before we go, we walk up the hill to take it all in. From that high ground, we see Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens. The afternoon light is skimming off the western hilltop and making everything we see a bit more beautiful than it was an hour ago. On our way out, we make a point to thank John for his lovely wine and hospitality and to wish him luck with his 2009 vintage.

The Southernmost Vineyard In Northern Willamette Valley

When one heads in a southerly direction from Portland there are copious wineries to visit. I find that comforting. I like to know that there are more wineries nearby than we could ever visit in a season or two.

Oftentimes, we want to fit a winery visit into a larger day trip. Such was the case on Saturday, which is how we came to pick Ankeny Vineyards south of Salem. The property is only 5.5 miles off of Interstate 5, so it's easy to reach and then get back on one's way.



We've been to lots of beautiful properties in the Willamette Valley, but Ankeny occupies a top rung in the "Whoa, this is gorgeous" category. The vineyards stretch up a hill to the east and views from that hill are magnificent.

After sampling the wines inside the tasting room, we bought a glass of Ankeny Crimson—a blend of Pinot Noir and Maréchal Foch—and hiked up the through the vines to a 19th century cemetery and adjacent picnic area atop the property, all the while enjoying the bold citrus notes (tangerine, to be exact) in our glasses of wine.

It turns out that Ankeny Crimson is only $12 per bottle and is available exclusively at the the winery, although they'll ship to states that allow shipments of wine. We brought a couple bottles home and I must say this is a unique, particularly tart, wine that's well worth every penny of $12. In fact, it drinks like a $20 bottle, without question.

Session Black Rolls Off The Line In Hood River

John Foyston of The Oregonian made a visit to Hood River to find out more about Full Sail's latest line extension, Session Black.

The brand's appeal is broad-based. It attracts drinkers with sophisticated palates who appreciate Session as an example of the kind of robust lagers brewed in the U.S. before Prohibition. Thanks to its packaging and pricing -- less than craft beers and on a par with Rolling Rock, Henry's and some imports -- Session is also a favorite among beer drinkers who are part of the Pabst Blue Ribbon backlash against what are perceived as snooty craft beers.

Though the PBR-word is never mentioned at the Hood River brewery, it's apparent enough to industry observers such as Tom Dalldorf, publisher of Celebrator Beer News, which covers the nation's craft-brewing scene. "The idea of co-opting PBRs industrial lage rcachet with a craft beer in a stubby was an awesome stroke of marketing genius for Full Sail," Dalldorf says. "Deschutes has the best-selling dark craft beer with Black Butte Porter so why not piggyback on their success with a dark lager -- an established tradition in Europe."

Session is available only in 12-packs of 11-ounce "stubby" bottles -- no kegs, quarts, or six-packs.

BARISTA Is The Pearl

Yesterday morning I finally wandered into BARISTA on NW 13th in the Pearl. Lucky for me, the coffee drinkers coffee shop had just added beans from Vancouver, B.C.'s 49th Parallel Roasters to their menu.



Being able to choose your espresso roast is just one of the many charms here. They also make coffee in Vaccum Pots and this report won't be complete until I return to sample the black nectar therein.

Given that these particular BARISTAs are also ambassadors for coffee, I was pleased to learn how friendly and unassuming the staff is.

I happened to be wearing my new "I'm Huge On Twitter" t-shirt from Threadless and @petersill got a kick out if it. He asked me my Twitter ID (@davidburn) and I got his. There's also @baristapdx, the update stream from Billy Wilson.

As for how others perceive BARISTA, the Yelp reviews are generally outstanding. Ryne L. says, "I'd thought that Albina Press would remain the hands down best coffeehouse in Portland. I was wrong. Former Albina Press barista Billy Wilson recently opened what is now the preeminent cafe in Portland (or anywhere for that matter)."

to be continued...

Two Ounces of Sense

According to The Oregonian the 14.oz "pint" glass may soon be a thing of the past in the Beaver State.

House Bill 3122 allows taverns and bars that sell true 16-oz. pints to sport a state-issued sticker saying so.

The vote was 34-26 in favor.

Critics argued that businesses could do this on their own and that they didn't want state agencies spending time on this.

Rep. Nick Kahl, D-Portland, put his own spin matters.

"Our state faces serious problems and we're dealing with this bill, because now more than ever, Oregonians deserve a full 16 ounces."

The bill now moves to the Senate.

Now You Can Walk Your Talk While Drinking Kind, Local Beer

Grant McOmie from Travel Oregon stopped in (with camera crew) to Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) in SE Portland recently. He notes in the video above that HUB is one of only three fully sustainable breweries in the state. I'm thinking Laurelwood must be one of the other two.

Accountants Don't Like Widmer, But Beer Drinkers Do

Portland Business Journal has a story that paints the current state of the craft brewing business as sour mash.

