For as long as I can remember I have been absorbing as much information / content as possible via podcasts, audio books, physical books, talks, you name it! These last few months I haven’t listened to a single podcast. I tried starting an audio book, but have abandoned it. I will say I have attended a couple conferences, mostly wine related, but my consumption of content has dropped big time! It makes me wonder if this is a side effect of the most overused two letters we have seen in the last couple of years, AI.
If I wanted I could spend an hour learning the aspects of western sloping vineyards over eastern sloping vineyards and go way down the rabbit hole. It doesn’t stop and it is only going to get more overwhelming. I remember over 25 years ago watching the Matrix and wished I could learn anything an instant like flying a Bell 212 aka B-212 helicopter. We aren’t at that point of literally having instructions jacked into our brains, but it’s getting closer and closer to becoming a reality.
Another side effect of this reality is content is getting super crazy easy to create. There is so much more available. Some is good. Some is slop. Most are ads for something. I was talking with a guy yesterday and he loved going on the gram because the ads know him so well. He enjoys looking at the ads over what is happening in his friend’s lives.
Are we heading in a direction where ads on social media are more important than what is happening with our friends? This might be the reason I am not consuming as much media. It all feels unauthentic. I am grateful for all of the real connections I have made in wine. I am grateful for you reading this newsletter.
In the last month I noticed the Robb Report highlighted Oregon wine a couple of different times. I think this is the first time I have seen Oregon highlighted, and without a shadow of a doubt, two times within one month has not happened at all. I remember when I started this newsletter I was shouting as loud as I could from my back deck about how amazing Oregon wine is, and after losing my voice so many times, it is happening! Please note, that last sentence was all sarcasm. The Robb Report has no clue who I am and there is no way I can take credit for the highlight on the Koosah vineyard or the hidden Pinot Noir gems they called out.
Here is what I love though. Shining light on the Koosah vineyard is spectacular, and in the email they highlighted the big boys like Resonance, Walter Scott, and Morgen Long. Why not mention Jackson from Granville and his stellar Chardonnay?
In the email, the Robb Report mentioned Koosah is the best Chardonnay vineyard in Oregon. Ouch, really?! I think not. I mean it is definitely up there. If I had 5 bottles of Oregon Chardonnay from Koosah, X-OMNI / X-NOVO, Seven Springs, Bunker Hill, and Rock Block and I could only choose one, hands down it would be from X-OMNI / X-NOVO. I am glad the Robb Report doesn't know about these other special vineyards. It is a secret for the locals and we get to enjoy the good stuff without sharing!
If you want to read the whole article yourself, here is the link.
The other report from the Robb Report is titled The 7 superb Pinot Noirs. The list highlights the 2022 Own Rooted Pinot from Nicholas Jay, 2022 Evenstad Reserve from Domaine Serene, 2023 Oregon Zephirine from Rose Rock, 2021 Sims Vineyard from Rex Hill, 2023 Dundee Hills from Archery Summit, 2023 Cumberland Reserve from Bergstrom, and 2024 Reserve from Four Graces. I don't think any of these wines would be on my top seven. My list would include Pinots from Lonesome Rock, Approachment, Hazelfern, Aubaine, Granville, Tendril, and Dusky Goose. Looking at the Robb Report list, their picks were from the 2022 and 2023 vintages. My list would span 2019 to 2024 easily. It's always good to have the inside scoop!
Speaking of the 2024 vintage, I am so freaking happy with what I am tasting so far! My first 2024 Pinot was from Approachment and it stopped me mid-conversation. It's mind blowing!
