The wines from Golden Cluster will carry the fanciful name ‘COURY’ or ‘OLMO’ or ‘THE FIRST ROW’ depending on who the source of the vines is from. ‘COURY’ is named after Charles Coury, one of Oregon’s most important and unknown wine figures. A brilliant man, who has since been vindicated in his assertion that Oregon had the potential to have world class wine growing regions. Emphasis on REGIONS. ‘OLMO’ is named after Dr. Harold Olmo (aka The Indiana Jones of Wine Grapes) one of the most important figures in the modern era of California wine. Dr. Olmo was instrumental in resurrecting the California wine industry by his tireless pursuits in the collection of plant material throughout the state and his development of “American” wine grapes. Golden Cluster sources one of the last remaining plantings of Flora vines in the USA. ‘THE FIRST ROW’ is a special wine that comes from the first row the Charles Coury planted. This row is comprised of all of the original plant material that helped to start the Coury Nursery. These six grapes were picked on the same day and co-fermented. All of our wines are made from grapes from the original Charles Coury Vineyard (now called David Hill Vineyard), planted in 1966. These are some of the oldest vines in Oregon and they represent the beginnings of Oregon’s modern wine industry or as Coury called it, “a wine renaissance”. This vineyard is also home to the rare and mysterious “Coury Clone” of Pinot Noir. We like to remind people however, that that “Coury Clone” should be referred to as “COURY CLONES” as there are more than one rare clone of grape that Mr. Coury… (clears throat) …imported. Our Flora and Savagnin Rose wines are the oldest plantings of these grapes in the USA. They are also the only single varietal bottlings of these grapes in the USA as well. These are not only rare Oregon wines, but rare American wines.
In special vintages, we made a wine from only the first row of vines that Charles Coury planted in the ground in 1966. This “First Row” was a row planted to multiple clones of 6 different grape varieties. It is also known as the “Scion Block”, because this row of vines was also used to take cuttings. Those cuttings helped establish the Coury Nursery, which sold rooted plant material to many of the foundational vineyards of the 1970’s. These vines are historic and “The First Row'“ wine is a testament to Coury’s long term, multi-faceted vision of Oregon wine. His legend lives on.
COURY, OLMO, and
THE FIRST ROW
Oregon is one of the most dynamic wine growing states in the U.S. With our winter rains and mild summers, Oregon has incredible growing conditions for ‘natural’ wine grape growing. What does that mean? Well, most of our vineyards in Oregon are ‘dry farmed’, so we rarely have a need for irrigation. Non-irrigated vines are common and almost exclusively found in most European wine growing regions. Oregon is also home to a diverse selection of soil types, microclimates, and elevations. Oregon is as diverse as France or Spain. So, why is it that when people say “Oregon Wine” they usually just mean Pinot Noir? This is part marketing success and simultaneously a huge failure for our region. DIONYSTIC was developed to be the counter point to the Pinot Noir story. In fact, our goal with this brand is to bring a greater awareness of what “Oregon Wine” truly is. I mean, when you think of French wine, do you think of one grape and one region? No, same is true for Spanish wine, Italian wine, Australian wine, etc, etc.…. Oregon wine is not so easily understood. We are not a one trick pony!
The DIONYSTIC line up of wines come from two forward thinking vineyards in the Willamette Valley. One of these important vineyards grafted onto their 30+ year old own rooted Pinot Noir vines FIFTEEN YEARS AGO! Why? It was too hot in a large part of their vineyard to grow Pinot Noir. Let me say it again. It was already too hot for Pinot Noir in this Northern Willamette Valley vineyard FIFTEEN YEARS AGO. This west facing section of the vineyard was grafted over to mostly Iberian grapes (a favorite of the vineyard owner) Tempranillo, Syrah, Grenache, Alvarinho, and Viognier can all be found in this important vineyard block. The second and arguably the most important vineyard was one of the first to be intentionally planted to Syrah and Viognier TWENTY-FOUR YEARS AGO. These are all stunning wines. Come and taste the present and future of Willamette Valley wines……..
DIONYSTIC (∆ )
This brand is centered around grapes coming from two experimental nurseries and vineyards owned by the same grower. At this time, we prefer not to disclose who and where, but we can say that one vineyard is on the Oregon side of the Columbia Gorge and one is just around the corner from David Hill Vineyard, in Forest Grove. The grower has over 200 different grape varietals between both vineyards. In some cases, these are the first ever plantings of these grapes in the USA, others are the first on the West Coast, some are just rare clones. This grower has many decades of grape growing and winemaking experience in New York state. He belongs to a network of growers and academic organizations who work together to establish the viability of these grapes in different soils, climates, and regions. I’m very honored to have been given the responsibility of making some of the first commercial wines from these rare grapes.
