Slow Wine Guide Tasting: Compelling Oregon Wines (Part 3)

As I previously mentioned, the Slow Wine Guide tasting event presented approximately 300 wines available for tasting, so I had to be very selective as to the wines I sampled. I'm sure I missed plenty of interesting and delicious wines, though I was pleased with much of what I was able to experience. I'm now going to highlight some of those wines, those which most appealed to me. The Slow Wine Guide is an excellent resource for a myriad of Italian wines, and now it is moving into California and Oregon wines.

Three Oregon wineries presented at this event, and I tasted wines from two of those wineries. Antiquum Farm, owned by Stephen Hagen, is located in the southern end of the Willamette Valley and earned a Bottle in the Slow Wine Guide, indicative of high quality. On the winery's website, Stephen states: "I am obsessed with growing the best wines possible. Our wines are not made. They are grown, cluster by cluster, with my own hands. They are a marriage of a place, its people, and a moment in time." The 20-acre estate is mostly forest, with about 8.5 acres of vineyards, and they raise various animals on their property, practicing “grazing-based viticulture.”

Hagen “...counts on rotational grazing to carry nutrients from a family of cover crops to his vineyard. Sharply trained sheep do most of this, with trusty horses on hand to tow equipment along with geese and chickens. No outside inputs are needed, and his vineyard is entirely self-sustaining.” The bow-shaped vineyard, farmed organically, grows 6 types of Pinot and the winery produces about 32,000 bottles annually.

The 2017 Antiquum Daisy Pinot Gris ($20), named in honor of Hagen's daughter, is intended to be an everyday wine. It is easy drinking and delicious, with fresh flavors of citrus, pear, and lime, bright acidity, and an underlying backbone of minerality. An excellent summer wine and it would be a nice pairing with a variety of seafood. The 2017 Antiquum Juel Pinot Noir ($40), a blend of grapes from all six of their vineyards, is a light red color with a stunning aroma. The wine is fruity and earthy, with a spicy accent, and such tempting flavors of black cherry and plum. The 2017 Antiquum Passiflora Pinot Noir ($58), using high altitude grapes, is a superb wine, fresh and vibrant. It also possesses a light red color, an alluring aroma, and a complex melange of flavors, including plum, black cherry, and almost tropical fruit notes. There are also earthy notes, accompanied by chocolate and dark spices, with a very lengthy finish you didn't want to end. Highly recommended!

I feel that some intriguing wines, using grapes other than Pinot, are being produced in Southern Oregon. Troon Vineyard, in Applegate Valley, was started back in 1972 when Dick Troon planted  Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel. Sadly, he passed away in 2011 and the current owners are Texans Bryan and Denise White. Their General Manager is Craig Camp, who was present at the Slow Wine event, pouring a few of their wines. Troon is one of only ten Oregon wineries in the Slow Wine Guide to earn a Snail designation, which indicates the winery conforms to the ideals of the Slow Food movement.

Their vineyards occupy about 14 acres and has been farmed organically for a few years, and should receive both Organic and Biodynamic certification later this year. They are already certified LIVE and Salmon Safe. Current annual production is about 66,000 bottles. They are growing grapes such as Vermentino, Marsanne, Roussanne, Riesling, Sangiovese, Malbec, Mourvedre, Tannat, and Grenache, not the grapes you commonly see to the north, in the Willamette Valley.

I only tasted their 2016 Troon Vineyard Cuvée Pyrénées ($65), which is a blend of 62% Tannat & 38% Malbec, which though you might think of as a nod to South America is more a nod to the French appellations of Madiran and Cahors. The two grapes are co-fermented, stating: "At Troon we are firmly committed to co-fermentation instead of of blending as we believe it adds many layers of complexity and texture that cannot be obtained in any other way." With only a 13.5% ABV, this wine is produced with native yeast, no new oak, and spends some time in concrete, where the Tannat makes silky tannins.

This was a fascinating and impressive wine, with a rich, almost purplish color, and a nose of black fruits and spice. On the palate, there is plenty of intriguing complexity, each sip delivering something different to your palate. Ripe plum, black raspberry, hints of cherry, chocolate, dark spices, rich acidity, and more. The tannins are well integrated and the finish is lengthy and satisfying. A well-balanced wine, it brings hedonistic pleasure to your palate, and would be a great accompaniment to steak, wild boar, or other hearty dishes. Oregon is about more than Pinot and this wine is an excellent example of the potential of Southern Oregon. Highly recommended!