South Carolina Wine Joe

It has been 9 days since our trip to Oregon, where we were blown away with the quality and diversity of Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley.  Since our arrival home, we have tried a couple of Oregon Pinot Noir wines available locally in the under $20 category but they have been disappointing and we do not plan to buy them again.  Clearly, we cannot afford to buy high quality, small production $50 wines as our everyday wines. It was at this point, that I remembered reading on another blog about Firesteed Willamette Valley Pinot Noir being highly rated and available at Costco for$10.49.  I set out on a field trip to Costco but it was not there.  I think I remember previously seeing it at Trader Joe's but I went directly to Total Wine and purchased it for $12.29 - more than Costco but still a very good price. Firesteed Pinot Noir is mostly aged in stainless steel tamks with a small percentage of oak aged wine added to  the final blend.  This results in a...

I purchased Eola Hills Pinot Gris Oregon 2015 at my local wine shop, Wine Xpress, for $15.99 but it is also available at Total Wine for the same price.  We actually did not taste this wine on our recent visit to the Eola Hills winery because we concentrated our tasting on red wines.  Although this wine is labeled as from the Oregon AVA, it actually is 100% estate grown grapes from the Eola-Amity Hills sub-AVA within the Willamette Valley AVA.  Although this wine is slightly more expensive than some other Oregon Pinot Gris, it is actually very fairly priced for an estate wine from the smaller AVA. The first thing I noticed when I poured this wine was the floral, perfumed aroma.  Even more impressive was the floral, herbal tea like flavor which accompanied the usual pear and apple.  I found the wine to be light, crisp and not too tart. This wine is a wonderful summertime accompaniment for light seafood and salads. SC Wine Joe does not assign numerical rating...

We just returned from a trip to Oregon that included visits to wineries in the Willamette Valley which stretches from Portland to Eugene, Oregon.  The hillsides rising from the fertile valley are uniquely suited in climate and soils to the growing of Pinot Noir grapes.  Many of the Pinot Noir wines are world class and the highest rated in North America.  We were amazed at the diversity of Pinot Noir flavors found in these wines. Readers of this blog may have noticed that we enjoyed and reviewed several Oregon wines prior to our trip and should not be surprised with posts about more Oregon wines in the near future.  The following is a summary of the wineries we visited: REX HILL The first vines were planted at the Estate Vineyard in 1982 which along with their Jacob-Hart Vineyard is located in the Chehalem Mountain sub-AVA within the Willamette Valley AVA.  In 2007, Rex Hill was sold to the founders of A to Z Wineworks.   Today, A to Z produces large p...

A few weeks ago, LIDL had a 40% off sale on some European wines.  One of the wines I selected was this Vina Corba Granacha from Spain which normally sells for $6.99.  Lately, I have had so many wines to try and I just got around to this one. Campo de Borga is a wine region within Aragon in northeastern Spain.  The area has Atlantic influences in the winter and Mediterranean influences in the summer.   The soil and climate is suitable for growing Granach. Vina Corba Granacha Imperial is 100% Granacha from vines that are at least 30 years old.  The wine is aged for 6 months in American oak.  The winery that produces this wine produces Don Ramon Campo de Borja Granach Imperial Roble.  The labels of both wines are identical except for the name and the wine appears to be the same.  Perhaps, the Don Ramon name could not be used by LIDL. The wine is medium bodied with flavors of ripe cherry and blackberry.  The finish is a little rough ar...

A few months ago, I was dreaming about owning my own winery.  Of course, at this stage of my life, I am not willing to take that risk nor do I want to do the work.  But I did some research and found that I could buy stock in the publicly traded Willamette Valley Vineyards (WVVI) in Turner, Oregon.  After doing our due dilligence, my wife and I purchased some shares of common stock and we are now proud owners of a very small portion of a winery and vineyards. I found a bottle of Willamette Valley Vineyards Whole Cluster Pinot Noir at Green's Beverage store in Greenville.  The unique feature of this wine is that uncrushed grape clusters are fermented.  This is said to enhance the fresh fruit flavors of the wine.  I will testify that this is a delicious, juicy fruit forward wine with flavors of cherry, blackberry, raspberry and a touch of earthiness.  The finish on the wine is soft and long lasting.  I love this wine! I paid $19.56 for this wine ...