These wines are the beginning of another wine renaissance that Oregon is currently going through. These wines are the most exciting wines in my cellar right now. They are blasting out of the glass already. The future seems secure for Garanoir, Sagrantino, Regent, Saperavi, Fiano, Vignoles, Teran, and more……
Vinous Obscura
On Wine Hill (nOBURG, OREGON), (MILLERANDAGE)
Before Oregon enacted prohibition on January 1, 1916, Oregon had a growing and prosperous wine industry. In the northern reaches of the Willamette Valley, vineyards were planted as far back as the 1870’s. By the 1880’s, in the hills above Forest Grove there were three main vineyards and wineries. Founded by German & Swiss immigrants, they planted a wide variety of grapes both of European and American origin. These vineyards were located on what became known as “Wine Hill”. People from Portland and vicinity would take the train out to Forest Grove to buy their wines, picnic and escape to the natural beauty of the Tualatin River Valley.
On Wine Hill is a brand homage to Oregon’s pre-prohibition roots. Our label is an image, circa 1900 of one of the Rueter daughters standing in the middle of the old vine, head trained Rueter Vineyard, in front of the Rueter homestead (it’s still there, btw). This image clearly shows vines (old vines) were flourishing in Oregon in 1900. Our wine culture DID NOT start in 1961 or 1965…… We are sourcing grapes from present day vineyards that are planted on the exact same land as many of those original vineyards. The original vineyards were from the Rueter, Wirtz, David, and Koppel families. Three sights still have their original 1880’s era homesteads on them and they all once again, have vineyards planted on them. The first releases are all single vineyard wines from the Wirtz Vineyard (same name today as in the past) which was planted between 1968-1972 with plant material mostly from the Charles Coury Nursery. Planted by Patriarch Reiner Wirtz, whose parents planted the pre-prohibition vineyard, and his son David Wirtz, this vineyard is relatively unknown. David Wirtz was Charles Coury’s assistant winemaker and cellar hand from the mid- 1960’s till the late 1970’s.
The Wirtz Vineyard has a similar varietal makeup as the original Coury Vineyard with a few additions. What is important to point out is that Wirtz Vineyard is planted to mostly white grapes. Lots of “Coury Clone” Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Sylvaner, Chasselas, Muscat, Melon de Bourgogne, and Chardonnay (clone 108). There are all four Pinot Noir clones from the early 1970’s (Coury, Pommard, Wädenswil, Droit) and smaller plantings of Merlot. Lastly, we have located what we believe are 4-5 vines that are pre-prohibition. These appear to be Black Hamburg. DNA tests will confirm what grapes these are.
[UPDATE] - We have added a few new labels to this brand. Information coming soon.
Not since the creation of Ovum’s BIG SALT have we seen a wine capture the consumers attention an imagination. Made without much thought of its potential popularity, our Müller?, Müller? Müller? Müller? is an unexpected wine. Müller Thurgau is a grape that was widely planted in Oregon in the late 1960’s until the early 1980’s. It is a wine that typically garners little respect. I wanted to change that. Having done lots of research on grape parentage, Müller was created in Switzerland in the early 1880’s, right around the same time as the first grapes were planted in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. Müller is a crossing of Riesling x Madeline Royale. Knowing what I know about Madeline Royale, I knew that it had some red grape parentage, so I surmised that there must be flavor in those skins….When you do find Müller Thurgau around the Willamette Valley nearly all of them are pre-1980 plantings….aka old vines. It’s an insane opportunity. Given the age of vines, rare plant material, and history attached to most of these grapes, I had to give this “hunch” a try. The first vintage was 2017 and I’ll admit to chickening out. I pulled the wine off of the skins after 7 days and pressed it just as it was starting to ferment. I had the fermenters inside, where it was slightly warmer. I should have placed them outside in the cooler temperatures….I was able to do this during the 2018 vintage and I’m ecstatic with the results! The label is a nod to that scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, when the teacher says; “Bueller?, Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?”….we use the same font as the movie poster….packaging is A+…wine too. Tastes like passionfruit and green mangos….tastes like a tropical summer without being sweet…this wine was fermented completely dry. The wine has a slight orange tint to the wine, making for a striking presentation in the glass. Pair this with anything. 2017 vintage was a mere 90 cases, the 2018 was 225 cases, the 2019 was 350 cases, 2020 was 145 cases, and 2021 will be 220 cases.
Müller?
