It’s been almost four years since I started the weekly newsletter, and there have been less than a handful of times when I didn’t deliver a story. I remember a time in February of 2021 during the big ice storm when there was no time or power to tell a story. Getting to know so many people throughout the valley has been an absolute honor and a blast! I can’t wait to see where the next four years of storytelling and connecting with people take us!

Do you remember my February interview with Kate Payne Brown (YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify)? To continue her story, she is moving on from Stoller to Vinvate, a custom crush facility spearheaded by Bryan Weil, the former winemaker at Alexana. Kate will be a partner and winemaker at the facility. I am also pretty sure she is in charge of Sparkling (don’t quote me on that, but I am fairly certain).

Speaking of Sparkling, Jarod Sleet, the assistant winemaker at Roco, got a fantastic write-up at Wine Spectator.

And if that wasn’t enough Sparkling news, Owen Bargreen gave Lytle Barnett some love with his latest reviews.

Circling back around to Stoller, they are starting to offer on-site bee tours. Speaking of bees, the hives at the Anahata vineyard for Aubaine are pretty darn spectacular!

Are you looking for the best Chardy Party in town? Look no further than the Chardy Party happening on July 27th as a kickoff for IPNC. The event is at Hazelfern with big table farm, Hundred Suns, and 00 Wines. For food, oh my goodness, I couldn’t get past the buckets of fried chicken. It will be out of this world, and I hope to see you there!

This reminds me Channing Frye was at the Hazelfern pre-IPNC dinner for Chosen Family last year. Food and Wine did an excellent write-up on NBA star wine brands.

Did you know there is an updated Willamette Valley map highlighting the different soils? I might need this for Christmas!

Were you aware Oregon is the new frontier for Malbec?

Lastly, before I get into this week’s story, what are you doing on August 5th? Nothing yet, I hope. Well, you need to attend an event in Neskowin (at the coast). Some of my favorite wineries are attending (Audeant, Cho, Arabilis, de la boue, guerrilla wine co, and Lonesome Rock, only to name a few). There will also be some stellar food, and did I mention this will be at the coast during summer? I know you are probably on the fence about going, and that is ok. I am only planting the seed of the idea this week. Rest assured the weeks leading up to the event, this seed is getting watered and will grow. I promise! Check out the website for the Neskowin Farm and Feast website and purchase your tickets!

Let’s dive into the meat and potatoes this morning by looking back at the December 2022 newsletter with a snippet I posted.

I mention this because being on Steve Lutz’s email list, he sent this out earlier in the week:

You might be thinking I am going to dive into the new Lenne, but I am not. Instead, I am exploring the rabbit hole of another venture Jarez Etzel, and Eugene Labunsky are bringing online. Today we are talking about Rodeo Hills off Worden Hill Road.

In April, I got an out-of-the-blue email from Jared Etzel. He told me his family was releasing a new wine from a small property and asked if I would like to taste the wines and chat about the project. Most people will not say no to an Etzel, and of course, I followed suit.

It was a little rainy but not too chilly the day before Cinco de Mayo. I drove out to the address Jared gave me, and of course, I was a few minutes early. I drove down a little road to a tasting room that was very much still under major construction. Moving super slow, I looked for Jared, but he was nowhere to be found. At this point, I was pretty sure I had selected the wrong driveway, but looking around, I couldn’t see many other options. I called Jared’s cell for clarification, and right when his voicemail picked up, he was arriving perfectly on time!

Pulling around to the other side of the driveway, we got out to talk about the vineyard, which used to be a pear farm. All the cuttings came from Beaux Freres, but not just any cuttings. Before the vines were pruned, only the best vines were tagged as plantings for Rodeo Hills. The vineyard has an assortment of clones, but they are all thrown in together, aka a field blend.

The property itself plays an essential role in Jared’s childhood memories. His mom used to work the night shift, meaning she slept during the day. His dad’s job was to get the boys out of the house. One things he did was pile up all the boys in the slug bug and drive over the hill near Abbey Ridge vineyard. The boys loved it and thought of it as a rodeo.

