Dundee Hills with Alan, Corina, Julie and Craig

Alan and my Company is trying to plan our annual end of year dinner, and after my last dinner at Paulee in Dundee, I thought it'd be the perfect venue for a restaurant buy out... a little different kind of event, more of a destination than our usual downtown restaurant, where we could stay the night at the Inn At The Red Hills, which is attached. After initial discussions with the restaurant, Alan wanted to come check out the restaurant and the hotel. Alan added Julie and Craig to taste at wineries in the area, and Natasha and I tagged along as well. The restaurant looks to be perfect for our dinner so we booked it. Should be the best dinner yet, with the opportunity to go tasting both before dinner, and the following Sunday.

All photos are courtesy of Alan Colantino.

I was first introduced to this winery with their inaugural Pinot Noir in 2007 at a tasting at E&R and I really fell for that one. It was one of the better from the vintage I had up to that point. I quickly tried the 2008 following that and didn't enjoy it as much. For a company outing we did a tasting here and found the space quite nice. A.J., the co-founder, was behind the counter today as well. A.J. is a very friendly, but very opinionated individual. It's enjoyable to hear his passion for what they're doing, but the more and more he talked it became more and more apparent that ideologically speaking, him and I are fairly diametrically opposed when it comes to wine. I tried to be quiet as he gave us his theories on wine production and the lack of problem with high alcohol wines. Yes, this is a very warm site, so to some extent there's not much to do about it considering the location... He also expressed disdain for wineries who water back, and how they do that "in France." Frankly, if the top producers of Pinot Noir have been ok watering back for hundreds of years in difficult warm vintages, and have been able to produce profound, age worthy wines, I don't have a problem with that philosophy. I also have nothing against those that choose not to water back in hot years, though, but frankly I'd simply choose not to drink your 16% Pinot Noir. In Burgundy they water back when potentials are above 14... yikes, imagine a 16+% Burgundy! A.J. told us how he loves monster, big boy wines when he's sitting at home. So I guess it's no surprise the alcohol levels these wines are pushing.

Still, all in all this is a beautiful spot, and I truly did enjoy hearing A.J. tell us his opinion. I do wish it wasn't presented as fact though, and wish there was room for another perspective, which I didn't feel.

• 2011 Hawks View Cellars Pinot Gris 89 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  This wine is grown like their Pinot Noir, with similar yields. They pick three different times and blend together to gain a more dynamic wine (maintaining acidity, texture, and fruit). Very lushly textured aromas. You can smell the acidity and light bits of minerality. Very nice and soft, cutting acids with a pleasing luscious, smooth texture. Light minerality. Creamy finish with nice lingering tartness and a fairly gritty texture. Coating texture. Light on the fruit, but nice minerals. Not quite as enjoyable as their 2010 was.

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• 2009 Hawks View Cellars Pinot Noir 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Most of the estate, 44 of 50 acres, are planted with Pinot Noir. This wine offers very nice and smooth aromas, with a bit of alcoholic spice. The palate is soft and mellow in texture, a bit on the thin side considering the mild spicy and steamy alcohol. Lots of spice and alcohol on the finish. There's some nice fruit here, and overall this isn't totally out of balance, but it's certainly steamy. Behind the counter, A.J. didn't reveal the vintage in advance, asking us to guess. I think he was convinced we wouldn't detect the alcohol. I immediately suggested it was 2009, and my companions suggested "a hot year, because it's very alcoholic." Indeed, this isn't hiding much... I guessed 15% alcohol to be polite, and he revealed it was 15.7% alcohol and discussed how well it hides it. I'll grant that it's not a complete disaster considering that alcohol level, but wine from this vineyard was so much better in 2007 when it was 13.5% alcohol. I still have multiple bottles of that in my cellar. I won't be adding any 2009.

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• 2010 Hawks View Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 86 Points

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Horse Heaven Hills

  While the fruit here is from the Horse Heaven Hills, they can't actually put that on the label since they make the wine in Oregon. This wine offered lots of meatiness to the aromas, some spice, and alcohol. Lots of exuberant fruit on the palate, with very nice texture and good density of dark fruit. Pretty straight forward overall, though. Initial attack on the finish is of acids, but then they quickly fade as the alcohol bursts in, but at least it brings blackberries with it. Lots of bitterness.

