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  Winemaker Boyd Teegarden, examining early fruit at Natalie Estate Winery in the Willamette Valley, Oregon What makes the Willamette Valley so special? Of course the wine has a lot to do with it, but who makes the wine? The people! More specifically, we can thank the pioneers who first came here in the 1960’splanted…

  ** Spoiler Alert This is a Willamette Valley Ad!**   So you’ve been wine tasting in Napa/Sonoma (or if you are lucky France, Spain, Italy, Germany) and you are looking for something different. Maybe you are still skittish about overseas travel and crowded places. Not interested in sitting in traffic, booking months in advance…

  Some of our Triangle guests enjoying the views as Vidon Many of you have visited wineries in California and other locations around the world. How many times have you met the owners and/or winemakers while there? Or were you greeted by a tasting room host/hostess reading a script on the history of the winery…

If you’ve ever visited the Willamette Valley for a wine tastingone thing becomes apparent: Pinot Noir, the king of Oregon grapes, dominates the wine offerings here in the valley. Why? First, a little history and geography lesson. Don’t worry, the modern day Oregon wine industry only goes back to the 1960’s so it won’t be…

Climate change comes in many guises: floods, drought, monsoons, polar vortexes, atmospheric rivers, wildfires. Temperatures soar or drop way above their “normal” or average ranges since records have been kept over the last 100-200 years. Prior to modern record keeping scientists relied on archeological, or literary evidence to give us clues as to how long…

As I sit in my office/dining room on a typical rainy Portland day in March, I am clearly reminded that weather has a huge impact on wine making. As everyone knows, Portland has a reputation for rain, which I can confirm in my short time here. It seems 3 out of every 4 days has…

  So what exactly is in that glass of wine?   Simple answer: water and ethanol make up approximately 98% of what’s in your glass. Let’s begin there.   The Big Picture   Ethanol is one of many types of alcohol (from a chemistry angle) which includes methanol (wood alcohol) and isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol)….

  Just tuning in? Check out Part 1 of this story here.  California Dreamin’ Although the earliest winemaking was recorded in Florida in the 1560’s and the oldest winery in the USwas established in 1839 in New York, California is the center of the US wine universe. The Golden State claims over 80% of US…

Forgive the Willamette Valley reference but I am a proud supporter! For those in the know, the valley floor of the Willamette River is full of hazelnut trees, where 99.9% of the US’s hazelnuts are grown.1 What does that have to do with wine history? Glad you asked! The #1 rule of growing grapes is…