I remember being seduced by Cabernet Sauvignon. I assume most people in the wine business at one time or another fall victim to this mirage. I had even dreamed up a brand name and design for a label, if I ever would make my own Oregon Cabernet Sauvignon. Admittedly, I fell hard for versions coming out of California and Washington in the 2000’s. But, I really cut my teeth while working for two Frenchmen at a now defunct wine shop in Portland called Vinideus. We traveled to France multiple times a year and selected our own wines over there, had them imported into the US, and placed them on our shelves. Our store was 95% exclusive wines, 75% of that was Bordeaux.
During my time at Vinideus (2006 – 2008) I was “that guy”. In the industry “that guy” refers to those people who ONLY drink red wine. More specifically, red wine that is usually oaky (aka sweet), smooth (aka no acid), has 90+ point scores associated with it, and comes in a heavy bottle. Me and the Frenchmen would taste often and always with pâte and baguette (no joke). Me, the proud American would bring them my prized US wines to taste, I would open them, talk about them endlessly, they politely listened, we would try them, and they would immediately wince and spit. For someone who is a “that guy”, this is soul crushing. They would then proclaim “Non!” and ask me what it was. I mean, I just wasted 5 minutes of their lives talking about what it was, but their palates and limited understanding of English where in conflict. In their mind, there was no way this was Cabernet Sauvignon. They would then immediately open up a Bordeaux and pour a ½ glass for the each of us. They cleaned their palates and we could then commence the tasting of Cabernet Sauvignons. I was awestruck by the differences between actual Bordeaux and “Bordeaux Style or Blends” from the US. When we tasted Bordeaux, we were not tasting “grapes”, we were tasting “places”. These lessons are some of the most important lessons I learned early in my career. From then on, I tend to taste for places first, grapes second.
Fast forward to the Spring of 2018, when I met up with a grower in the Columbia Gorge (Oregon side) who was specializing in unique grapes and new clones. I was there to look at other grapes, but the grower insisted that we walk his Cabernet blocks. He shared with me some of the issues with Cabernet Sauvignon over the past 20 years in California and Washington and started talking about the new “old” clones that had recently been available at FPS for growers to plant. These were highly desirable old Bordeaux and old Napa clones. He showed me the differences in cluster morphology and explained that these clones were not designed for irrigation. The berries were smaller, the flavors more intense, and the grapes already had exotic aromatics. While standing there, I had a flashback. I was remembering all of the winemakers that I had met in Bordeaux, I was remembering all the emotions of those conversations and experiences. I remembered the wine brand I had developed years before. It took me less than a minute to agree to purchase his fruit. It was one of the best decisions of my career. Having tasted many Napa Cabernet’s from the 1980’s – early 1990’s and many traditional Bordeaux wines, I was hopeful that these grapes would produce something entirely new here in the Northwest. It bridges the gap between old California and old Bordeaux. It has this incredible Hot Tamales candy and a slight Hungarian smoked paprika aromatics. These grapes were all fermented and aged in 390L wooden eggs. These vessels helped to add to the texture and original flavor of this wine. It really is like drinking Napa from the 1980’s or Bordeaux from the 1990’s. This is surprisingly, like drinking Oregon from the late 2010’s…
Ordeaux
There are brands that come to me in a flash. This was one of those times. I grew up eating lots of Asian food. We lived with a Korean family for a year when I was a teenager and the mom “Amy” would cook her best versions of Korean food. There were little options for traditional Korean ingredients in rural New Hampshire in the late 1980’s. So, in our large garden she grew all that she needed to make it all from scratch. One of the most memorable foods were the jars of Kimchi that she would bury in the ground. It had just the right amount of heat, spice, and tang to keep my teenage palate interested. In High School I had a core group of Filipino and Vietnamese friends who loved to eat. I was introduced to many flavors and spices. So to say that I am familiar with Asian food is an understatement.
As I became obsessed with wine, and in particular, Syrah, this brand became obvious to me. This idea was born in and around 2009 or 2010. almost around the same time as Ordeaux. It was a brand before I ever started making wine or had any idea of how to source grapes. This was a brand without wine. It was just an idea. Having worked for and befriended a few Oregon winemakers who loved Syrah too, I figured one day, the right opportunity would reveal itself and this brand could be born.
Sure enough, it did. I was visiting the grower in the Columbia Gorge to visit and see his Syrah and Shiraz plants. There wasn’t any Shiraz planted in Oregon that I knew of and so I wanted to go and flesh that out. The Shiraz and Syrah block was on this epically steep north-east facing slope riddled with volcanic and ancient river rocks. The aspect is perfect. This wine has an elegance that one would expect from the northern Rhone. Surprisingly, this one doesn’t have any white grapes co-fermented with it. Must be the unique site, the uncommon mix of Hermitage and Shiraz clones. This was cellared in bottle for six months before release. This is a young vineyard but these wines have the complexity of old vines.
