Oregon

• Columbia Gorge
• Dundee Hills
• McMinnville
• Willamette

Although this is a California Syrah, Lillian is an Oregon producer.  This is great.  Inky purple in color.  The nose has black raspberries, gamey meats, roasted herbs, slight black olives.  On the palate, this is delicious.  it has complexity and depth too.  Black raspberry fruit with slight earthiness and a bit of grilled meats.  Long finish.  This is just about at peak now.  Light tannins.  Wonderful texture.  Juicy fruit.  Long finish.  It should be hear for another ten years or so.  It will work great with roasted fowl or meats or grilled foods.  

Sineann lost a couple of it's best vineyard sources but this vineyard seems better than ever.  Of course, this is a reserve bottling.  Medium/dark ruby in color.  The nose has cherries, sour cherries, baking spices, and cedar.  A slight dry earthiness comes out with air.  On the palate, this has a wonderful texture.  Sour cherries and cherries over spices with slight char.  Good finish.  This is a delicious wine.  It has a nice depth but will need to be aged a bit to show some delineations.  It will continue to get better for the next five years or so and be good for ten to fifteen after th

This is an artificially frozen dessert wine from the Scorched Earth Vineyard.  It is made from Syrah grapes that were harvested at 37 brix.  The residual sugar 8% and 14.5% ABV.  It has held up quite well and is drinking very well, perhaps, on better now.  Purple in color.  The nose has black raspberries, a simple syrup note, plums and chocolate covered raisins.  On the palate, this is drinking well.  Sweet, not cloying.  Very port-like.  Not a ton of complexity.  Goes quite well with a bit of cheese or chocolate.  This was a one off and only made this one time.  

Sineann sadly no longer utilizes fruit from this vineyard.  Panther Creek does, but I have yet to try one.  Peter Rosback did amazing things with this vineyard back in the day.  At age 10, this is still youthful but drinking wonderfully.  For Oregon, Sineann wines tend to be big at birth, but as they age, they mellow and integrate.  This one is just starting to.  Deep ruby in color.  The nose has cherries, slight sour cherries, a slight bit of cedar and a nice earthiness.  On the palate, the sour cherries and slight cherries layer with the clean earthiness.  Great balance and energy.  Deep

A very nice Chardonnay from Oregon.  Light golden/yellow in color, just a hint of cloudiness.  The nose is big with a bit of oak/vanilla.  Nice red apples and a bit of lemon cream.  On the palate, this is a bit fat but enough acidity to make it work.  Apples and slight lemons.  Good finish.  This is terrific on it own, a bit more limited with food but would be great with sea food or lighter middle eastern foods.  While it won't get better, it still has five years (at least left).  

Sineann gets grapes in Oregon and Washington and makes quite a few different wines.  This one is a blend of grapes that did not get bottled as a single varietal.  It is always a great wine and a better value.  This vintage it contains Merlot, Cabernet and Zinfandel.  By the way, Abondante means "generous" in Italian.  Purple in color.  The nose has cassis, black cherries, spice, slight chocolate and forest floor.  On the palate, there are light tannins.  This is medium to full bodied.  Plenty of black cherry fruit with some cherry over a forest floor quality.  Good finish.  This is very fle

This is from the Food and Gift purveyor Harry & David and made with Oregon fruit.  It is a "Bordeaux Styled" wine though the exact blend is unclear.  These wines sell as part of gift packages that one can order online or at a store.  It is quite good and was a real crowd pleaser.  Purple in color with ruby swirls.  The nose is dusty with black cherries and a nice earthiness to it.  On the palate, this has a nice acidity.  Tart cherry fruit over a forest floor base.  Silky tannins.  Nice finish.  This is food friendly and should go well with medium and heavier foods but especially meat a

Another wine from Food and Gift purveyors Harry & David.  These are available from their web site and stores and sold as packages and gift sets along with their other products.  The label touts that the grapes were picked early in the season which seemed a bit counter intuitive although they likely are trying to achieve a crispness.  Given Oregon's climate, that was a bit puzzling.  In any event, not the first wine label I didn't understand.  The wine itself is very nice.  Very pale pink in color with some light lavender and silver hues.  The nose is very nice with peaches, strawberries

This is from Food and Gift purveyor Harry & David and made in Southern Oregon.  This is a very interesting and different take on Riesling.  Light yellow/white/gold in color with a bit of a green tinge to it.  The nose has a fresh cantaloupe quality to it which is very interesting.  On the palate, this has a bit of a tingling acidity.  The cantaloupe /melon quality comes thru.

2007 in Oregon was a love it or hate it vintage.  The wines tended to be thinner and less ripe.  Whether this is good is up to the taster.  While I have had some lovely wines from that vintage, for the most part, it is not one of my favorite vintages.  Sineann tends to make bigger styled Pinots (on an Oregon scale), so it was interesting to see how this was drinking at 12 years from vintage.  For my tastes, this was not up to the usual level of enjoyment.  Ruby in color.  The nose has some cherry juice, a bit of spice and slight herbaceous quality.  On the palate, this is light bodied.  Lig