I also had the opportunity to taste the 2024 Pinots from Granville (Crete, Holstein, and Dux). All of these are out-of-this-world stellar! Aubaine released their Pinots from the Windfall vineyard and Holy Toledo Batman, the L'Elu Pinot is another conversation stopper! You need to stock up on the 2024 vintage big time, but I am just a guy drinking the wine. Here is what the people actually growing and making it have to say:
The 2024 growing season began with a warmer, wetter winter, followed by a mid-January freeze and a cold, wet February. While these damp conditions persisted into early March, temperatures finally climbed around the equinox. A drier-than-average April led to bud break in the early to middle of the month. May was a study in contrasts, featuring a week of cool, wet weather immediately followed by a heat wave. Early June remained warmer than average, though with fewer days exceeding 90°F. Warmer sites bloomed during a mild stretch from June 5–13, while rain in the middle of the month and cooler temperatures protracted flowering through June 25 in higher elevation, or sites closer to Van Duzer. This June precipitation tempered yields and supercharged the vines for the warmest, driest months ahead. July remained hot until a cooling trend and light sprinkle arrived at month's end. By late August, I could see in vineyards that a truly special vintage was unfolding. Aside from a brief heat spike in early September, the month was defined by warm days, cold nights, and a single light shower. I exercised maximum patience, picking slowly—three blocks in the first week and three in the second. Momentum built in the third week with six blocks harvested, while the final lot was granted an additional week of hang time. This 30-day picking window—stretching from the September 10 start in Dundee to the October 10 conclusion in South Salem—has only occurred once before in my career, during the 2019 vintage.
Every few decades a vintage comes along that truly makes an impact, creating wines of such exceptional quality that we marvel at this offering from mother nature. 2024 may very well be such a vintage. Warm, dry days gave way to crisp, acid preserving nights. Complexity blossomed throughout a very cool end of August and the longest runway to pick grapes we’ve seen in many years. The wines evolving out of this harvest are balanced in alcohol, retaining bright acid, showing resolved phenolics from extended hang time, and promising exceptional color and flavor. Even the most difficult vintages can surprise with a beautiful finished wine, but what a gift to work with perfectly ripened fruit from such a remarkable season.
For Lytle-Barnett's sparkling wines, harvest begins in early September, while Aubaine’s still wine harvest stretches from late September into early October. Traditionally, sparkling wine grapes are picked about two weeks before still wine grapes. In the Eola-Amity Hills AVA, where our vineyards are located, we typically experience a slight delay compared to other Willamette Valley sub-AVAs due to the cooling winds from the Van Duzer corridor. This climate—hot days and cool nights—provides the perfect environment for prolonged "hang time," allowing tannins and skin characteristics to properly develop in the grapes.
The 2024 growing season brought us a cooler summer, allowing the fruit to ripen slowly and evenly, preserving the fresh acidity that defines our wines. This led to a slightly later harvest than usual, starting with our sparkling program on September 6th. The moderate weather continued into early fall, providing an ideal window for our Chardonnay a couple of weeks later, and then Pinot Noir about a week after that. The combination of daytime warmth and cooler nights is exactly what makes the Willamette Valley such a renowned wine region, and this vintage is the quintessential expression of classic Oregon.
Okay, I am going to take a hard right turn here. I know this is a wine newsletter, but bear with me for a minute. I would like to mention a new restaurant in downtown Portland called Hearth & Vine. Yeah, I know, the number of times I have mentioned a restaurant in the past seven years is pretty minimal, but I think you should be aware of this place.
Do you remember Henry's? It was named after Henry Weinhard beer and had over 100 beers on tap. It was popping all the time, and before COVID the downtown location shut down. It is still an option at the airport, but the Portland location has been empty until now.
What intrigued me about Hearth & Vine is their wine list. They have 43 options available by the glass and another 10 by the bottle! It is a stellar list, and here are a few by the glass / taste / carafe / bottle options: Klinker Brick Albariño, Bryn Mawr Pinot Blanc, Imagery Chard, Abacela Grenache, Bjornson Gamay, Gramercy Red Blend, Corazon del Sol Malbec, and J. Christopher Lunatique Rouge. On the by-the-bottle-only options: White Walnut Estate and Lytle-Barnett Blanc de Blancs. There are other by-the-bottle options that were also stellar. Here is the whole list for you:
Their cocktail list is also pretty extraordinary! Let's dive a little bit into the food options. I would call the menu overall very PNW friendly. You can start with a nice selection of oysters, burrata, tuna tartare, and wings, with main dishes of pizza, pasta, salads, and a very nice selection of meats.