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• 2010 Hawks View Cellars Merlot 83 Points

  USA, Washington

  Nice dark fruit aromas. A little spicy due to the alcohol, but really the dark fruits are what dominate the nose. Rich flavors on the palate, but pretty lean texture. Really gritty fruit and tannins. Huge volume on the palate despite that lean texture, mainly coming from tons of booze. There is a tartness keeping the alcohol a little in check, but that tartness loses in the end. Wow, the finish is just a monster of alcohol that lingers. Really heavy spice and booze coupled with deep berry. I asked the alcohol on this bad boy and was told 16.7%!! Gross. I guess considering that, 83 points is pretty damn good for a wine like this.

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I've only been here once before, about a year ago, just after they opened. I found the whites fairly pleasing, in an Alsatian style, but today the overall experience wasn't all that great. The Chardonnay was a certain oak bomb. An interesting opportunity to try a lesser known Oregon Pinot with 10 years of age on it.

• 2011 Hyland Estates Gewürztraminer Old Vine 89 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, McMinnville

  Very fruity aromas; lots of tropical notes, and tons of general exuberance. There's quite the eruption of creamy tropical fruits on the palate, which is very softly textured, but it's a little light in acidity. The finish is nice, creamy, and lusciously fruited. This was called dry, but there's some level of RS on it, but it's nice, with a touch of minerality.

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• 2010 Hyland Estates Riesling 89 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, McMinnville

  This was said to be slightly off dry. It smells very creamy, with something a little strange... earth? Sweet palate, with nicely cutting acid and minerals. Yes, slightly sweet, and tastes a bit of a tire. Smooth acids on the finish, with nice spice, tartness, and mild sweetness.

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• 2011 Hyland Estates Chardonnay 85 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, McMinnville

  Very very spicy oak on the nose. That's really the only dominant notion. These must have been very heavily toasted barrels, because that's what this smells like... toast. More spicy oak toast on the palate, coupled with an interesting coconut shavings flavor. More spice and burning plastic on the finish. Spicy, as the alcohol appears to be noticed. For those that like heavily oaked Chardonnays this would be more up their ally than it is for me.

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• 2010 Hyland Estates Pinot Noir 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, McMinnville

  Quite green fruited on the aromas, with green strawberry and some briar. Nice and lean aromas. The palate shows mild acidity and a mild fruity tartness. Sharp acidity on the finish without much fruit here. Very lean, tart, and puckering.

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• 2011 Hyland Estates Pinot Noir Old Vine Coury Clone 88 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, McMinnville

  Spicy aromas, with the only dominant play as black pepper. More spice on the palate, but heavy cream flavor with a near sweetness. Tart and puckering finish, with a taste of egg shells. An interesting Pinot...

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• 2003 NW Wine Company Pinot Noir 89 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Nice and smooth aromas. Mild in fruit, and a slight notion of glue. Nothing tertiary here. Soft, mild red fruit on the palate, showing nice structure and balance, with tart fruits as its held. Good structure on the very puckering, tart finish. This is showing some secondary development of the fruit, but surprisingly young tasting considering the less than renowned producer and 10 years of age. May be better still in 5 to 10 years.

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Only pouring three wines today, but this is always a pleasant stop. A very crowded tasting room, but we were in and out of there fairly quickly. Nice showing, these wines.

• 2011 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Chardonnay Arthur 89 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  Nice floral aromas, with general white fruit notions as well. Very very smooth palate, with lots of pleasing round fruit and light tartness. Fantastic texture at this level. good wollop of acidity initially on the finish, with a nice balance of fruit. Quite sour.

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• 2011 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir 90 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  Very pleasing aromas, with elegant fruit and soft aromatic texture. Soft texture on palate entry, but then developing gritty, cutting tannins as its held. Nicely tannic with mildly earthy fruits. Puckering acid on the finish as well, which is equally as tannic. Very sweet fruit though, and lots of interesting briar. Coating and puckering. Impressive entry level Pinot for 2011 that will certainly improve from here. 90+

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• 2009 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir Laurène 90 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  Very good for the vintage and my palate. This smells spicy and tart, yet fairly softly fruited overall. Nice luscious body, with impressively deep fruit and structure. Big boy tannins. This is built impressively. Nice voluptuous body leaving on the finish, with good structure and sweet red fruits. This is nice, but quite tight for the vintage right now. 90+

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I think due to the Dundee Hills Passport month a lot of the wineries weren't pouring many wines. There's usually more than three wines at White Rose, and often more of the higher tier stuff. Still, these have come to be one of the more consistent lineups on the hill.

