Thanksgiving Open House

Ah, Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday. Food and drink and an excuse to sit for hours with family and friends. 2011 was the latest grape harvest in my career – Pinot noir was still out hanging on the vines into the beginning of November – and there is still lots of work to be done in the winery. So I welcome even more heartily the excuse to sit and catch up and eat and laugh. The fermenting wine can wait one more day.

Please join Love & Squalor and my four winery-mates for the first tasting at our brand new winery in downtown McMinnville. We will be popping corks and slinging adjectives from 11-4pm, Friday, Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Matello, Love & Squalor, Bow & Arrow, Ribera Vineyard and Vista Hills Vineyards
Five wineries for $10
November 25, 26 and 27
925 N.E. Seventh Avenue, McMinnville
(corner of NE 7th and Alpine, across from the Saturday Market)
Phone: (503)453-9505

“Really Tasty”

91 points

love & squalor 2009 Riesling (Willamette Valley)

Biodynamically-farmed, old vine fruit from the Eola Hills vineyard is the source. The wine is forward and tangy, with a Vouvray-like sweet/sour character. It could be Chenin Blanc, only just a bit lighter, but with the same tart and tasty mix of acid and sugar, with lemony fruit and floral highlights. Really tasty.  — Paul Gregutt  

Published 10/1/2011

Link to the original web page here

The Newest Portland Urban Winery Tasting – TOMORROW!

Last minute impromptu get-together in a cavernous room that will someday house a winery. Jesse Skiles – Fausse Piste, Prop. – is opening up his new space in Industrial SE tomorrow and asked me to bring some wine. We’ll be popping some corks, eating some cheese and talking smack. Also in attendance will be the-man-named-after-a-river, Ewald Moseler, pouring the wines he likes from Teutonic Wine Co. This will be a fun time and there will be some good wines open – many made in such small quantities that this may be your only chance to put them in your mouth.

The Details
Sunday 9/18
3-8pm
537 SE Ash St. (right behind J&M Cafe ((mmmm, delicious waffles))) 97214
$10

It’s Gonna Happen!

This cool Spring and Summer has left a lot of winemakers wondering if we will ever get to harvest grapes this year. Well, of course we will. And the Pinot grapes will be red as proven out by these snaps taken on Tuesday at Bob Bailey’s Sunset View Vineyard in the Eola Hills. See?

Color Change

Red Berries, Really

Oregon’s Best Wines!

They blind-tasted over 400 wines. Four days of arduous sipping and spitting. They chose just 15 white wines and only four were Rieslings. Love & Squalor 2010 Willamette? No. 12!

We're getting some attention from award manufacturers.

I am extremely grateful to the tired palates at the Portland Monthly for their nod. I’ll buy you guys a beer.

———————————-

No.12

Love and 
Squalor

2010 RieslingWillamette Valley, $18

Matt Berson’s zesty riesling—made with organic grapes—is sweet, lush, and refreshing, offering flavors of peaches and mangoes for a balanced palate that’d be a perfect picnic sipper. Pack a backpack with a baguette, smoked salmon, Peppadew peppers, and a corkscrew, and you’re set for a wonderful meal.

Here’s the link.

Enthusiastic?

I just got word that my 2009 Riesling received a 91-point rating from the quaffers down at Wine Enthusiast Magazine. I don’t put much weight on these sorts of things, but I always am happy when someone likes the wine, and am happier still when they say so in print.

I agree with these guys – I think the ’09 is my best yet, and, of course, it is almost completely sold out. Luckily for you the smart people at the brand new Ringside Fish House are pouring it by the glass until I run out. Also, there are a few bottles on the racks at two Whole Foods stores – Hollywood and Tanasbourne. I look forward to hearing how it scores with you. If you’d prefer to go the path of less resistance, the Love & Squalor 2010 Riesling is now available and plentiful, just contact me if you need some.

