2004 Pinot Noir

2005 Pinot Gris

2004 Pinot Blanc

2005 Coming Soon

2003 Pinot Noir
Estate Selection

2004 Coming Soon

CONTENTS
Letter from owner Dick Erath - "Back in Oregon"
Report from winemaker Gary Horner - "Spring At Last!"
What's Fermenting - Events and happenings at Erath Vineyards - Chef Series 2006!
The Cachet On Us - Recent awards, reviews and press
Cellar Society - Sign up for the Willamette Valley's premiere wine club
The White-Hot Shopping Cart - What's new in the tasting room and gift shop

BACK IN OREGON

Owner, Dick Erath
It's good to be back in Oregon! After enjoying a winter hibernation at our second home in Tucson, and upon returning to Dundee, I immediately found myself busy with business planning, attending industry events and getting caught up on what's going on at the winery.

I attended the Oregon Wine Industry Symposium in Eugene, from February 27-March 1. This event featured vineyard, winemaking and wine business workshops, a guest chef dinner and an industry awards ceremony. I was privileged to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, "given to a person whose work was pioneering and spans not only a personal lifetime but in this case spans the lifetime of our industry". It's an industry I am proud to have helped shape alongside my pioneering cohorts. I am grateful to my peers for this honor.

And while it's back to business as usual, I'm managing to have some fun introducing our new standard poodle, Charlie, to the Dundee Hills. Charlie has a precocious personality, a bubbling exuberance that standard poodle pups have, not to mention a little bit of a devil in him, as he's been known to nip a certain vineyard manager on the backside in an earnest attempt for play. Charlie will make his publicity debut in an upcoming book Wine Dogs USA by an Australian publisher.

I'm thrilled about our highly anticipated second season of the Chef Series: Wine Country Cooking in the Dundee Hills. We kick off the series on Thursday, May 18th with Portland's Chef Cathy Whims of Nostrana. Cathy was on-hand to help out with one of the dinners last year, and we were so fortunate to have her show up. Having been huge fans of hers ever since she was an owner and chef at Genoa, we instantly asked her to open this year's dinner series. Cathy's cooking is fresh, seasonal and fiery! We expect this year's Chef Series to be a sell-out, so please make your reservations now while seats are still available!

And, per usual, we will be open for the Memorial Day Weekend Festival - a favorite holiday event here at Erath. I'll be around, enjoying a picnic with my family and toasting to the new vintage releases. Stop by Erath's tasting room and be sure to arrive with an appetite. We will have local chefs on hand to prepare savory foods available for purchase.

Erath wines have been receiving a lot of great press and accolades lately. It's almost bittersweet, as there's always the challenge to meet the demands of the consumer market when your wines are quickly running out! We expect some new releases soon, so stay tuned to what's coming out next.

As we all are slowly stretching and coming alive again, after a long and rainy winter, it's great to get outdoors, to check out the countryside, to get active again and to visit the places that make us feel ever so grateful for spring and summer. Please be sure to make Erath Vineyards one of those destinations you love to visit, and come out and say hello! We're excited to show you what we've been up to and to share our wines with you!

Thank you for your continued support.

Cheers!


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SPRING AT LAST!

Gary Horner, Winemaker

Wow.  That was a fun winter.  At least we know the storm drains work.  With the onset of spring we can do away with another layer of clothing.  Ah, the simple things. I think one the highlights of the winter was bottling 2005 Pinot Gris in February.  There was one day we had to spread a fifty pound bag of de-icer so our forklift could transport bottled wine into the warehouse.  Why bottle in February you ask?

With our fragrant white wines like Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Riesling and Gewürztraminer we like to capture the fresh fruitiness of the vintage.  I know of one winery in the Willamette Valley that actually bottled 2005 Pinot Gris in December of 2005!  The challenge for our winery in bottling early is to get the wine "bottle ready".  We like to ferment the wine under cool conditions which can take over a month to complete.  Then we like to keep the wine in contact with the now inactive yeast for up to an additional month and one-half while occasionally stirring the tank.  This last procedure, known as extended lees contact, builds an extra layer of richness into the wine.  Once the lees contact/stirring is complete the wine needs to settle marking the beginning of the clarification process.  Remember, we have been stirring the wine up on a regular basis thereby reversing the settling process ultimately making our job harder but the wine better.  Even with settling, the wine will not achieve full clarity.  The final step to clarity involves passing the wine through a filter.  Filtering not only makes the wine clear but it filters out undesirable microorganisms assuring that the wine does not resume fermentation in the bottle. Following filtration, and several other technical fine points, we begin bottling.

