The Omaha Wine & Food Gazette August 2023

The Omaha

Event Report:

The Willamette Valley Wine Festival Meet & Greet Dinner

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Burgundy vs. Pinot Noir was our joint CB and Omaha Branches event for June. We sold out our 40 spaces for the second year in a row, but this time it was held on a Wednesday, and we haven’t had much experience with Wednesdays. Au Courant no longer does parties during their regular days of Thursday through Sunday. Members are intrigued by Burgundy, which is a bit more mysterious than Pinot Noir, which has exploded in popularity in the last decade in this country.

After quaffing with choice wines from both branches and the restaurant, we sat down to a blind tasting of 4 wines. Our mission was simple: identify whether the glass contained Pinot Noir from Burgundy or the Willamette Valley in Oregon. There was a short tutorial on Burgundy before we began. All the best “climats” (named vineyards) are in a narrow strip of low hills 40 miles long and 2 miles wide called the Côte d’Or, or Golden Slope. The northern half is called the Côte de Nuits, and the southern half the Côte de Beaune, after its major city Beaune. Burgundy was once under the sea millennia ago, and as such has deposits of limestone and minerals scattered around the best sites. The Grand Cru designation is rare and expensive (about 32), as is the next level down, Premier Cru (about 640). Catholic monasteries identified these great vineyards, but after the French Revolution, all church property was confiscated and given to the peasants who worked the vineyards. With inheritance laws, the parcels got chopped up into the small properties they are today, sometimes just a few rows of vines per owner.

With the advent of global warming, which has benefitted Burgundy enormously, it is getting harder and harder to identify between Oregon Pinot Noir and Burgundy. I knew the answer, and after tasting the first one I knew a lot of people would be deceived. In the ensuing shakeout of the last person standing, only 2 people had the right answer: Jim Koesters and guest Charles Schurhammer from the IWFS Duluth Branch. Congrats to these two.

Au Courant did a great job with our gourmet cuisine, and all the wines were stellar. It was a great night for Burgundian varietals of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

A reminder. Be kind, a mark of a gentleman. Reply to event invites by using the online system to accept or decline an invite. This helps the event producer immensely. Also, respond to the survey afterwards, even if you didn’t attend the event. It helps the producers and the Board home in on what you want and enjoyed.

Cheers!

Tom Murnan

Hard work will not kill a man, but it almost scares some men to death.

Best of the Cockle Bur compiled & edited by Harry B. Otis, 3rd President 1973-1974

AUGUST 2023

Winery Visited During the Willamette Valley Wine Festival:

Gran Moraine & Zena Crown

Gran Moraine During the Willamette Valley Wine Festival, we had one day where the Society visited 3 wineries of Jackson Family Wines. My Group B cancelled the Zena Crown because we ran out of time.

Jackson Family Wines purchased the former Soléna Estate Winery building in 2012 and started another winery on the property. Gran Moraine was founded on the western edge of the Yamhill-Carlton AVA, in the foothills of the coastal mountain range, protected from the winds of the Pacific Ocean only miles away. Taking its name from the glacier movements in the last ice age, the Missoula Floods deposited glacial sediment (moraines) in the northern Willamette Valley. Located in the heart of the Yamhill-Carlton AVA in the Willamette Valley, Gran Moraine produces Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from a 190-acre estate vineyard.

The winery not only makes Pinot Noir, but also produces sparkling wine and Chardonnay. In addition to Gran Moraine wines, the wines of Zena Crown Vineyard (Eola-Amity Hills AVA) are made at Gran Moraine Winery. The wine maker is Shane Moore. In addition to constantly improving quality, he does a lot of experimentation. Experimentation in the cellar is ingrained at Gran Moraine. It’s part of the winery’s culture. No idea is off the table. Shane encourages his production team to think way out of the box. Moor feels mistakes are learning opportunities. Successes may be a future line of wines.

Zena Crown Premier Pacific Vineyards developed Zena Crown in the early 2000 Zena Crown was Jackson Family Wines first purchase in Oregon, in 2013. They used Shane Moore, the same winemaker as Gran Moraine, to bring the vineyard to life. The vineyard is located in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA. The name Eola is reminiscent of Aeolus, the god of wind. The grapes are under constant assault from the wind here. During the growing season, the wind comes through the Van Duzer Corridor, a gap in the Costal Range directly east of the vineyard, providing the cool temperature that Pinot Noir needs to ripen with full flavor. Berry size is small, and grape skins thick, and the grapes ripen slowly, usually the last in the Willamette Valley to harvest. But the long hang time provides more flavor. Soil consists of Jory (volcanic) and Nekia (basalt and tuffaceous materials), the most common soil in Eola-Amity. Nekia soil provides earthy aromas of forest floor, cracked black pepper, and oyster mushrooms. There is no winery on the property. Grapes are taken to Gran Moraine or to individual producers who contract for grapes. Elevation runs from 300 feet to 650 feet, with a crown of conifers at the top. The emphasis is on Pinot Noir, but there is diversity in the clones they use, all grafted onto American rootstock to prevent phylloxera infestation.

From the different clones and parcels, they make 4 Pinot Noir wines, named after the 4 seasons. Some of the best blocks are Slope, Conifer, Block 14 and Σ The Sum. Other wineries that source fruit from Zena Crown are: Penner Ash, Beaux Freres and Soléna.

Written by Tom Murnan, Photos by Tom Murnan Zena Crown Zena Crown