We ended up trying the Ricotta Fresca and roasted carrots for starters. Both of these were top notch! The bread was super warm with a nice amount of butter for the Ricotta Fresca.
For the main course, it was a difficult decision. I am a huge sucker for mashed potatoes. I mean, the other week I had mashed potatoes with French butter and bacon in Seattle. I am still salivating just thinking about those potatoes. I was curious about the H&V Burger, but no mashed potatoes. I really didn't want to eat a messy half chicken with mashed potatoes, so the filet it was.
Before I even talk about the filet, I am always apprehensive about getting steak out. I have a Big Green Egg and steaks out just don't compare. Having total control of the fire, seasoning, reverse sear, and resting is huge. I wanted the mashed potatoes though!
Our order ended up being the Tuna Poke Bowl, Salmon Crispy Rice, and the Filet, along with a glass of the Sinann Cab Franc and Italian Tenuta di Arcend Il Fauno Arcanum Red Blend. Both wines were great and exploring something different is always fun for me!
Sitting outside for dinner in May is always a bit tricky in Oregon. We started off with some great sun and then the breeze set in, but I have to say the view and ambiance were totally worth the little bit of chilliness we had.
When the food came to the table, it was time for another round of beverages. We got the Hourly Old Fashioned and a glass of the 2023 Bodecker Pinot. The Old Fashioned was great. I got the Bodecker because I had heard of the label but had never tried it before. This is what I like about having so many choices on the menu for wine. It allows you to explore, and I am not aware of another restaurant with so many by-the-glass and tasting options. It's like having 43 wineries at your fingertips, and if I didn't have to drive back home I would have explored more!
With this being a bit of a restaurant focus, I guess I should talk a bit more about the food. The Tuna Poke Bowl was a substantial portion of food that had a wonderful presentation and was stunningly delicious. The Salmon Crispy Rice was shared and again the presentation was on another level, with an exceptional taste and texture.
I am going to be a bit more in depth on the filet with mashed potatoes and asparagus because I am a bit of a steak snob. To me there is nothing better than a steak on the Big Green Egg, and for a restaurant steak, this is one I would order again hands down. I ordered my steak medium and if given the chance I would order medium rare a second time. Why would I do this? I like my steaks juicy, not necessarily bloody. The filet was far from dry and was absolutely delicious. The mashed potatoes had all sorts of Tillamook butter incorporated to make them stunningly decadent. I was super happy on so many levels.
For dessert, the brownie in a cast iron skillet topped with vanilla ice cream is a staple and I could have eaten the whole thing all by myself even though I was bursting at the seams with all of the other food. The true test was taking the brownie home for a 17-year-old. The brownie passed with flying colors, with consumption happening in less than 3 minutes. Maybe it was the teenager not wanting to be around her dad, but I would like to think it was because the brownie was really good.
If you ever want to revisit Hearth & Vine when it was Henry's, I highly encourage you to check it out. If you never went to Henry's, you've got to go — check it out and afterwards head to Powell's to pick up a few books. I encourage you to make a reservation and feel free to let them know "A.J. sent me" if you want a weird response, because they have zero clue who I am.
Before you go, I want to compare and contrast hospitality for a minute. I don't remember our waitress's name — that is my fault. She did an absolutely phenomenal job of taking care of us! Comparing that to the hospitality in Wine Country, the human connection is way more present there, and getting to know the people behind the brand is way more important.
If a winery had taken over this space, I have zero doubts there would have been a story to draw everyone in. I don't understand the restaurant world enough to say a single word, but I feel that capturing a story with every single meal would bring so many repeat customers along with their friends.
After COVID we have seen how huge the human connection is. In this new world of AI, the need for the human element is paramount. In this iconic space that was once Henry's, why not lean into the story and connection and stand out in a world where that human element is so needed!
With Gratitude,
A.J.
PS — When you see Jay next time at EIEO, congratulate him on getting married!!
PPS — The other night I attended a couple industry events and was asked at least 5 times when am I going to do another podcast interview. Guess I need to get another on the books soon. Who should I interview?