February 11, 2011
Exploring Oregon's 'Other' Wines by Paul Gregutt

Outside of Oregon, few consumers know that the state offers a range of varietal and blended wines every bit as interesting and diverse as Washington and California. And virtually all of them sell for prices well below those of the state's acclaimed Pinot Noirs. Oregon's reputation as the Pinot Noir state dates back to the late 1970s, when an Eyrie Pinot showed well in a prestigious competition. More critical praise followed the landmark 1983 vintage, just as many new wineries were being opened.

But there were other grapes planted in Oregon right from the start. Riesling, Pinot Gris and some hybrid grapes were in the ground in the 1960s and early 1970s. And in the past decade or so, the expansion of vineyard plantings in southern and eastern Oregon-well outside the familiar boundaries of the Willamette Valley-has allowed vintners to experiment with everything from Albariño to Zinfandel.

 

Sineann: Unearthing a century-old tradition
Sineann's Peter Rosback is perhaps the most adventurous winemaker in a state full of them. His Oregon portfolio is bursting with single-vineyard scores; he also produces wines with grapes from Washington, California and New Zealand. Rosback's earliest professional winemaking experiment remains one of his most successful.

As he tells the story, he'd stumbled across a bottle of Oregon Zinfandel from a long-gone producer, and noted that there was some great fruit lurking under the bad wine. Though Zin was not entirely unknown in Oregon, what little there was came from way down south. But this wine, he discovered, was sourced from an all-but-forgotten, century-old vineyard near Hood River called The Pines. He began making the wine in 1987, though his first commercial release came in 1994. 

The Pines is situated in the Columbia Valley AVA, which stretches across the Columbia River from Washington State down into eastern Oregon. The original vineyard dates from the late 1800s and is terraced, with marginal soils. The area, notes Rosback, has one of the greatest day and night temperature differences in the country; 50 degree swings are not uncommon. The region, as these Zins prove, is both one of the oldest, and one of the newest, to be explored in Oregon.

91pts Sineann 2008 Old Vine Zinfandel
From one of, if not the very, oldest vineyards in the Pacific Northwest. Its low-yeild, old-vine fruit matches lush scents of chocolate, plum, cherry, hints of camphor and baking spices to ripe fruit flavors of berry, cherry and plum. It's full, forward and powerful, with alcohol topping 15%.