Summer of Love & Squalor!

love & squalor Riesling on tap at the IPNC

Whew! What a crazy busy couple of weeks. Rolling out the new wines, Serving up kegged Riesling all weekend at IPNC’s 25th Anniversary (and my 10th year serving there), and tonight – Plate & Pitchfork with my Avignon and Brooks families. Here’s the spots that have taken delivery of the Love & Squalor and Behemoth wines this past week:

• Whole Foods Tannasbourne
• Whole Foods Hollywood
• Ringside Fish House
• Ringside Steak House East
• Ringside Steak House Burnside
• Wildwood
• Navarre
• Portland WIne Merchants
• Fred Meyer Stadium
• Vino
• Secret Society
• New Seasons Happy Valley
• New Seasons Cedar Hills
• New Seasons Raleigh Hills
• New Seasons Sellwood
• Portland Bottle Shop
• Laurelhurst Market
• Le Pigeon
• Farm
• Ned Ludd
• New Seasons Concordia
• Metrovino
• Dundee Bistro
• Tina’s
• Thistle
• Cafe Uncorked
• Grain & Gristle
• Bar Avignon
• Blackbird Wine Shop

I am so grateful for all of your support and thanks for keeping me running around.

Pinot Invasion

I am happy to say that the new Love & Squalor 2009 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir has met with a very warm reception. It is already available at a number of fine Portland restaurants (see previous post) and shops. Look for it by-the-glass at Laurelhurst Market (sorry Patty). I will get a formal mail-order release together after IPNC weekend, but let it be known that you can order at will. Pricing is the same as last year. If you want to know what some think about it, read the review below. Thanks to Shannon Fitzpatrick for making me blush with this piece she wrote for the Ponzi Wine Bar site:

 

Matt Berson stopped by the wine bar yesterday to pour his new 2009 Pinot Noir for us. Let me say I was impressed. I have been a fan of Matt’s wines since the beginning and each year his Pinot and Riesling are fantastic but I must say that this 2009 bottling is amongst my fav’s to date.

The 2009 vintage was a mighty warm one here in the beautiful Willamette Valley and I have come to anticipate richer style wines from those being offered to me. What a pleasant realization then, when Matt’s Pinot from this hot vintage showed me the same grace and elegance I have come to expect from his wines. The color and body of the wine were my first hint- light but not by any means weak. The nose follows with a faint damp earth note, pleasant fruit and just a hint of orange oil. On the palate the wine is balanced and smooth. It lays down a nice core of sweet dark-toned fruit with a lovely underpinning of acid that lifts it and provides a nice lingering finish. The wine comes from four vineyards in the Willamette Valley: Momtazi, Temperance Hill, Winter’s Hill and Johan. All four of the sites are farmed either organically or biodynamically and are a nice blend of old and young vines.

Matt is fairly hands-off in the cellar using only native yeasts and some “old skool funk music” to coax his ferments along. When the wine is finished he gently racks it clean but never fines or filters. No wonder the wine is so expressive! The best, most amazing part? While he makes less than 300 cases he sells this rare commodity at a steal of a price- just $24. Grab yours now or you’ll miss out!

 

Summer of (Oregon)Riesling

I am happy that Paul Greico’s obsession with all things Riesling has spread out from it’s New York home and has become a national epidemic. Here in Oregon, nine restaurants are participating in the Summer of Riesling by pouring three Rieslings by the glass all summer long, with many others restaurants highlighting Riesling as well.The following are signed up:

Bar Avignon, Portland – featuring Love & Squalor

Clyde Common, Portland

Gruner, Portland

June, Portland

Le Pigeon, Portland

Heathman Restaurant and Bar, Portland – featuring Love & Squalor

Metrovino, Portland

Ned Ludd, Portland – featuring Love & Squalor

Olympic Provisions, Portland

Love & Squalor Riesling is showing up at these fine spots and is additionally ON TAP! at Kir and St. Jack. This is a special one barrel 2010 cuvee that I created for these guys. When it’s gone, it’s gone.

Check out more in this recent Portland Monthly article.

Come Drink at Cedar Hills Tomorrow

I will be standing up and pouring liquids once more at the Cedar Hills New Seasons from 1-4pm tomorrow (Saturday 7/16). Come prop me up with your support.