Jerry Olsen, our Cellar Master, operates the bottling line with an attention to detail that is second to none.  On bottling days Jerry arrives at the winery at 6am in order to begin heat sanitizing the bottling line.  Filtration does no good if the bottling line is contaminated with microorganisms.  Heat is the most effective sanitizer.  Tony Bonofiglio and Colin Howard, our two ace cellar workers, arrive around 7am to get bottling supplies staged for the day.  An additional 7 employees, many of which also work in our vineyards, come in at 8am to perform various other bottling line functions.  I get here at 6am to check on the condition of the bottling tank and generally worry like an expectant parent. Once the bottling line is running we can bottle up to 1,200 cases per day.

As of a month ago the 2005 Pinot Gris has been released and is currently on store shelves.  The 2005 Pinot Blanc is not far behind.  Riesling and Gewürztraminer will only be available through our wine club and tasting room.  Hopefully one or both will be ready by Memorial Day weekend. 

As you may recall in the last edition of this column, I was very optimistic about the quality of the 2005 vintage.  I remain optimistic.  Both the white wines and Pinot Noirs are fabulous.  I kid you not.  Bright fresh fruit dominate both the white and red wines.  Those qualities are two of the benefits of a cool ripening period versus a hot and dry ripening period.  Hot and dry often times goes hand in hand with jammy (in the case of Pinot Noir) and alcoholic wines.  At present the Pinot Noirs have had adequate time in barrel and in micro-ox tanks to settle and allow us to better assess quality.  Presently, all of the Estate Selection and Single Vineyard Pinot Noirs are in barrel and are being racked off of their yeast lees then returned to barrel for additional barrel ageing.  Racking is a laborious undertaking.  We have many, many individual lots some as small as a single barrel with the largest lot totaling forty-six barrels.   Eventually we will begin selecting individual barrels that will ultimately comprise the Estate Selection and Single Vineyard Pinot Noirs.  Barrels that are just short of meeting the quality standards for these limited production wines will be used in our Oregon Pinot Noir.  The selection process can take a fair amount of time. We only have one opportunity to make the best wines we possibly can. If it takes longer, so be it.  Exact bottling dates for the Pinot Noirs have yet to be determined and are subject to the development of the individual wines.

Other considerations this time of year include ordering bottling supplies. Obtaining supplies can be a little tricky since many of the items are produced in Europe and take a while to cross the Atlantic.  Already this year we have experienced a delay in bottle delivery after 5 container loads of bottles, destined for our bottle supplier, crashed to the deck of the ship during an Atlantic storm.  An additional task includes planning for the 2006 harvest.  We are already trying to line up temporary harvest individuals, satisfy equipment modifications and secure enough quality fruit to fuel our growth.

Busy times for all.

Cheers!

Gary Horner, Winemaker

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WHAT’S FERMENTING
Events & Happenings at Erath Vineyards


2006 CHEF SERIES: WINE COUNTRY COOKING IN THE DUNDEE HILLS





SERIES KICK OFF - Thursday, May 18, 6:00 p.m. at the Black Walnut Inn
Featuring Portland's Celebrated Chef Cathy Whims of Nostrana

Fresh, local, wood-fired...
Celebrated Chef Cathy Whims has been spoiling Portlanders with her tantalizing, authentic Italian cuisine for years. Many Oregonians know and love her from her days as chef-owner of Genoa. Her new restaurant, Nostrana, a name that means both "homegrown" and "our place" was inspired by a trip to the Piedmont and Tuscany regions of Italy.

Cathy made her Chef Series debut last fall, graciously helping out her friend and colleague, Chef Adam Sappington of Wildwood, with his September 15th dinner up at the Black Walnut Inn. Luckily, it didn't take much convincing to get Cathy on board to open our highly anticipated second season!

Nostrana has been the recipient of some recent rave reviews. Check out what the press has to say about Nostrana:

Gourmet Magazine
Portland Monthly
Portland Tribune
Sunset Magazine

Cathy returns to the Dundee Hills this spring to take the helm of the kitchen at the Black Walnut Inn, ready to prepare fresh, local and seasonal ingredients in a rousing menu starting with passed hors d'oeuvres followed by four to five courses, all paired with Erath Vineyards' premium wines, including an occasional rare gem from Dick Erath's personal library.

Learn more about Chef Cathy Whims and Nostrana, or visit www.nostrana.com.

