The International Pinot Noir Celebration is going on this weekend in McMinnville. We are in Eugene, and ironically enough our granddaughter is also back in Mac. So, we decide on a road trip to southern Oregon. We have a map of the vineyards in the area, and one, called Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyard has caught our attention. In my experience there are people who make and enjoy wonderful wines, and then there are people of faith. I feel kind of alone in trying to bridge the gap between the two sometimes, so it's wonderful to see a vineyard like this openly displaying their faith, and making wonderful wines. Getting up to the vineyard is no easy task. We are following our map, we head off road and up a steep gravel road. I'm thinking in my head, "I must be the first person to ever find this place, it's so remote." We arrive a the vineyard and I realize just how wrong I've been. The primary parking lot if full. We end up parking about 300 yards from the main building. Trying to figure out how the whole process works is a challenge. We walk into a room that is packed with people and product. We need to use the facilities, so we walk around the corner into the wine making area. There are several informational displays on yield per acre and other information. There is also a white board with one of the primary principles of the winery written out complete with a reference the book of Acts the second chapter.
We make our way back into the entry room which has thinned out considerably. It turns out that this beautiful, sunny Saturday is their wine club release date. I'm glad we hung around and figured it out, because, tasting wine at this vineyard is one of the most unique wine experiences I've ever had. You are escorted by a tour guide through the wine making area, and then back into the wine cave. The tastings are done by table and come complete with a taste of food for each wine. The costs for the four wines and four foods is $10. It's a great way to do a wine tasting. Your server is referred to as a "wine educator." The wines are wonderful. We get to taste their just released Pinot Gris which we will not be able to purchase since it is only for members. The last and heaviest wine is an '08 estate grown Syrah. It is paired with bacon wrapped around a sweet fig spread. It's an incredible combination that I will try to duplicate once I'm back home.
We wind our way back out of the vineyard, get back to the road and follow our wine map to Melrose Vineyards. Their must be a ton of weddings at this winery. They have an amazing grassy area in the back of the winery that slopes gently down to a gazebo which is framed by flowing moss drifting from the branches of well established oak trees. The tasting room is packed, so we head out to the deck which overlooks the beautiful estate and affords a wonderful view of the mountains beyond. Here you can taste three wines (you pick) for free, or pay $10, get a free wine glass, and choose up to six. We're suckers for a free wine glass to we opt for the latter. We try only two white wines, and then are able to try the entire red wine selection which included a port wine. We share our tastes, so we got to try twelve wines all together. I really like the big bodied reds they make down here. They seem so appropriate to the place. Here we especially liked the much maligned Merlot. Why do people avoid this wine? It is wonderful and rich and evokes the high rolling arid hills in which it is grown.
I've traveled through this are so many times in the past, but it was always something to get through. Southern Oregon is the part of I-5 you have to put up with to visit family in California. As you run out of Willamette Valley and head into the steep hills its as though you have gone due east instead of south. The climate and scenery remind me of parts of eastern Washington. I want to come back down here. I would love to talk to the Reustle's about their wonderful wines and their love of God. The two make so much sense to me. In the entry room at Reustle they have an article about some corks that they had printed that included a passage from Proverbs about the goodness of wine. Unfortunately it was not approved by the government. Apparently the biblical passage was considered by the powers that be to be a claim to good health and was not allowed. If you have one of the wines with these corks they are collector's items.
Next time you are traveling through southern Oregon, stop and enjoy yourself a little bit. There are some wonderful wines to be enjoyed, and there is no greater sign that God loves us and wants the best for us than good wine to drink--except for grandchildren of course, they are God's greatest gift.