'06 Merlot Review from Wine Press Northwest

This just in: a review of "Excellent!" from Wine Press Northwest (spring 2010 issue)for our 2006 Merlot, Fortmiller Vineyard. Full review follows:

Liz and Scott Ratcliff run their winery and tasting lounge in Bend, Ore., and bring in grapes from the warm Rogue Valley to the southwest. This Merlot comes from Fortmiller, a vineyard farmed by Don and Traute Moore, considered by many to be the finest growers in the Rogue. The wine opens with aromas of cranberries, Chelan cherries, red currants and sweet herbs, followed by pleasing flavors of ripe red plums, cherries and chocolate on the finish. It's a lush wine with delicious length.

Check out the full spring issues of Wine Press Northwest at http://www.winepressnw.com/spring10/

Live Music in February

Gloomy February will be a whole lot more fun this year. We have lots of live music set up to lift you out of your Seasonal Affective Disorder blues!

Friday February 5 from 6-9 pm: The Quons! our offical House Band plays for you on this First Friday, while new photography from the amazing Mike Putnam graces our walls.

Friday, February 19 starting at 7 pm: Mike Potter. Mike is great friends with The Quons so you know he's gotta be super cool.

Saturday, February 20 starting at 7 pm: Deb Yager and Bo Reynolds. Austin, TX transplants will wow you with their authentic Americana sound.

How to Enjoy the Tasting Lounge

I heard a gal on the street the other day sniff and say that we were “just a tasting room” – not quite sure what she meant by that, but I am sure that she has probably never been inside our place. And clearly, we are doing a poor job communicating who we are and what we do. So, here are some suggestions on how to take advantage of what we work so hard to offer.

Try Some Wine Made by Bendites!

Volcano Vineyards is an Oregon winery. That’s right – we make our own wine. In our Tasting Lounge, we serve our wines by the taste, flight, glass or bottle. A taste is about 1.5 ounces. A flight is a taste of each of our wines. We also sell our wines “to go” by the bottle or case.

We are not a multi-national company, we are not retired millionaires. We are two former waiters who moved to Bend in 2001. We make a mere 1000 cases of wine per year. “Small” wineries make 50,000. Gallo spills more wine in a week than we make in a year (yes, I am kidding, but you get the idea)

Try Our Bend-Produced Magmita Sangria

Don’t like red wine? We produce our own line of Magmita Sangrias (Magmita being a play on “magma”). Flavors are seasonal, such as peach, kiwi-melon-pineapple, and orange-mango, and Scott is working on some winter flavors right now, playing with cranberry, pomegranate, cherry, ginger and apple.

Prove to Your California Friends that Oregon Wines Rock!

Our Volcano Vineyards wines compete head to head with wines from California, as well as the rest of the world. And we consistently end up with Gold and Double Gold Medals. That means entire judging panels all think our wines are exceptional. We are pre-qualified for you to show-off!

Coif a Pint of Local Beer

We have a kegerator and offer beers made right here in Bend, like Silver Moon’s delectable Amber. Cold, refreshing and delicious. While we do make wine, we are big beer fans. As the saying goes, it takes a lot of beer to make a little wine.

Enjoy a Glass of White Wine or Bubbly

In the mood for something lighter or festive? We always have chilled white wines and sparkling wines available by the taste, glass or bottle. And remember – no restaurant mark-up here. You can enjoy your bottle right here in our cozy space for retail prices!

Have a Less Expensive, Super-Premium-Quality Glass of Wine Before Going Out to Dinner

If you ordered a glass of our wine in a restaurant, you would pay at least 50% more, if not 100% more than we charge here in the Tasting Lounge. No evil conspiracy going on, it is simply how restaurants have to structure their pricing. We have a much lower overhead in our Tasting Lounge space, and as the producer, don’t have a middle-man we are dealing with. So, in our Tasting Lounge, your dollars can support a high quality, artisan produced Oregon wine, and you enjoy the fruits of our labors (Sorry about the pun. Couldn’t resist.)