About the dinner:
Expect a four to five course meal created with Erath wines in mind. Restricted diets (vegetarian, gluten free, etc.) are welcome, but please let us know well in advance to give the Chef ample time to prepare an alternative menu. Wine pioneer Dick Erath will welcome guests and discuss the wines paired with each course. We have limited seating available, and seats fill up fast, so please make your reservation now to guarantee your spot.

Payment & Cancellation Policy:
Cancellations for a full refund must be made no later than one week prior to each dinner. We will have a waiting list, in the event that a cancellation occurs. Each dinner is priced at $125 per person, or attend all three dinners at the series rate of $100 per person. We accept Visa and MC credit cards.

Looking for a place to stay?
We encourage our dinner guests to stay the night in wine country. The following Inns and B&Bs offer generous accommodations in our area and are in close proximity to Erath and the Chef Series locations. Again, spaces fill up fast, so please make your lodging reservations in advance. A complimentary shuttle service will be available to and from the following participating B&B's; please let us know if you intend on taking advantage of the shuttle service.

Abbey Road Farm B&B - 503.852.6278

Avellan Inn - 503.537.9161*

Black Walnut Inn - 503.429.4114*

Dundee Manor - 503.554.1945 *

Wine Country Farm B&B - 503.864.3446

* = within a 4-5 mile drive from Erath Vineyards & Chef Series Sites

Looking for more fun?
We will offer a complimentary VIP Tasting & Tour at Erath Vineyards for interested attendees on the Friday morning at 11:00 a.m. following each dinner. Please be sure to R.S.V.P.. for the Friday Tasting & Tour when you make your dinner reservations.

Interested in making reservations for the full series?
Take advantage of attending all three dinners, each at a series rate of $100 per person. There's no better way to enjoy food and wine in the Dundee Hills!

Thursday, May 18 - Cathy Whims, Executive Chef & Owner, Nostrana - Portland

Thursday, July 27 - Dante Boccuzzi, Executive Chef, Aureole - New York

Thursday, September 14 - Mark Kiffin, Executive Chef & Owner, The Compound - Santa Fe

Making Pinot is cooking without a flame.

DUNDEE HILLS PASSPORT TOUR
A journey through the "Heart and Soil of Oregon Wine"/ April 22 - 23

Join us for our first annual Passport Tour to celebrate the exciting new Dundee Hills appellation. 

Close to 25 premium wineries and vineyards will open their doors, cellars, and vineyards on Earth Day weekend, inviting wine lovers to enjoy the benchmark wines of Oregon’s most renowned wine growing region.

Taste exceptional wines including world-class Pinot Noirs, and learn about the Dundee Hills’ unique climate, soil, geology and earth-friendly vineyard farming practices. It’s a special story of nature and man working in harmony to consistently produce many of the finest wines in the Northwest.

Visitors can pick up a Dundee Hills Passport from any participating winery or vineyard, collect a stamp from four or more tasting rooms or seminar locations over the course of the weekend (we don’t want to rush anyone!) and then be entered in a drawing to win a luxurious and relaxing weekend in the heart of our beautiful wine country. The grand prize includes lodging at the romantic Black Walnut Inn, dinner for two at a top local restaurant, and the opportunity to continue your wine country odyssey in style, courtesy of Luxury Limousines. 

Of course we’ll have other prizes too, and everyone wins a unique perspective of the Dundee Hills and the opportunity to share in the appellation experience!

For more information, please visit dundeehills.org.
Download and print the official double-sided Dundee Hills Passport.

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND IN WINE COUNTRY / May 27 - 29

This is the Willamette Valley's biggest weekend of the year! Come by and taste all of our newest releases, available for the first time only in our tasting room. The $5 per person tasting fee includes an etched Erath wine glass. Taste our premium wines for an additional $5.00. Food will be available for purchase.

 

ARTIST SERIES
Erath proudly presents a series of artists showcasing and selling their wares in our tasting room. Come out and meet the artists, enjoy and contemplate fine art, all the while tasting our beautifully crafted wines. The winter and spring schedule will be posted online - stay tuned.

Fused Glass By Kari Fahrenkopf - 12/10/05

Upcoming Artists: April 8 - Kari Fahrenkopf, Fused Glass April 29 - Tom DeJardin, Painting May 6 - Kari Fahrenkopf, Fused Glass June 24 - Al Turpen, Jewelry

TASTINGS IN THE TASTING ROOM

April 15		The Garlic Lady will be in our tasting room with a tasting of various seasoned olives and vegetables.
April 22		Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut will hand roll truffles in our tasting room on the Saturday of the Dundee Hills Passport Tour. Pinot + Chocolate = Heaven!

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