Wine bloggers either love this facet of the Wine Bloggers Conference or hate it…I fall into the ‘love’ category – I get all jazzed up with the frenetic energy and super-focused ‘pitch’ sessions. Plus, I can always find a gem in the 50-minutes – this year was no exception.
Bloggers are presented with 10 wines from 10 wineries who have 5 minutes to share and profile their wine, winery story and any other factoids they want us to have.
Photo Credit – Donita Dyer
The results are in:
Peirano Estates – ‘The Other’ White. A blend of Chardonnay, Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc. Notes of buttered-popcorn. Ferments all grapes separately then blends together. Great value. $12.99
Kenefick Ranch – GMV Pickett Road Ranch White. A blend of 75% Grenache Blanc, 25% Marsanne and 5% Viognier. Claimed it was the ‘best food wine on the planet’ – an overstatement but damn zippy and refreshing with great minerality and lime rind. $24
Left Coast Cellars – 2015 White Pinot Noir. Made 3000 cases. From Willamette Valley, Oregon. This is a ‘blanc de noir’ style – white wine from black grapes. Completely awesome and special. Fantastic mineral core flecked with cherry and pear notes. $24
Troon Vineyard – Longue Carabine 2014 Applegate Valley, Oregon. Co-fermented white wine from Vermentino, Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne. Great texture in this wine. Skin contact, natural yeasts and MLF. No acid and no sugar added. Very freaking cool. $35
Corner 103 – Sauvignon Blanc Sonoma Country. 100% tank ferment. Nicely restrained Sauvignon Blanc. 400 cases total production. $24
Oak Ridge Winery – OZV Rosé. Blend of Zinfandel with 3% Chardonnay. Lightly pressed. An exciting combination I haven’t had before. 3% Residual sugar. Longest operated family winery in Lodi and are the largest Zinfandel producer in the world. Whoa.
Peirano Estate – Chardonnay 2014, Lodi. French and American oak usually used. Happily slurped this balanced and interesting Chardonnay. On the lighter side, which is just fine with me. I would lay this bottle down for a year. Wicked value for money. $13.99
Lucas Winery – Chardonnay 2001. Heather Pyle-Lucas, you had me at hello. The fact that you thought to bring a 15-year-old Chardonnay to our humble wine blogging conference is beyond exceptional. They fact that your Chardonnay was simply one of the highlights of my entire time in Lodi, quite simply, made me cry. Yes, crying while speed blogging – not what I had anticipated. Bright, bottled early, barrel fermented – thank you from one #Chardcore fan to another.
Harney Lane Winery – Albarîno. Cool seaside saline aromas and crisp with citrus flavours. 5000 cases made. Something to talk about. Retails $20.
Bokisch Vineyards – Albarîno 2015. Organically sourced and farmed. Three types of Albarîno grape clones within this wine. Vineyards lay on the eastern edge of the AVA. Volcanic soils. Super green fruit flavours. The first family to plant Albarîno in the area. Retails $18.
With the talented Heather Pyle-Lucas Photo Credit – Leeann Froese
A fantastic 50-minutes in my life – thank you to ALL participating wineries for presenting great wines!
Next week, ‘The Reds’.
Enjoy!
XO
C
Girls Go Grape 
I visited Troon in Carlton, Oregon on the way home and took a bottle of their Vermentino across the border. Loved the Left Coast and also the Bokisch. 😀
Indeed! So happy that we got to experience these great wines together!
Can we get any of these wines locally?
A friend brought me a bottle of Oak Ridge Old Vine Zin (said she picked it up for $11 at a store in Arizona) and I LOVE it. Would have loved to try the Rose!
A friend brought me a bottle of the Oak Ridge Old Vine Zin – said she picked it up on a whim for $11 in a store in Arizona. I LOVE it. Unfortunately we can’t get it here. Love that you got to try their Rose!
Now I know what to buy you! Xox
I didn’t get to taste any of these during the white speed tasting…but now I’m clearly going to have to hunt them down. I did taste both the Left Coast Cellars and the Troon at other points during the conference, and I was a fan of both. That Left Coast Cellars was particularly tasty!
Thank you! Wish we had been able to spend more time together… Will you be attending next year?