• 2010 White Rose Estate Pinot Noir Luciole Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Smoothed out and integrated more since I had this last year. This offers soft aromas with pretty red fruits. Creamy texture with nice luscious, heavy strawberries. Fantastic, pleasing fruit here. Wow, really thick flavors on the finish, but a paradoxically thin texture. Very very yummy. 90+

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• 2010 White Rose Estate Pinot Noir Appellation Series Chehalem Mountains 91 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Chehalem Mountains

  Soft and mild aromas. The palate is again showing lots of strawberries, but this one is very tight. Some briar, but pleasing smooth texture. Quite elegant body as its held on the palate. Soft elegance on the finish, with nice earth and tart fruit. Lovely, but very tight today.

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• 2007 White Rose Estate Pinot Noir Appellation Series Dundee Hills 90 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  Interesting that there is only one recent holding of this wine in CellarTracker, despite 3 newer vintages with significant holdings. I suspect this is a late release by the winery. The aromas are showing lots of briar, with pleasing green fruits and some minerality. Wow, tons of forward, lean red fruits on the palate including strawberry, cranberry, and sweet pomegranate meat (without the bitter seed core). Nice long finish, showing impressive structure. Smooth and beautiful softness. This will get better still. 90+

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I've only been here once before and found it... interesting. Supposedly they have the same wine maker as Ken Wright, but the wines are fairly mediocre, in general. The whites often just taste like grape juice. Nothing bad about them, but definitely nothing interesting either, and definitely not something to stow away in a cellar. The setting in there was pretty relaxing, though, and all 6 of us just sat around a table on couches and chairs and had a great conversation of all sorts of topics. As such, I was paying less and less attention to the wines, and my notes suffered. Still, they were nothing to write home about... it was a fine stop for the end of the day, and one of the only that was still open, hence the stop.

• 2009 Armonéa Chardonnay Estate 88 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  Done in neutral oak. This expresses a soft, fruit forward notion on the nose. Creamy texture on the palate, with more soft fruit. Quite mellow, but nice throughout. Fruitier and simpler than most Chardonnays strive to be, but this is good.

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• 2010 Armonéa Chardonnay Estate 85 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  Soft fruit here too, but seems a little off balanced on the nose. Even more fruit on the palate though, but no structure; a bit flabby, with nothing but the soft fruit. On the finish this is more like fruit juice. That said, perhaps 85 is too fair.

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• 2009 Armonéa Riesling Estate

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  Lots of creamy grape fruit on the nose. Soft palate texture, with tart, mellow, and pretty candied green grape flavors. Again, this is just too grapey... tastes like grape juice, not wine. No elegance what so ever. Soft and tart grape juice on the finish. Conversation must have distracted me from writing a score.

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• 2008 Armonéa Müller-Thurgau Estate 85 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  This was far better when I bought a few bottles two plus years ago... I still get the same funky fruits on this one, but they aren't as pleasing any more. It's soft, but again just very juicy fruity. Smooth, but tastes of grape juice. Even more candied fruit on the finish.

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• 2009 Armonéa Müller-Thurgau Estate 84 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  Worse than the 2008, this offers even less fruit and without the fruit (which is all this usually tastes like) there's really not much interest. Just a soft, creamy beverage to consume, I guess...

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• 2009 Armonéa Pinot Noir Estate 86 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  Very odd cloudy color. Like it came from the bottom of the blending tank... weird. Tons of fine sediment. The palate shows tart fruits that are very soft and moderately nice. Soft texture on the finish too, but there's nothing really to this wine. I guess at least it's not offensive. Just not too interesting.

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• 2011 Armonéa Late Harvest Riesling Dundee Hills AVA 87 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  Soft caramel aromas. The palate tastes a little moldy, but the tartness actually keeps me interested for this sweet wine. Not much attention was paid to it during the tasting, though, just a score assessment.

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Overall, a really enjoyable day was had by all! Not the best showing for all the wines, but the company was certainly splendid.