Is there a special bottle in your cellar that you’ve been waiting until the perfect occasion to open?  The wait is over:  On Saturday, February 25, our friends at Winderlea Vineyard & Winery are hosting their annual Open That Bottle Night – the perfect opportunity to crack open that bottle and share it with friends and fellow wine enthusiasts!  Held at the Portland Art Museum, this fun evening features a special museum tour, reception, and sit-down dinner paired with Winderlea wines and, of course, your special bottle!

Date:  Saturday, February 25, 2012

Location:  Portland Art Museum

Time:  Special museum tour at 5:30, reception at 7:00, and sit-down dinner at 7:45

Tickets:  $120 per person; call (503) 554-5900 or e-mail donna@winderlea.com to reserve your seat

What to Bring:  Your special bottle of wine!

We’re finishing the countdown to ¡Salud! and getting to know our final Vintners Circle winery a bit more before tomorrow’s event!

Today’s featured winemaker – Steven Westby of Witness Tree Vineyard

1)  How did you select your ¡Salud! Cuvée and what makes it stand out from the other wines in your barrels?

Our ¡Salud! Cuvée is a blend from my favorite barrels from each of the “sweet spots” in our vineyard. Read the rest of this entry »

We’re continuing the countdown to ¡Salud! by getting to know our Vintners Circle wineries a bit more each day leading up to this year’s event on November 11 and 12.

Today’s featured winery owners/operators – Bill Sweat and Donna Morris of Winderlea Vineyard & Winery

1)  How did you select your ¡Salud! Cuvée and what makes it stand out from the other wines in your barrels?

The most exciting part of our blending trials is when we pick the elements that make up our ¡Salud! Cuvée.  At just a few cases, it really is the most unique wine in our cellar.  Our goal is to craft a wine that typifies our vineyard and winemaking style – but even more so.  We are tasting all our wines as they develop to begin to get a mental picture of how the different barrels might go together.  Sometimes there is one barrel that we know is our ¡Salud! Cuvée.  Other times, there may be several barrels that we blend to create it.  Each year is different. Read the rest of this entry »

We’re continuing the countdown to ¡Salud! by getting to know our Vintners Circle winemakers a bit more each day leading up to this year’s event on November 11 and 12.

Today’s featured winemaker – Don Crank of Willamette Valley Vineyards

1)  How did you select your ¡Salud! Cuvée and what makes it stand out from the other wines in your barrels?

We usually make a blend of our three estate vineyards to arrive at the Salud Cuvée, but the 2010 vintage quality from just our main Estate property was amazing.  All barrels used were from the south slope of the Estate site, plated by our founder, Jim Bernau in 1983.  We thought this site was showing classic red fruit and smoky mushroom with a hint of Christmas spice.  The structural frame of the wine is such that it will retain its lively fruit for a long time to come.  All in all, a great example of what the Estate vineyard can do. Read the rest of this entry »

We’re continuing the countdown to ¡Salud! by getting to know our Vintners Circle winemakers a bit more each day leading up to this year’s event on November 11 and 12.

Today’s featured winemaker – Melissa Burr of Stoller Vineyards

1)  How did you select your ¡Salud! Cuvée and what makes it stand out from the other wines in your barrels?

It was blended from the top sections of our vineyard from the 2010 harvest. Read the rest of this entry »