May is Oregon Wine Month and I missed sharing these wines today for Cabernet Franc Day so I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to highlight the wines of Leah Jorgensen. I've always been a fan of Cabernet Franc from when I first began enjoying wine from my visits to the Finger Lakes in Upstate New York. I must admit I need to learn more about French wines as I’m sure they have many gems when it comes to Cabernet Franc as well. I always have enjoyed Pinot Noir from Oregon, but was pleased to receive some wines from Leah Jorgensen and to discover that Cabernet Franc is her pride and joy. She even makes a Blanc de Cabernet Franc! Yes, you heard that right, a white Cabernet Franc!
The Winery ~ Leah Jorgensen
Leah Jorgensen Jean, owner and winemaker of Leah Jorgensen Cellars, has always had agriculture and winemaking in her blood. She grew up on a small farm near Eugene, OR and has Italian heritage from her mother’s family whom has been making wine in Italy since the 1700’s. Her goal is to eventually buy back the land from the farm she grew up on, plant vines and name them after her grandparents.
Copyright of Leah Jorgensen Cellars
She began her wine career in Washington DC at a wine shop before moving on to work for a Virginian winery, Chrysalis Vineyard. She then moved on to working for a distributor before relocating to the Oregon wine scene in 2004. She studied enology for 2 years at the North West Viticulture Center in Salem and moved on to work for a number of wineries there including Erath Vineyards, St. Michelle Wine Estates, Anne Amie Vineyards and Adelsheim Vineyards to name a few.
In venturing off to produce her own wines her pride and joy is Cabernet Franc. She prefers to make these wines in the Loire style from her influence of the days of when she worked for Louis Dressner Selections. She partners and works closely with a number of farmers that are organic, LIVE certified and Salmon Safe. The grapes are all hand harvested and she sources grapes from the Willamette Valley and Southern Oregon.
The Wine
I have to say this was the first white Cabernet Franc I had ever seen and I was digging it. Leah was the first commercial producer of still Cabernet Franc back in 2011. She wanted to “do something different and turn heads” and that it does!
The 2020 Leah Jorgensen Mae’s Vineyard Blanc de Cabernet Franc is made from 100% Cabernet Franc grapes from Applegate Valley in Oregon. The wine was a glimmering light golden color with a tinge of pink. Quite aromatic with aromas of wild strawberries, stone fruit with a hint of lemon citrus. Crisp, clean and refreshing on the palate with citrus notes including blood oranges. A wine with good body with the flavors and a tingling acidity lasting through to the finish. Leah suggests pairing this wine with seafood dishes as the bright acidity in the wine pair well the dishes. ABV 13% SRP $30
What are your thoughts on Cabernet Franc and where do some of your favorite grow?
*This wine was provided as a sample, but opinions are always my own.
Next Tuesday February 17th is National Pinot Grigio Day and with the warm weather hitting New Hampshire this week I figured I’d pop open a bottle early in celebration. If you ask me where I prefer to drink Pinot Grigio from I’m always going to direct you to the northeastern wine regions of Italy. Today’s bottle I picked up at the store, a 2018 Ca’Montini Pinot Grigio Trentino DOC, is from the Trentino-Alto Adige region, but more specifically Trentino in the southern portion of the region.
The Region ~ Trentino
The capital of Trentino is Trento, which I luckily visited the last time I was in that area. It was about an hour train ride north out of Verona. A beautiful town with the picturesque Alps and Dolomites looming all around. As you can imagine this is a mountainous region with many lakes and rivers with the most important being the Adige River, which divides the valley in two and is known for being one of the longest rivers in Italy.
Copyright of Consorzio Vini del Trentino
This wine hails from the Trentino DOC that was established in 1971 and is rather encompassing throughout the region from Lake Garda to the Cembra Valley. White wine production dominates Trentino at around 74% per the Consorzio’s site including grapes like Muller Thurgau, Nosiola, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio and Traminer.
The Winery ~ Ca’Montini
I couldn’t locate too much on the Ca’Montini estate, but it is one of the brands under EnoItalia, a global producer and exporter of Italian wines. The idea of producing wines under this brand stemmed from the reknown enologist, Riccardo Cotarella. These vines were planted in 1990 and occupy 74 acres of vineyards that are managed and owned by 3 local families that hand harvest the grapes.
The Wine
The 2018 Ca’Montini Pinot Grigio Terre di Valfredda Trentino DOC is made from 100% Pinot Grigio. These grapes are harvested from a single vineyard in Ala, which consists of 3 small vineyard plots known to the locals as Valfredda or cold valley. Straw colored with aromas of mostly citrus with some pineapple and yes, wet rocks. The wine was bone dry on the palate with a crisp acidity and tart lemon flavors with a hint of green apple lingering through to the finish. Simple, but pleasing. ABV 12.5% SRP $15
There are plenty of mass marketing Pinot Grigio out there, but what are some of your favorites?
