Kim Brater

8.9

Nice Viognier from Southern Oregon winery near Roseburg, Oregon. Small production of this florally and vibrant wine. Morphs a bit in the glass with a rich mouthfeel. Hints of honey, lemon zest, vanilla, and flowers. Some guava and tropical notes as well. Received a 90 rating from Wine Enthusiast. About $20-22/bottle. Drink now. — 11 days ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

Belle Pente (bell-pont') means "beautiful slope" - for their 70 acre hillside vineyard & winery site in Willamette Valley. Bright red with concentrated aromas of sweet red fruits, herb spices and hints of floral notes. On the palate strawberry and cherry flavors, slight sweet undertones, herb notes and smooth gentle tannins. Well balanced on a lingering finish ending with mineral nuances. — 8 days ago

Jason Brater

9.1

Really interesting white blend. Riesling, muscat, Pinot Gris, Pinot blanc, and gewurtztraminer. Riesling flavors up front, then Pinot blanc dominant. Pears, limes, white peaches, and some honeyed green apple and some baking spices at finish. Seems like each varietal shows up in succession. — 8 days ago

David Shaw

8.9

Light golden pink, excellent clarity. Red fruit and a hint of herb in the nose. Stone fruit, cherry and later pink grapefruit in mouth, dry, moderate skin astringency that disappears with a bit of aeration. Subtle, nuanced flavors. A nice example of restrained, minimalist winemaking - just show what's there in the fruit, gentle handling but "whole cluster pressing" (says the label); otherwise, no reliance on added frills like malolactic or heavy skin contact (assuming I interpreted the wine accurately).
— a day ago

Daniel P. Drake

8.9

Happy National Pinot Noir Day! I am celebrating by opening the 2011 Benton-Lane Estate Grown Pinot Noir Willamette Valley.

On the nose there is nice red fruit, cherry, strawberry, cranberry, menthol, cola and a touch of funk.

The palate shows the red fruit that is on the nose, tart strawberry, cherry, cranberry, cola, clove, wet leaves and a bit of dry soil.

This is a light bodied wine with medium to + acidity and medium fine luscious tannins that coat the tongue which leads to a nice medium to long fruit filled finish. I hope everyone is enjoying Pinot Noir Day as I am and please as always be safe. Nostrovia! 🍷🍷🍷🍷 — 2 days ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.1

If you haven’t explored Washington wines, you need to visit Walla Walla. They are making incredible wines that compete with any region in the world without exploiting your wallet. Their prices will rise in time as the demand grows but, for now, they are outstanding wines at reasonable prices.

One of their best producers is Long Shadows. Gilles Nicault is their talented Wine Director who is a French transplant. He works with several consultants who all work on one wine each. World famous; Michel Rolland, Randy Dunn and JohnDuvall who made Penfold’s for 29 years.

I paired their Riesling with my grilled pork chop; which is largely based on the recipe from Mustards Restaurant in Napa Valley. 14 ingredients go into the two day marinade. It is perhaps one of the best food & wine parings I’ve had.

Photos of, the outside fire at Long Shadows, their beautiful tasting room with lots of hand blown glass the grilled pork chop, rosemary potatoes and grilled zucchini from our garden. — 3 days ago

Andy Figueroa

8.9

Crisp and fresh with a mouth fill of ripe peach and apple skin. Dry and acidic.
Aroma of peach rings.

Light and crisp body, quick finish.
#ovum #willamette #oregon #rieslinghappeningrebirthing #acidic — a day ago

Erik Nordman

9.0

@Delectable Wine this is Statera Cellars’ IUVO 1 Pinot Gris Pet-Nat. Appellation is Willamette Valley, Oregon. NV.

Super unique pet-nat. Pinot Gris fermented on Aligote skins for a short period that are I believe leftover from another white wine from this producer. Zesty, refreshing, juicy goodness. Has a not-insignificant beer-like character; a wine for beer drinkers for sure.

- Color: medium (-) intensity burnished straw-yellow, cloudy
- Nose: ripe pithy grapefruit juice, underripe white peach, lager-esque yeastiness, hay, lilac, saline, beeswax, and in an interesting way kind of an almost hoppy scent although I’m pretty sure this is not a hopped wine, just skin fermented
- Palate: ripe grapefruit juice, lager-esque yeastiness, hay, starfruit, beeswax, saline, and that same pleasant subtle hoppiness on the nose
- Acid: medium (+)
- RS: mostly dry, just a tiny detectable trace for balance/also due to production method
- Alcohol: medium (-)/medium, not too noticeable
- Body: medium (-), round-textured with a relatively low intensity, fine bead of bubbles
— 10 days ago

with Cassie

Mason Balistreri

Sommelier, International Wine Guild; Balistreri Vineyard; Sales, Joy Wine and Spirits

8.9

Sass is always one of my favorites for the price but I hadn't tried this vintage yet. As always, the fruit is ultra bright and expressive. There's no doubt about it, this has that natural wine vibe to it. Slight VA makes the aroma explode out of the glass... raspberry, blackberry and sour cherry. It's very lifted and lively. Slightly hot and the fruit is maybe a touch astringent. Structurally, this wine lacks delineation but it's delicious anyways. It's a different take and a more honest wine than most in the price bracket. Last time I talked to Jerry Sass he told me he was using less and less so2. Very cool.

#OREGON #PINOTNOIR #SASSWINE #OREGONWINE #WILLAMETTEVALLEY #oregonpinot #naturalwine — 13 days ago

Richard Austin

9.0

This wine is dumb delicious. The nose is an assault of red berry jam and sweet bbq meat. The mouth feel is a study in the textural landscape of wine; jammy, silk tannins, some effervescence, and super bright acid. Pallet is macerated tart cherries and other jammy red fruit. — 3 days ago