We had a great conversation and dove into his consulting work a little, along with the Lenne property (still under construction), but the most exciting part I found out is Jared will be making some Sparkling for one of his clients. From what I can remember, Grant Coulter was talking with Jared and directed him to speak with Dan from Corollary. Now I don’t have proof of this, but when I spoke to Dan and Jeanne for the podcast, there was mention of a conversation of someone calling them for advice. I have a sneakin’ suspension it was Jared, which excites me to no end.

After talking in the vineyard for a while, it was time to explore the unfinished tasting room. Jared was telling me the walls are made out of rammed earth. I had never heard of this before, and research had to occur when I got home. The technique has been used for thousands of years. I could easily copy and paste info from Wikipedia, but go here to read more about it. You can see the wall here to understand what rammed earth looks like.

I like how it looks, and it is definitely different! The tasting room has windows all around to fully immerse yourself in the experience of being in the vineyard. Jared told me there would be a large table in the middle of the tasting room. He plans to bring chefs from Portland and have intimate dinners in the tasting room. He wants his first dinner to be sushi with White Burgundy and other wines to compare against Rodeo Hills.

Jared also told me A.J. McCafferty, famously known from Evening Land, will join the team, and Ron from Okta will feature them in the bar here pretty darn soon! After gawking over the unfinished tasting room, it was time to go down the hill a little to Domaine Roy and taste some wine.

When we arrived, Jared was excited the shipment of new glasses had come for the Rodeo Hills tasting room. Looking at the glasses, they looked very familiar since I have some of the same ones. They were the Wine Enthusiast Somm Universal glasses. The bowl is a little smaller than my Pinot versions, but dang, they are excellent glasses, even though that stem is so easy to break.

It’s always a treat to taste a barrel wine and glimpse what will be coming. Jared thieved 2 Domaine Roy Chardonnays, 1 Rodeo Hills 2022 Chardonnay, 5 Rodeo Hills 2022 Pinot Noir, and finished up with the 2021 Rodeo Hills Chardonnay from the bottle. All of them were fabulous! I have a couple of excuses for not talking about the wines from the barrel. First, I can't get all the details about a wine in one little sip. There is much to consider on the nose, entry, mid-palate, finish, and all the flavors. Also, the winemaker was right there, and we were talking. I was fortunate to get a glimpse of what will be, and they were nothing short of spectacular.

Jared sent me home with the 2021 Rodeo Hills Chardonnay, allowing me some personal one-on-one time to dive deeper and explore. Here are my thoughts on the 2021 Rodeo Hills Pear Vineyard Chardonnay.

As we dive into the 2021 vintage, what better way than to explore what a glass of wine looks like after a few days? Looking at the wine in the glass, the natural light golden hue gives away its young age, and with a little sniffy sniff, that youthful spirit is something we shouldn’t take for granted. Every bit of life from day 1 is still present with the classic characteristics we enjoy from Chardonnay, but not overpowering with tons of oak. This Chardonnay is aged in 500L neutral barrels, and when I say neutral, we are talking 15-year-old barrels. There is no buttery sensation and no traces of stainless on this wine. On the mid-palate and at room temperature, you can experience the true essence of this wine, letting it rest on your mid-palate where you experience a racy, wild sensation occurring on the high and lower regions of the mid-palate combined with outlandish high levels of acidity on day three. That racy and zippiness sensation lingers forever on the mid-palate. With an ABV of 12.8%, you can't go wrong!

It was beyond excellent to spend one on one time with Jared. I can’t wait to see the finished tasting room. When we talked last month, he hoped it would be ready for tastings in July. Prepare yourself to be blown away on many levels. With the level of excellence going into the plantings, the farmings, and everything else, this will be a high-end experience you will not forget. Visit their website and sign up to join the waitlist to get the insider scoop. When you visit the tasting room, tell A.J. or Jared, “A.J. sent me!”

With heartfelt gratitude,

A.J.

PS - A little reminder, starting August 5th, the newsletter will go from weekly to monthly. Be sure to grab an extra large cup of coffee on the first Saturday of every month for a little story along my wine journey filled with hidden gems to check out!