Quiet Girls Night Out

Meeting up with the girls? You need a least an hour to catch up on the latest news, right? Why not spend it in our intimate upstairs space? Save the hustle and bustle of a loud restaurant or rockin’ club for later in the evening.

Date Night!

The OLCC said we can no longer allow kiddos in the Tasting Lounge, so you are guaranteed a wine-filled, yet whiney-free evening (unless Scott had too much coffee, in which case I would say grab that bottle and head upstairs). And again, you can split a bottle, have a beer, sangria or glasses of your favorite Volcano wines.

Book Clubs, Meetings, Networking Groups, Wine Clubs, Showers, Poker Night, Small Parties

Your small group can reserve the upstairs space Sunday through Thursday evenings for your exclusive use. No room charge, no minimum, no service fee. All you have to do is call to ensure availability. 541-617-1102.

Larger Private Parties

Want the whole place to yourself? We have a very economical private party package set up. Call us for more info: 541-617-1102 or email: info@VolcanoVineyards.com

Hear Some Live Music with No Cover Charge

Several times each month we feature live music from some of Bend’s finest musicians. The Tasting Lounge space has amazing acoustics, and the cozy, intimate spot is incredibly relaxing.

All this, and in a few weeks, we’ll have cheap eats as well!

Just a few more things to finish on the ol’ bureaucratic check list and we’ll have small plates available (everything priced $5 and less). Onion tarts, brie and ham sandwiches on fresh baguettes, homemade soups, artisan cheeses. Deliciousness!

Should We Get a TV?

Scott and I have been tossing around the idea of getting a smallish flat screen in the Tasting Lounge. We would only have it on for big stuff, like tonight’s Oregon-Oregon State game (and I don’t care who wins, as long as they can beat Ohio State in the Rose Bowl!). But it has been difficult for Scott to work Saturdays this fall with my calling him from home screaming about some play Penn State just made. What do you think?

Moving to Minnesota... the Street, Silly, Not the State

Finally, finally moving the Tasting Lounge to 126 NW Minnesota Ave between Wall and Bond, Downtown Bend, right next to Clutch, across from Toomies. Very exciting, we are psyched. But, the next few weeks we will be in a state of flux, with weird hours, two locations, and Scott and I schlepping lots of things across Downtown.

So, I am formally asking for everyone to be patient with us during this time. We are just two people and are trying to get this move done as seamlessly as possible. We have to move all the stuff, plus our OLCC licenses need to be switched and we are getting everything squared away with the Department of Agriculture so we can have a small menu of food (and it will be simple, French bistro deliciousness, and we will always strive to have a few vegetarian items available). Tentative open hours are as follows:

Sundays, Mondays and Tuesday will be ‘by appointment only’ until our “Grand Opening.”

Saturday, September 19: noon to close at the Brooks Street space. This day is my and Scott’s 10th wedding anniversary, so if it is slow, we reserve the right to close up early, although not before 6 or so. I think we’ve earned it, right?

Wednesday and Thursday, September 23 and 24: 2 to 8 at the Brooks Street spaceFriday and Saturday, September 25 and 26: in the new Minnesota Ave space. It is Oktoberfest, so stop by and check the new place out. We will most likely NOT have food yet, except our beloved oyster crackers. Yummy!

Wednesday and Thursday, September 30 and October 1: 2 to 8 at the Brooks Street space

Friday and Saturday, October 2 and 3: in the Minnesota Ave space. Oct 2 is Art Hop – we are hoping to have music, but our two go-to music artists are out of town that weekend – if you know anyone interested in playing, let us know. October 3 is the first day of Fall Fest Downtown – pop on by and check us out – again, probably no hot food yet.

We should be in the Minnesota space from this point on, although we will be closed the weekend (from Thursday on) of October 15. The next week, we’ll do our official opening so stay tuned for more info on that.

Thanks to you all for your interest and support!

Syrah: Sexy and Seductive? Or Sybil?

