With Portland, Oregon wine country, Big Sur and 826 Valencia check off the list, we headed up to Sonoma County. Our time was limited, so I did more exploring and less tasting. We headed to the Sonoma Mountains in search of Coturri Vineyards, makers of funky, biodynamic, organic, hand-labeled, hand-corked, dry farmed wines. Like the Alloro winery, getting to Coturri required patience and a small car (since everyone else on this one-lane road seemed to be in a truck).

the entrance to Coturri:

And the Coturri vineyards:

Some Sonoma Mountain goodness:

We came down from Sonoma Mountain and went through the town of Sonoma on the way to Napa. Even within the town of Sonoma, there are vines planted on tiny plots of land. I would see vines in an empty lot next to a residential area or, my favorite, a single row of vines, not more than a couple hundred feet planted in a slash of land abutting the street. Next we headed through Napa, where the volume of vines being grown is striking. I hadn’t seen so many vines since I lived in Italy.

And some Napa craziness (so many grapes!):

Back in San Francisco, I came upon this vase just outside the DeYoung museum.

The Dore Vase, illustrating the story of winemaking (and drinking, as you can probably figure out):

First, Oregon.

Though we were bummed to leave Portland, I was really excited to have a day exploring some Oregon wine country. After a tasty lunch at Cha Cha Cha, we headed out to the highway and began the search for Alloro. The vineyard and winery were definitely a bit tucked away and turned up just as I was about to turn the car around and look for the turn that we missed. The gates in front of the small building were closed, but it was an incredible day so we stopped the car and looked around a bit. The most remarkable thing wasn’t the beautiful land or the lavender everywhere, it was the incredible quiet. Terroir may be said to be comprised mostly of microclimates, soils, sun exposure… but I can’t help but think that the quiet around these vineyards helps those grapes concentrate.

The entrance to Alloro (look at that lavender!):

Before heading all the way back down the mountain, we checked out plenty of vineyards up there. Almost none of the vines in Oregon had been harvested.

Vineyard in the Chehalem Mountains:

Next up was Adelsheim which I think I was looking forward to the most. I have always loved their Pinot Gris and wanted to taste their Pinot Blanc & Auxerrois. As we approached the winery, there was a sign warning us to beware the forklifts and bees, which was good advice… there were yellow jackets *everywhere*. Those Adelsheim vineyards are well pollinated, I must say.

some of the Adelsheim tanks:

Next we were on our way to Anne Amie, which had much more land than Alloro and a *much* bigger winery. The Alloro winery could have easily fit into the Anne Amie parking lot. Anne Amie is by no means a huge producer, but as small wineries go, it was pretty big. It seemed kind of crowded with a crowd I wasn’t too interested in tolerating, so I looked but did not taste this time.

The entrance to Anne Amie:

Some new vines being started at Anne Amie:

The Anne Amie winery/tasting room/mansion thing:

The Lamborghini parked at Anne Amie that helped me decide not to taste there (though the large SUV with the ‘I MUST’ license plate *almost* compelled me):

The final tasting was to be at Eyrie, whose founders David & Diana Lett are pioneers in growing both Pinot Noir & Pinot Gris in Oregon. We felt lost as we followed the map to the winery since it was located in an industrial area of McMinnville, Oregon, next to some railroad tracks and with no grapes in sight. The winery was the smallest of the day and was lined with wine barrels in just about every cranny. The tasting room was about the size of a ‘cozy’ New York living room and had many pictures and articles about the history of the Eyrie Vineyards, including pictures of their vineyards now and in 1966 (especially remarkable were the pictures of Diana Lett tilling the land by hand their first year. This is what constituted their honeymoon.). Although Eyrie has been around now for more than 40 years, it definitely still has the feeling of a new adventure.

Just after finishing this post, I learned that David Lett passed away on October 9th. Luckily the Oregon wine industry as a whole carries on his legacy in some way.

Barrels stored at Eyrie:

French oak:

A barrel stained through sampling:

Next up, California.

Had a chance to take a nice vacation to Portland and, you guessed it, San Francisco, with a couple side trips to wine countries and Big Sur.

More soon, with more in-depth descriptions of the wineries and vineyards…

Wayyyy back in August I welcomed a new sewing machine to the family. Internet, meet Juki, Juki, internet.

My little Singer 626 no longer has to huff and puff through four layers of Cordura or two layers of seat belt webbing. As soon as I saw a listing for this model on craigslist I pounced on it knowing how well it works for Adam at Zugster bags. If it’s good enough for Zugster, it’s good enough for me. I knew this machine was heavy duty when I picked it up for the first time… at 80 pounds it’s a serious machine.