This past week I celebrated another trip around the sun, and every year, I look forward to it because, for some strange reason, the sun seems to pop its head up around this time every year. I am currently sitting in the car during ballet practice with the sunroof open, getting a few sun rays on my bald head, and debating about taking my hoodie off. It’s 60+ degrees outside, and I love it! Bring on the bike-riding weather!

Before I get too far into the newsletter this week, I would like to update you with a different link for Nick’s NFT project for Bored Grapes.

Did you know James Suckling bought a vineyard in New Zealand?

Do you remember me telling you about a new wine bar called Corazon in Corvallis? Here’s a little backstory with the wine bar and CHO Wines.

Tony Rynders from Tendril got a nice shoutout in Wine Business Monthly under the column Pushing The Envelope: Oregon Still White Wines From Red Grapes Find a Unique Niche.

If you are not ready for Valentine's, for shame on you! Don’t worry. Here are some ideas for you.

Let’s go on a small Sparkling / Champagne rabbit hole! Louis Roederer is selling NFTs. A small glimpse into a facility similar to Radiant in Lodi. Finally, two articles from Northwest Wine Report on Sparkling Part 1 and Part 2.

There is no way I can let you go this week without mentioning the oldest winery in the McMinnville AVA celebrating a 40th Anniversary.

It is a podcast week, so I will only ramble a little because there is a podcast to listen to! I am incredibly excited about this week’s episode for several reasons. First, today’s interview is with Hans Van Dale, the winemaker who took over the reins from Lynn Penner-Ash at Dusky Goose. His story and background are fascinating. More to come on that in a minute.

The sponsor is the second reason I am excited about this week’s episode. Before you get too far into thinking, “Oh great, another podcast with sponsors. I don’t want to listen to another podcast with commercials.” I want you to know I will do my level best not to make these sound like commercials. I want sponsor reads to provide insight and tell a story. The other rule surrounding sponsors is, I have to like the people and the product.

With all that being said, this week’s sponsor is Lytle-Barnett. If you are unaware, Lytle-Barnett focuses only on producing vintage Oregon Sparkling. One of the people behind the label is Andy Lytle. The other half of Lytle-Barnett is Antony Beck, known for his involvement with Graham Beck Sparkling from South Africa. If nothing else, you need to listen to the first few minutes of the podcast to learn how Andy and Antony teamed up over ten years ago to form Lytle-Barnett!

Also, if you are looking for a stellar bottle of Sparkling for Valentine's, you have to take advantage of the promo code WEINNOTES on Lytle-Barnett’s website to get 20% off your order.

Getting back to this week’s podcast episode. As I already mentioned, I got the opportunity to sit down with Hans Van Dale from Dusky Goose. This was a special interview because Dusky holds a unique place in my heart.

Right before the pandemic, I was tagged in a post about Dusky Goose, which started my awareness of the winery. Not long after that, I was at Tavern on Kruse, and there was a sales rep for Dusky Goose bringing in the wines for the staff to taste. I struck up a conversation because that’s what you do while sitting at the bar. Come to find out, the sales rep was Meghan, and that night was the first time I tasted the Pinots from Dusky Goose. I got Meghan’s card, and we emailed back and forth a couple of times. She also told me about a wine dinner at Five Spice in March 2020.

In February 2020, for my birthday, I visited the tasting room where Pamela was working. Her storytelling made me fall head over hills. I went home with several bottles during that visit. Well, as you can predict, the Five Spice dinner never happened.

One of the projects I did over the pandemic was to build a cellar. In the wall above the door is an empty Dusky Goose bottle with a note on it.

Back in November of last year, 2022, Dusky Goose was at Salud, and you wouldn’t believe who was there, Meghan. It had been two years since we had seen one another, and she remembered who I was. It was terrific, and then to top it off, the new winemaker, Hans, was there as well. So I got to catch up with Meghan and speak with Hans for the first time.

In case you don’t know, Lynn Penner-Ash made the wine for Dusky Goose, and it was announced in the summer of 2021 Hans would take over winemaking duties for the winery. Let me tell you, there is a great backstory with Hans, his wife, and Lynn Penner-Ash. You have to listen to the podcast to get those details, sorry!

After the interview, I had the chance to catch up with Tancis, who is now also working at Dusky Goose. I first met her at Alexana. I adore catching up with people to hear about new chapters in their life.

A little behind the scenes for you about this episode. First, if you watch the YouTube video, you will notice only one camera angle instead of the typical three. This is because, as I was setting up, I messed up one of the tripod holders, which meant I was down to two cameras. Not a problem! I repositioned the camera on Hans to make it look like it was more of a front angle. Everything worked great! When I got home, though, I tried to crop the angle, so my bald head wasn’t so prominent, but it wasn’t happening.

Here are all of the links for this week’s episode! I hope you enjoy and any like, share, or subscriber love would be greatly appreciated!

• ​YouTube​
• ​Apple Podcasts​
• ​Spotify​

I also want to call out the bottle of wine Hans brought, and I spaced on bringing it up on camera. After the interview, he shared with me a taste of the 2021 Rambeaux Chardonnay. It was gorgeous, and if you haven’t visited Dusky Goose or it’s been a while, make a reservation today and tell them, “A.J. sent me!”

With Gratitude,

A.J.