TN: Oregon Visit with Biggio Hamina, Fishing, and Family

WINE TALK
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Big shoutout to Todd Hamina! Thanks for a great time and beautiful wine.

OREGON VISIT WITH BIGGIO HAMINA, FISHING, AND FAMILY - McMinnville, Oregon (8/1/2014)

Chris and I headed to Oregon to meet up with the family and halibut fish with my brother out of Depoe Bay. Since we were driving right through the center of McMinnville on route I thought it’d be fun to make a quick stop and taste some Oregon wines. But which winery? That was the easy part, Todd from Biggio Hamina is fellow Wineberserker and cycling enthusiast so I emailed him letting him know we’d be rolling in on a Friday around lunch time. “No problem, I’ll be here” he relied. As we pulled into the winery parking lot my sister asked “how do you know this guy? Is he a friend?” and before I could respond my wife jumped in with “it’s one of his internet friends”. Yeah, that is true… I have lots of friends on Wineberserkers that I haven’t met yet!

A couple of things stand out when you walk through the front doors of Todd’s winery. It’s a casual, elegant, yet extremely comfortable tasting room which I think is important to the overall experience. Oh, there’s a commercial kitchen right in the tasting room, I’m thinking offline! And the place is clean! I’m not talking “just vacuumed” clean but sparkling clean. The tasting room, kitchen, winery, and every nook and cranny is immaculate which is a testiment to Todd’s focus on detail.

Todd has an interesting wine making philosophy, it’s basically “no fear”. He is a minimalist regarding intervention and wants the grapes and the geography to do the talking. Every vintage is a new berth and he’s not held back by previous vintages. Besides being a great winemaker and entertaining host, Todd is a genuinely nice guy.

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Quick story about these labels. Todd has a jar stuffed full of old DRC label that his father in law collected over the years and I asked if I could take a picture so he grabbed a handful and plopped them on the bar. If those labels could only talk…

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What do you want to taste?
Since we were there early and Todd was setting up he asked “what do you want to taste?” I thought about it for a second and fired back “want do you want to open?” He had an event later that evening and decided to open up some of the wines he was showing. Great! My sister thought it was cool that Todd decided to taste with us so rather than being a server and narrator he was right in the middle of things with us.

  • 2010 Biggio Hamina Cellars Melon de Bourgogne Deux Vert - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton
    Light yellow, pale color. Nose is a light pear showing and faint acid aromas. I’m liking it already. Initially a sour apple flavor and crushed seashells with a strong acid foundation. Very bright. Finish is sharp, crisp, and clean. Super wine and monster QPR. (92 pts.)
  • 2011 Biggio Hamina Cellars Melon de Bourgogne Deux Vert - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton
    Nose has some leather and melon aromas with green melon. Palate is lemon rind, fresh lemon juice, and custard. Medium plus finish. There is quite a contrast between the '10 and '11 vintages, this is much more forward in its components. (86 pts.)
  • 2010 Biggio Hamina Cellars Riesling Amity Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills
    Color is gold yet the wine is quite clear, good clarity. Nose is perfume and sweet jasmine. Really entertaining. Palate is totally dry, medium plus acidity, with a slight drying at the finish. Good balance of structure. Finish has a very lslight anise note and is long. (90 pts.)
  • 2010 Biggio Hamina Cellars Pinot Noir Deux Vert - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton
    I really like this wine. Beautiful dark candy apple color. Nose of cinnamon, red berries, and stems. It’s 40% whole cluster. Swirling around in the mouth gives off lots of spice and the fruit is ripening raspberry. A little dryness at the finish and excellent balance. Wonder how fantastic this will become with maturity? I wouldn’t know, I purchased 4 bottles and drank them all in a week. (93 pts.)
  • 2010 Biggio Hamina Cellars Pinot Noir Caroline Zenith Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills
    Deep dark garnet, much darker than the Deut Vert. 100% whole cluster. Nose shows the stem inclusion with bark and red berries. Palate has decent amount of acid and the tannins are rounded. There’s some smoked oak showing. This is a big wine than DV in every component but not overbearing by any means. There’s a lot stuffed into this bottle. (92 pts.)

Barrel samples - Blind!
I typically don’t write detailed tasting notes on barrel samples so these are my impressions from the many wines we touched on. Bonus is Todd had us taste everything blind which is a fantastic idea.

2012 Pinot Noir - tasted 3 barrels and all were excellent. 2012 seems to be a little fleshier than the 2010 and finer tannins. These three barrels will be blended into the Caroline bottling. These wines will drink well right from start.

2009 Syrah - this is AWESOME! What is a Pinot guy in Oregon doing with a 5 year old barrel of syrah sitting in the winery? Waiting for it to tell me it’s really to bottle. Todd said everybody that has tasted this wine likes it and asked him to bottle it. No go, he will sell no wine before… A treat for those fortunate to get a bottle when released.

Pinot Gris Orange wine - wow is there enormous complexity. First time with an orange wine and I enjoyed it.

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What about the fishing? The boat caught it’s limit and we all ended up with freezers full of halibut steaks. To celebrate we took a couple bottles of Biggio Hamina to dinner since they were part of the experience.

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Posted from CellarTracker

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NW Halibut is some of the finest fish in the world. Jealous!

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Glad you enjoyed your trip! It was great to meet you and your family. Thanks for the kind words.

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Visited Todd last Thursday. Awesome guy and even better wines. Had a difficult time limiting my purchases! Hope you made it to the Farmer’s Market Todd. [wink.gif]

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I sure did, and the blackberries right now are tremendous!

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Sigh. The only thing higher than my rating for your Syrah is the humidity back here in Florida. Miss that Oregon weather [cry.gif]

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Great story. Makes me want to:
a) Go back to Oregon and visit BH
b) Catch Halibut

Thanks for sharing

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Fishing (no catching) and wine just go together. Nice notes and trip.

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57 months later I will get that Syrah, which we call XVII as it’s 17% Viognier, in the bottle this Thursday. Just finished the adjustments on the bottling line and now I can get it sanitized. All Yamhill-Carlton AVA, 100% whole cluster and aged in Oregon oak it is a delicious and funny beast. I should go test it now… qc calls.

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Super post Brig. I’m with you on the reds and need to try the whites and nudge the wife in their direction. There is life beyond pinot gris. [snort.gif]

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Cool post, Brig!

Put that Syrah on Berserker Buys!

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Here’s a great story but Todd will need to correct the names because I was writing notes as he spoke with my sister. Goes something like this…

Shana: Todd, I see a bottle of wine from PRODUCER on the shelf behind the bar. Do you know him?

Todd: I knew him.

Shana: He was a good friend of mine.

Todd: Yea, he was a friend of mine too. Did you hear he passed away?

Shana: Yea, I miss him.

Todd: Good guy, he’ll be missed.

Then Todd turns around and hands my sister the bottle of wine as a gift and says “I want you to have this bottle, I have one left.”

My wife and sister thought Todd was cute before that, now he’s downright adorable according to them. [berserker.gif]

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+1 to the kudos for Todd and recs to pay him a visit. Had a great visit over Memorial Day weekend and will definitely visit when in the WV. Next time with my bike!

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Thanks. I will keep some of the XVII back for Beserkerday.

And I can include a bottle in the Berserker Buy offer if you would like one.

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brig if you’re maxed out on halibut, feel free to share with the socalers ;D

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Need to borrow your freezer, thanks bro! [berserker.gif] I’ll bring some to Berserkerfest.