You’re in for a treat this month as our Italian Food, Wine
and Travel (#ItalianFWT) group highlights the wines of the Orvieto wine
appellation in Umbria. When I had an
opportunity last year to taste through a number of these wines for a virtual wine
tasting I knew it would be a great theme when deciding themes with the group
for 2022. Luckily, we partnered with the
Consorzio Tutela Vini Orvieto to sample a number of wines across their terroir
to share with you today.
The Area ~ Orvieto
Umbria is a region in central Italy that is just to the east
of Tuscany and is the only landlocked region throughout all of Italy.The town and wine appellation, Orvieto, is
located in the southwestern edge of Umbria bordering the region of Lazio.If you’ve never been to Umbria it’s a
must.It’s known as the green heart of
Italy due to its lush forests and hills.Within these landscapes are black truffle treasures and olive oil
groves.Folks always think to flock to
Tuscany, but with only about 1/3 of the population of Tuscany you can find much
peace among such beauty.
The Etruscans and Umbri were the first to make wines in Orvieto.The Etruscans built this hilltop town with
caves dug out underground through the tufo landscape.If you visit the area you can visit a museum
in town and get to experience these underground caves and ancient
artifacts.The Duomo located in town is
the focal point built in the 14th century of beautiful tufo and travertine
marble.
Tufo
Orvieto wines were famous throughout the Middle Ages and
Renaissance time period.I was shocked
to learn that during the 1930’s the wines of Orvieto were even priced higher
than those of Barbaresco!Unfortunately
the area experienced a 300 year of economic decline.Once the mezzadria was abolished in the 1960s,
the area experienced an influx of people from all over Italy that began to buy
land and establish wine estates.
The climate of Orvieto is continental and there are many
waterways that influence the area including Lago Corbara and Lago Bolsena on
the Lazio side.There is also the 3rd
longest river in Italy, the Tevere, that has many tributaries running off of it
including Paglia that run through the area.
Marine sedimentary clay and sand soils
Shells in the soils of Orvieto
The Orvieto DOC
The Orvieto DOC was established in 1971 and regulates the
wines of the area are made from only white wines.They are red wines and sparkling wines that
exist in Orvieto, but are not allowed to be bottled under the Orvieto DOC.The designated land is mostly within Umbria,
but a small piece crosses over into Lazio.Although, the majority of the wine is made in the historic part of
Orvieto in the Orvieto Classico area.Two
cooperatives dominate the production of the area by 70% with smaller wine
estates on the rise.
The primary grapes that make up the white wines of Orvieto
are Grechetto di Orvieto, Grechetto di Todi and Procanico.Orvieto DOC wines must contain at least 60%
of these grapes.The remaining 40% can
include some of the secondary grapes including Verdello, Drupeggio and Malvasia
along with international grapes including Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and
Vermentino.The Orvieto white wines can
vary from dry, off-dry (abboccato), late harvest (amabile and dolce) to muffa
nobile known also as noble rot (dolce).
The Wines
Unfortunately, when it comes to sharing the wines I received
I have to postpone until hopefully next week.I came down with a nasty virus Monday night that left me couch bound for
a couple days and then finished with losing my senses on Friday.Not the best situation for tasting wine. Make
sure to check back in for updates to not miss out.
Join the rest of our writers as they delve into the wines of
Orvieto with some suggested pairings.We’d
love to have you join our live Twitter chat this Saturday at 11am EST at
#ItalianFWT.Hope to see you there!
I want to send a big thank you to Enzo Barbi and Tanya
Morning Star Darling for their collaboration with this event and the wines and
information they have shared with us to share with you. For a look into the Orvieto wines from my prior tasting follow here, "What you need to know about the Wines of the Orvieto DOC" and "Meet the Producers of Orvieto".
*These wines were provided as samples, but opinions are always my own. All pictures are copyright of Tanya Morning Star Darling.
As we cross into these first few days of May it is time for our Italian Food, Wine and Travel group (#ItalianFWT), hosted by yours truly, to highlight the wines of Orvieto. Many of the writers of this group have partnered with the Consorzio Tutela Vini Orvieto to sample a number of wines from the various terroirs to share with you.
We welcome you to join us live to chat on Twitter at 11am EST with hashtag #ItalianFWT as we dig into the Orvieto DOC wine appellation, the wines and suggested pairings. We look forward to sharing our knowledge and wines with you!
Copyright of Consorzio Vino Orvieto
Here is a preview of the articles that some of our writers are preparing for this weekend to be featured by Saturday May 7th. If you would like to join in, please email me at vinotravels at hotmail dot com with your title and information.
