Methven Family Vineyards - 2006 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley

One of the perks...perhaps the only perk...to where I live is that I can drive for about 60 seconds and be in the middle of wine country...basically my backyard is wine country...I just have to look beyond a few rooftops.  

Last spring My Lover and I were out on a Sunday afternoon frolicking our way through the wine country when we stumbled upon Methven Family Vineyards.  What a pleasant surprise!  The tasting room is gorgeous with a large floor to ceiling wooden bar and a beautifully sanded & lacquered wood counter...it felt like my kind of place.

We tasted the wines and enjoyed each of them for their own distinct offerings, bought a few bottles and bid the winery goodbye.  As I walked out the door I took in the beautiful scenery before me and vowed it would only be 'goodbye for now', I was smitten.

This past weekend I returned to this vineyard knowing its beautiful scenery, quiet atmosphere and delightful wines would be the perfect pairing to a girls afternoon out.  And it was...

2006 Pinot Noir - Willamette Valley

From the Winery:

This wine was crafted from new estate vines and older vines from Elton Vineyards.  Wonderfully complex aromas of root beer, pine pitch, and vanilla vaporize out of the glass.  The mouth-feel is velvety and supple, with flavors of currant jam and cassis.  White-pepper and alcohol add a thrilling finish to the wine, making this a powerful, full bodied food wine.

Carol's Thoughts:

Yep, they got that one right! 

I thoroughly enjoyed this bottle of wine.  The flavor lingers in your mouth long after it is in your tummy, making you think...Mmmmm...Heaven!  

What is even better...every single wine I have tasted has been remarkable in its own right.  There wasn't one I disliked.

If you are lucky enough to live in my neck of the woods, this is a must visit winery.  You will not be disappointed.  If you don't live with Pinot Noir country in your backyard...you can order off their website and bring a little heaven to your home.

My Kind of Perfect Day

Yesterday I went to Methven Vineyards with my longtime friends Erin, Elissa & Tracy.  It was the perfect day.  The scenery was beautiful, the wine was delectable and the company was, as always, thoroughly enjoyable, laughable, quirky and just plain perfectly fun!

30+ years of Friendship!

Carol, Elissa, Tracy & Erin

We get together for each of our birthdays to celebrate...I am #3 in the lineup to turn 37...thank you to the two who come before me and prepare the path...you make it look so good I don't mind getting older!

So for my birthday we went wine tasting...it suits me...it soothes me...it makes me smile...it turns my teeth purple...  

My Lover and I had been to Methven Family Vineyards once before.  I fell in love with the wine, the patio and the view immediately...so when we were deciding where we would to celebrate ME, I suggested this little winery.  

We thoroughly enjoyed the wine...which I will review for you all very soon!

We Laughed!

We Made Memories to talk about when we are 'older'.

Elissa dared me to ask them to play Yukon music...

I accepted...

They obliged...

It was actually really great music for an afternoon of friends, wine & scenery...

Fun Fact: Elissa Lover plays the bass on this CD...

I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day!  Thank you my dear friends for making me feel so special, loved & relaxed!  If friends are our soul mates, then you are mine!  I love you all!

Note: Thank you to Erin for the these photos...will you please take all my photos for me? 

Coelho Winery

Last fall My Lover and I decided to spend some time wine tasting.  Basically, our backyard is wine country so we set off with a map and began discovering wineries we had been referred to or just happened to pass by.  It was on this day that we happened stop by Coelho Winery's tasting room. 

As we entered their tasting room we immediately felt comfortable.  Wood surrounded us everywhere and we are partial to wood.  It felt cozy on a cold day.  We were greeted by the sweetest lady, Teresa - love her!  Since red wines are my favorite we decided on the 'red flight'.  There are three things I destinctly remember about this day -

1. All their wines were EXCELLENT - this is not an exaggeration.  They are not only Excellent, they were Superior.  You must go to this winery - YOU MUST!
2. They replaced my old favorite winery - which is a hard thing to do since I got married at that winery.
3. I died and went to heaven when I tried their Petite Sirah! (thus the cheating on cab)

We immediately decided to become club members and have been back to visit them at least a handful of times since.  This past weekend My Lover was not able to go with me to 'pick up' our wine so I took my friend Erin with me.  She liked their wine too!  See how happy the wine makes us?

This is the wine tasting room

Photo obtained from Coelho Winery website.
It is a better pic than I have on my camera.
Isn't it beautiful?

For this 'pick up' we had 2008 Marechal Foch and the 2008 Paciencia Estate Pinot Noir.  We are very lucky, very lucky indeed! 

Go...Go to this winery and enjoy...you deserve it!

Coelho Winery

Wine Tasting - Do You Like the Wine or Not?

I live in wine country and enjoy taking a Saturday or Sunday afternoon to go wine tasting. I enjoy the feeling of how life seems to slow down, the scenery is beautiful and of course the tasting of the wine feels like a vacation.

Now, I have heard some people describe wine as stuffy or pretentious - It is true that there are some people out there that take themselves and wine entirely too seriously - don't let them bother you...they're acting like assholes and they have to go home with themselves, you don't! 

Some people are intimidated by the whole wine tasting process - Don't Be!  Wine tasting is a personal journey, a personal preference and should be entirely your own experience. 

Yes, there are ways to hold your glass, swirl your wine, smell your wine, drink your wine, dump your wine, cleanse your pallet etc... So if this information is important to you, I'll share what I know:

• Hold your wine glass by the stem - this will ensure you don't heat the wine with your hands
• Swirl your wine - this has something to do with aerating your wine and the legs. I am sure there is more to this step, but this is what you get from me.
• Smell your wine - stick your nose in your glass and take a big whiff...do you like what you smell??? 
• Drink your wine - take a sip, let it set on your tongue, swallow it, do you like the wine? 
• Dump your wine - this can be done to ensure you don't get inebriated or because you don't like the wine or whatever reason you choose
• Cleanse your pallet - if you want to eat something between wines go ahead

Carol's Wine Tasting

• I do hold my wine glass by the stem - it is a habit.  Don't really care if others do the same or not.
• I swirl my wine for the fun of it - so far in my wine journey I don't care about the legs.
• It makes me happy to smell my wine so I do.  Somtimes all I smell is the wine and nothing else...however sometimes it talks to me and I smell other things. 
• I definitely drink my wine!  We have established I like the flowery description on the back of the bottle, but I don't always taste what they are describing.  I have detected coffee, tar, tobacco, earth, freshly cooked raspberry jam, and chocolate - but not all the time - I usually just taste the wine...and I either like it or I don't.
• I don't dump my wine - I don't want to be wasteful (exception: if I really don't like the wine I have dumped, but this is a rarity).
• If I feel like all the wines are tasting the same, I'll eat something if the winery offers.

Basically, it all comes down to this - Do You Like the Wine Or Not?  How you get to that point is up to you.