Winemaker Interview: Amy Wesselman of Westrey Wine Company

Amy Wesselman among the vines at Oracle Vineyard.

Name: Amy Wesselman

Winery: Westrey Wine Company

Number of years in business: 18

How would you describe your winemaking philosophy?

We focus on crafting elegant Pinot Noir wines, fruit-driven Burgundian-style Chardonnay and crisp, refreshing Pinot Gris. The wines are designed to be balanced and age-worthy, always complementing and enlivening the food with which they are served.

What wines or winemakers helped influence your philosophy?

Jacques Seysses of Domaine Dujac, Jean-Pierre de Smet of Domaine de l’Arlot, David Lett of the Eyrie Vineyards and Terry Casteel of Bethel Heights Vineyards.

How involved in grape-growing are you? Is there a particular vineyard site that wows you year after year?

We farm 22 acres on our own property at Oracle Vineyard in the Dundee Hills. Nonetheless, it is the Abbey Ridge Pinot Noir, grown by Bill and Julia Wayne next door to us that wows me year after year. They planted their vineyard in 1977, and there’s just no way to replace the complexity and depth of old vine material. Only seven acres at Oracle were planted in 1977, and we are very lucky to have those in our quiver, but most of our vineyard has been planted since we acquired the property in 2000.

How do you think your palate has evolved over the years? How do you think that’s influenced your wines?

I have always enjoyed wines that allow the fruit to show through first and foremost. Especially now that I farm myself, it is always compelling to try and capture the essence of what you have worked so hard to grow into the form [of] a bottle. One thing I will always remember and continue to apply in my winemaking is a piece of very good advice from Jacques Seysses during the year we interned in Burgundy: if Pinot Noir is not balanced when you bottle it, it will never be balanced. He was all about building structure and balance into Pinot Noir and letting the natural fruit flavor hang on that strong and balanced frame.

What kinds of food do you like to pair your wines with?

There’s nothing like a “lambsicle” (as my kids call rack of lamb) to go with Pinot Noir.

What changes are planned for coming vintages? Any new varietals, blends or propriety wines on the horizon?

I’m pretty much a stick in the mud when it comes to the Burgundian varieties and techniques. I don’t foresee us planting any Tempranillo unless my seven-year-old twins have something up their sleeves.

Is there a style of wine that you think appeals to critics that might not represent your favorite style? How do you deal with it?

For sure. It’s frighteningly common to see winemakers chasing after scores, both here and in Europe. We’re not about making big, extracted, alcoholic Pinots, though that style is what stands out in a line up at a blind tasting. That’s why we generally don’t send our wines off to the critics for scoring.

What do you drink when you are not drinking your own wine?

Other Oregon wines are fun to enjoy, but I’m personally a big Rhône hound and I love Spanish wines.

Do you collect wine? If so, what’s in your cellar?

We do have lots of wine in our “cellar”—that’s using the term loosely…it’s really just a big pile in the corner of our warehouse. There’s lots of Burgundy, Rhône, Oregon, Champagne, Spanish, Riesling and old Eyrie wines.

What do you see as some of the biggest challenges facing the wine industry ?

Well, the recession has been hard on everyone, but we’ve always tried to keep our pricing fair, and I think that has helped us. The 2010 vintage was very small, but quality is very high. I think that will help people catch up on selling through vintages.

For more on Westrey Wine Company, check out our recent video interview with Amy on YouTube.

Winemaker Interview: Matt Kinne, McKinlay Cellars (Video)

It might just be the beard, but I actually think there's something in the slow, lyrical way that McKinlay owner Matt Kinne talks--like plucking strings on a mandolin--that reminds me of bluegrass impresario Dave Grisman. I caught up with Kinne in mid-September, during the tenuous, rainy days before the 2010 harvest at his home and vineyards in the Willamette Valley, and we talked about his winemaking philosophy and tasted his soon-to-be-bottled 2009s.

Established in 1987 after two years working with the team at legendary Pinot and Chardonnay producer Hanzell, Kinne started off sourcing about half his fruit from around the Willamette Valley. These days the winery is an all-estate, Pinot-only operation using fruit from nearly 30 acres of of vines planted to jory and nekiah soils just outside the town of Newberg. Happy at home with his wife Holly, and helped by one of his two grown sons, Kinne is a reluctant businessman, more at ease with his two good-natured pitbulls in the dark cellar beneath his house than out on the road selling wine. Fortunately, we're big fans of what he does, which makes it an easy job for us. And though it's been a few months since the trip, I've finally gotten the opportunity to edit down the hour and a half of video to give you a sneak peek into the life of one of our favorite winemakers. The timing couldn't be better, either. Kinne just released McKinlay's 2009 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir ($16.99) and it's both affordable and fantastic, full of beautiful dark cherry fruit and subtle spice, with chalky minerality etched in around the edges. Enjoy the video and the wine!

Leah Greenstein

Talking Turkey: Gougères from Bethel Heights

Image courtesy of Karen Low at Citrus and Candy.

Editor's Note: Everybody celebrates Thanksgiving just a little bit differently, which is why we've been hitting up some of our winemaking friends for some of their Thanksgiving recipes and wine pairings, which we'll be featuring over the next week. This time we reached out to Mimi Dudley Casteel, the second generation at Bethel Heights Vineyard in Oregon's Eola-Amity Hills. Mimi, along with her father Ted Casteel, tends the vines that have made this winery's offerings among some of the best over the past 30+ years. Her gougères are the perfect Thanksgiving appetizer--easy to make, sophisticated and a mouthwatering match for the 2008 Bethel Heights "Estate" Chardonnay and Pinot Noir (or both).

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