Idiot's Grace Wines

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Spring is a great time for wine tasting in Columbia Gorge! The Williamette Valley isn’t the only world-class wine region in Oregon. Just east of Portland, the Columbia River Gorge produces impressive wines often made from estate-grown fruit. If you’re unfamiliar with the Columbia Gorge AVA, some highlights:

• Established in 2004, the Columbia Gorge AVA covers 191,000 acres and 1,300+ acres of fruit. 
• With this 40-mile AVA, there are 50+ wineries with 95% produce 5,000 or fewer cases a year. That means you’ll have to buy direct from the wineries.
• While a small AVA, the region has 45+ different grape varieties including Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Zinfandel.
• Wines produced from this region tend to be riper than wines from Oregon’s cooler, western region and with higher acidity and structure.

 If you are visiting Mosier, Oregon, highly recommend you put @idiotsgracewines on your list. Located in the heart of the Northwest along the Columbia Gorge in Oregon, this small family winery has been producing old-world style wines on their organic vineyards since 2002. Wines are produced largely through dry farming using fermentation and oak. This results in more balanced, fresh structure on the palate and pairs excellent with food!

The relaxed atmosphere there makes for a great extension to a day spent in nature. Bottle prices range from $20-$45 per bottle— a great value for the quality wines. The wine we tasted eight of their wines and brought home these favorites: 

• 2019, Chenin Blanc, $39
• 2019, Cabernet Franc, $42
• 2019, Barbera, $35 
• 2020, Grenache, $20
• 2019, Blend “Whimsy”, $29 (my favorite!)

 Wine just tastes EXTRA delicious when you got this view.

Nestled in the Mosier Valley of the Columbia River Gorge you’ll find Analemma Wines— a biodynamic grower and producer crafting wines from 100% Columbia Gorge fruit. If you’ve had the cult wine from Cayuse in Walla Walla, Analemma’s co-founder, Steven Thompson, was Cayuse’s winemaker where he directed their biodynamic program.

All the wines are produced on-site at their winery. The first vines were planted in 2012 and five years after receiving a Biodynamic® certification, they released their first Biodynamic® Wines in 2020. #mosieroregon #biodynamicfarming 

All their tasting experiences are held outdoors within their working biodynamic farm and vineyards, which consists of orchards, vineyards, lavender plantings and even cows. During the tasting, I truly felt like I was sipping part of the landscape (pure, unadulterated flavors). Paired with a charcuterie offering, we tasted four wines:

• 2022 Albariño, $40 
• 2021 Mencía, $48
• 2022 Trousseau, $48
• 2021 Grenache, $48

If you’re unfamiliar with Mencía and Trousseau grapes, here’s what you can expect in their tasting profile:

• Mencía: pronounced “men-thee-ah”, this medium-bodied red wine has peppery flavors of sour cherry, red currant, pomegranate and bitter cherry pit flavor.
• Trousseau: earthy, full of dark berries, spice and a hint of smokiness. Pairs nicely with paella or pork sausage. If you’re curious why the winery is named “Analemma” — the analemma shape is a visual representation of a specific place on earth, acting as a fingerprint of place.

Love Pinot Noir? The Williamette Valley is it! Pronounced "wil-lam-it", Williamette Valley spans more than 100 miles from the Columbia River near Portland and makes up two-thirds of Oregon’s wineries and vineyards (there are 700+).

Pinot Noir is notoriously known as a finicky grape, but the region’s proximity to the Pacific Ocean combined with a consistently dry climate with long sunny days, makes it ideal for growing Pinot Noir. The first Pinot Noir was planted in 1965, and since the late '70s, Williamette Valley has become one of the premier Pinot-producing regions of the world. Within the Willamette Valley, there are six distinct sub-appellations:

1. Dundee Hills
2. Eola-Amity Hill
3. Yamhill-Carlton
4. Chehalem Mountains
5. Ribbon Ridge
6. McMinnville 

In addition to Pinot Noir, Oregon is also known for Pinot Gris and Chardonnay. What I especially enjoyed about the wines from Williamette Valley Wines is how the flavor profiles of red and white wines radiate the structure of old-world but has the fruit-forward style of new-world. I love how the combination of flavors hit my palate!! More about our visit to Williamette Valley Vineyards. We arrived at their Turner location around 4pm and was greeted with Brian, WVV wine ambassador, who took us on a private tour of the estate from the vineyards to the winemaking facilities and back to the restaurant. As one of the longest serving estates in Oregon founded in 1983 by Jim Bernau, Willamette Valley Vineyards is a pioneer known as:

• The first crowdfunded winery in Oregon
  The first publicly traded winery in the U.S. 
• They ship to 50 states and you may find their whole cluster Pinot Noir at Costco, but they also have a delicious line-up of small production Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Bordeaux Blend ranging from $18-65 per bottle.
• Fun fact: The season 18 finale of Bravo’s Top Chef was filmed/hosted at the Turner estate. #topchef