Last year I had a self proclaimed wine snob in our Volcano Vineyards Tasting Lounge who snorted when I told him our 2004 Syrah was a “cool climate” Syrah. He dismissed me as “spinning” the marketing on our wine. He was obviously an idiot, as that wine won a double gold medal at the Wine Press Northwest Platinum Judging. His idea of Syrah was the big, fat, flabby high alcohol fruit-bomb wine typically coming out of Walla Walla, parts of California and Australia (where they call is Shiraz – yes, same grape). So, not only was he a blow-hard who really wasn’t quite the wine connoisseur he fancied himself to be, but his palate has yet to evolve enough to appreciate elegant, refined Syrahs.

Settle down, I am only kidding - he is perfectly fine preferring one style of Syrah over another, but I do wish he would realize that it is a stylistic preference (and often dictated by climate – I don’t think we could ever do a high-alcohol Syrah from Lakeside Vineyard – it just doesn’t get that hot there).

I realize that it is very hip these days to be in love with syrah from Walla Walla. Especially here in Bend, it seems to have a cult-like following. And with good reason. I have complete admiration for the Walla Walla wineries, in fact, I am downright jealous of what they have been able to do over the last ten years: a cohesive, united marketing effort coupled with self policing has elevated the region to world class status. Mark Retz from Zerba Cellars will tell you that they absolutely have a marketplace advantage with Walla Walla on their label.

Scott made our Volcano Vineyards 2006 Fortmiller Syrah in a “Walla Walla” style – very fruity, higher alcohol than we usually have, longer aging in oak. That is what people expect when they order a Walla Walla syrah: a big, bold, fruity explosion of luscious, almost inky wine. It’s a style that has its place: for example, when you are sitting in front of the fire having wine for dinner. If you are planning, however, to have wine WITH dinner, a more subtle syrah – and yes, it is sometimes referred to as a “cool-climate” Syrah - would probably be your best choice.

I hereby confess to being uncool. I prefer my Syrahs refined, elegant, well balanced and generally lower in alcohol. A personal choice, a matter of taste, a stylistic preference.

The big, bold, high alcohol wines are perfect to have on their own since once you’ve tasted them, it is difficult to taste anything else – your palate is blown. When in a restaurant, I find that if I am spending more than $10 on food, I would really like to be able to taste what I am eating.

So the big bold fruit bomb wines knock your socks off on first sip, then… kablam! Your mouth goes nearly numb. And these fruit bombs can be any varietal from any region – it is a winemaker choice to let the fruit hang until the sugars (which convert to alcohol during fermentation) hit high numbers. From a business perspective, it makes perfect sense. After all, the fruit bombs are the big sellers these days, the consumers seem to prefer them. The glossy wine mags, despite their editorial musings on the flaws of high alcohol wines, consistently award them scores in the 90s.

There are higher alcohol wines out there that retain some acidity and have decent structure – and keeping that acidic backbone is the key. I recently had a Pinot Noir with a 16% alcohol – very unusual for a Pinot Noir - and it was lovely, a perfect complement to duck. But frankly, if I am going to polish off a bottle of wine, I’d rather not be hung over the next day. (And no, for anyone getting his judgmental hackles in a twist, I do not consume a bottle of wine a night on a regular basis. By myself, that is. Scott and I do usually split a bottle a night, but after all, we are professionals. Sheesh.)

For me, wine is food, and its purpose is to be part of a memorable meal. When made in a well-balanced, well-structured style, Syrah is one of the most food friendly of the red wines, paring with the traditional “red” foods, like steak, mushrooms and game, but it also perfectly complements salty and bitter foods, such as olive tapenade, roasted vegetables, and lighter fare accented with lemons or capers. It is a great option for vegetarian fare.

So save that big crazy fruit bomb wine for an afternoon when you aren’t going anywhere and aren’t having dinner for a few hours. You’ll find it pairs perfectly with mid afternoons and soul searching conversations.

Originally published on: http://bendnights.com/blog/category/from-the-vine/