Yikes!

Just discovered that someone has actually linked to this blog . . . and I've not posted since January. Guess it's time to give it another whirl.

It's a little hard to stay focused with the unbelievable weather we're having this week and the good news is that it's supposed to stay through the holiday weekend. This is one of the two big weekends for wine tasting in Oregon. Virtually all of the wineries are open this weekend and we plan to take in our share.

Last weekend, we headed out to Belle Pente and found Bergstrom and Natalie's Estate open along the way. We were really impressed with the reds at Natalie's Estate. They have a brand new facility off North Valley Road at the base of Chehalem Mountain. The $15 Syrah was excellent, but we went for the cabernet from the Rosa Vineyard. Lots of great fruit in this wine and a very decent price ($32). We also liked the Merlot. If you're going to be out tasting this weekend, definitely stop at Natalie's. Bergstrom was also impressive. They are really building a reputation for producing quality pinots (and some of the pricing reflects it). I liked the reisling, but Lemelson's "lemon custard" reisling remains my favorite. Belle Pente was a pleasant surprise. They've also grown up over the years and the pinots are getting even better. We thought the Gewürztraminer was nice. The reisling was too sweet.

More postings over the weekend.