Left Seattle about 8:00a and headed for Oregon. Stopped in Portland on the way to pick up some wine I had ordered from Evesham Wood. They were closed for the weekend but Chris was kind enough to let us stop by his place so we could pick them up. Stopped by the Mod Pizza in Tigard for lunch as they have gluten free options for my son and he loves to pick the pizza toppings. Our first stop was St. Innocent south of Salem but we were very late for our appointment as the black Friday shoppers mobbed the Woodburn Outlet Mall causing a huge back up on I-5. I would rather just shop online than fight that madness but to each his own.
No problem getting to St. Innocent late. Most of the other guests were also late to their tasting. Bill gave us great service as always. He was encouraging my wife to work in a tasting room when she retires and says working there is much more fun that his corporate job back in Dallas before he “retired”. I wouldn’t mind getting the industry discounts… Tasted the the following wines:
2018 Freedom Hill Pinot Blanc
2018 Freedom Hill Chardonnay
2017 Momtazi Pinot Noir
2017 Freedom Hill Pinot Noir
2017 Temperance Hill Pinot Noir
The Chardonnay was my favorite. Very rich and complex. Great fruit and excellent balance. They didn’t use any new oak in this. The pinots were all excellent. I always have a hard time picking my favorite Pinot from St. Innocent but when pressed I think I would pick the Momtazi. Chatted with Vicki-Anne for a long time and said hi to Mark.
Our next stop was to visit Seth at Morgen Long. Always a great experience. Seth has a laser like focus on making the best Chardonnay he can. I said I have seen many posters on Wine Berserkers speak highly of his wines. He gave our own Brian Stotter some kudos saying his praise of Morgen Long has really moved some bottles. Another young couple from Seattle joined us for some barrel tastings of the 2020 vintage that Seth will bottle early next year. Seth said he had to change things up due to smoke problems from that vintage. He is using much more new oak than I am used to seeing but his wines don’t come across as over-oaked at all. He explained that he uses a lighter toast. I think many of his wines will turn out fine in spite of the smoke. I liked the Seven Springs and the Durand. Thanks Seth for hosting us.
If you want joke around with him (and Seth needs some humor) tell him you want to try his 2020 Loubejac … He wasn’t too happy with it. I respect him for admitting sometimes things just don’t work out.
Tasted the the following wines:![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}