On my last trip out to Oregon, I enjoyed a day of wine tasting in the Umpqua Valley while traveling between the coast and central Oregon. It was a heavenly day with bright, warm sunshine, beautiful rolling vineyards, and some amazingly good wine.
While I love visiting the tasting rooms and sampling their portfolio of wines, I shamefully admit that I’m not a big wine buyer. I’ll pick up a bottle here and a bottle there, but at this point in my life I can’t drop down the big bucks for a case (yet) and my wine budget is pretty small. So typically, I’m looking for a good deal for good wine; around the $20 range.
However, on our first stop this day, I decided to spend a little more than usual and its been worth every penny. Wanting to save the wine for a good reason, I told my boyfriend, who also really liked this wine, that we’d open it the day we finally move back to Oregon.
Well, the day has finally come! We found out last week that my boyfriend was awarded a dream job in Hood River, Oregon. So, we started to pack our boxes and opened this bottle of Brandborg’s 2013 Westbrook Vineyard Pinot Noir.
Featuring notes of black currents, ripe raspberries, and evidence of its oak aging on the nose, the Pinot Noir is a dark crimson, almost purple in color. The darkness continues on the palate with flavors of black cherry, cassis, and a touch of cola and unsweetened dark chocolate. Nicely balanced, it finishes with a lingering zig of acidity and fall spices.
I can’t wait to get my feet back on Oregon soil and can’t wait to spend more days like today with Oregon wine in my glass.
Oregon Winette 