Yamhill-Carlton AVA Open House - Wine Tasting 2012

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending to Yamhill-Carlton AVA Open House 2012 at Anne Amie Vineyards.  First off, what does that mean?  It is a wine tasting event for the wine producers of grapes grown in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA (most notably Pinot Noir).  There were 34 wineries pouring (I didn't get to all of them, but I did my best...) and nosh from 6 local restaurants and caterers.  Second, what is the Yamhill-Carlton AVA?  An AVA (or American Viticultural Area) is a growing region for wine grapes.  Depending on geology, micro climates, and elevation wines from one vineyard can be very different from the next, even if they are close in proximity.  These are the distinctions, upon which the AVAs are based.  So with a larger growing region (in this case the northern Willamette Valley) there can be several smaller, distinctive regions, and these are called AVAs (in this case the Yamhill-Carlton).

The Yamhill-Carlton AVA is home to some of the most respected wineries and winemakers in the Willamette Valley.  Names like Ken Wright, Lynn Penner-Ashe, and Dick Shae are legendary in the region, and have all had a hand in making Oregon wines famous, and produce some of the best Pinot Noir in the world.  And trust me they all showed very well, but the pleasant surprise this day was how well the smaller, unheralded and, in some cases, brand spanking new wineries showed right next to the big boys.  I had a chance to try some labels I'd never heard of, and I was quite pleased by the whole experience.

I want to make this point, I am not a professional wine taster (one can always dream though, right...?).  I am just a guy who enjoys drinking it, and I am lucky enough to have grown up in one of the finest wine growing regions in the world.  I also want to make this point, as I have said in previous posts, everyones palate is different, so just because I liked something doesn't mean you will and vice versa.  But I don't mind telling you about my experience, nor giving you my opinion.  Take it for what it is worth, and above all drink what you like and don't let others tell you what you should be tasting.  That being said, here is what I tasted...

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