Less than six months after Woodinville, Wash.-based Redhook Ale Brewery Inc.’s merger with Portland’s Widmer Brothers Brewing Co., the new company has written down the value of the Widmer brand by more than a third.

Last week, the company that resulted from the merger, Portland-based Craft Brewers Alliance, released its 2008 annual report. For the year, the company lost $33.3 million on $86 million in revenue.

Yet there's reason for hope on the home front. Widmer just started making its Drifter Pale Ale available and it's doing well.



Yet, December and January shipments for all Oregon craft brewers fell by 5 percent and 7 percent, respectively. But in January and February, shipments for all beer in Oregon actually rose by 10 and 20 percent, respectively.

“It would appear trading down from higher-priced, locally-made beer has already begun in earnest,” said Brian Butenschoen, executive director of the Oregon Brewers Guild.

Happy Birthday To Me

Our friend Colleen treated us to a private tour and tasting at Lemelson Vineyards on Saturday. It was a special treat for my 44th birthday and it was an honor to be welcomed as VIP guests from the minute our party arrived.



Colleen is Lemelson's National Sales Manager, which means she travels to accounts non-stop to act as the winery's ambassador. And from what we saw on Saturday, she's quite the ambassador. In fact, it's clearly time to start calling her Madame Ambassador.

First, Colleen showed us the facility's vaulted high tech room where the grapes are destemmed and put into large stainless fermentation tanks. Then we descended like gravity to lower rooms with more tanks before reaching various cellar rooms where Colleen explained in great detail what was inside all the expensive French Oak barrels. Lucky for us, we tasted straight from the barrels so our education would be complete. After the tour we soaked up the day's warm sun on the deck and let some of Oregon's finest wine flow down our gullets.

It was a great time to put it mildly. If you have yet to experience a glass of pinot noir from Lemelson, do yourself and your loved ones a favor and let the good times roll...

Across The River And Into The Trees

While our focus here is clearly on Oregon wine, beer and coffee, the great state of Washington is right across the river, just a few miles from Portland. Therefore, it can't hurt to become knowledgeable about the liquid goings on there.



According to Ruth Zschomler of The Oregonian, Washington ranks second in the U.S. after California in wine production. The wine industry contributes more than $3 billion to the state's economy and provides 14,000 jobs.

The state recently licensed its 600th winery. By comparison, Oregon has nearly 400 wineries.

Clark County, near Portland, has six commercial vineyards with three more underway and an eye toward earning a designation as an American Viticultural Area. The local growers in Clark County have formed the Southwest Washington Winery Association, a nonprofit, to help attain AVA status.

The winery association is working on viticulture education in Clark College in Vancouver. The college's corporate and continuing education program offers 13 classes in wine education.

Order The Rickey

Early last night we breezed into Ping, Pok Pok's new Chinese fusion sister restaurant in Old Town. We had a nice two-top at the window and the sun was going down over the west hills. In other words, we were in the ideal place for a cocktail.

As this was our initial voyage to Ping, it was reassuring to see one of my favorite new cocktails on the list. The pomegranate gin rickey: featuring pomegranate drinking vinegar, gin, lemon and soda for $8.

This drink is also served at Pok Pok.

I have yet to try them all, but this has be one of Portland's best cocktails.

For more on the drinking vinegar trend, see this Portland Monthly article.

A One-Word Call To Action

After recently coming across MIX, a lifestyle publication from The Oregonian that covers the local food and beverage beat, I was interested to see another title, Imbibe Magazine, at the New Seasons check out stand yesterday.



I made an impulse purchase and brought the mag home with my four bags of high priced groceries. There are some interesting articles inside, like this one about a new breed of moonshiners.

Imbibe Magazine’s Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Karen Foley (who migrated to Portland from Savannah) was interviewed by The Portland Tribune in 2006 when the magazine launched.

“There’s tons of food magazines,” she says, “but the interesting thing that I found when I started looking around was that there wasn’t anything like Imbibe that existed. There wasn’t a single magazine that was taking the approach of a food magazine and applying it to beverages, looking at drinks as cuisine and also looking at drinks from a very cultural perspective.”

Around the world, there are special customs and stories tied to drinking, and that goes well beyond the social bonding associated with alcohol. From ancient tea ceremonies to the athletic posturing of bottled-water brands, from Oktoberfest to lemonade stands, there’s plenty of ground to be covered both in and outside of Cocktail Nation.

The Trib notes that Imbibe is the only "nationally geared, mainstream periodical" to be headquartered in Portland.

Jeff's Common Mix

Jeff Morgenthaler, 37, is a bartender at Clyde Common in Portland. He's been tending bar since 1996 and writing about it since 2004. He strives to elevate the experience of having a drink from something mundane to something more culinary.