The Art of Sparkling Wine Production at Domaine Willamette in Oregon

Laurie Forster (00:01.474)

Welcome to the latest episode of The Sipping Point. I'm Laurie Forster, the wine coach. I'm your host, and I'm excited today because in a little bit, we're gonna bring in the dream team from Domain Willamette to talk all about their amazing sparkling wines made in Dundee area of the Willamette Valley in Oregon and find out all about their story. Jim Bernau, the founder, will be with us.

 

Terry Culton, the wine making director and Suzanne Schultz, their industry relations manager. So I will bring them in in just a little bit, but since we're gonna be tasting all things bubbly, I thought we'd start the sipping point with a couple of tips around sparkling wine. And the first thing we're gonna do is actually open a bottle of sparkling wine. If you're listening, I'll walk you through it, but also know you can go to YouTube.

 

or even my TikTok channel and Instagram to see clips from this as well. So I have a bottle of bubbly here. What is the very first thing we do when we open? Because there are right and wrong ways of doing this and you can put your eye out if you do the wrong way. First thing you want to do is remove the foil at the top of the bottle. Sometimes there's a little differing color on the foil that gives you the lead to take it off. In this case, the whole thing came off. Okay.

 

That's fine. Otherwise, you're just removing the top portion. Other times there's a little strip that you can use to go around the bottle and take off that top foil cap. Now that you've done that, you want to look to the metal cage, that metal piece that's on the top of the bottle and find the round circle, flip it down, and then you're going to turn it two, three, four, five, six turns exactly to fully loosen

 

that metal, what we call cage, the metal cage. Now I see a lot of you just taking that metal cage off and hanging out there with your bottle and your cork exposed. That's where the real danger comes in. The minute you loosen that cage, you need to keep your finger on this bottle at every turn. Now what I'm gonna do in a fancy restaurant, we might have a serviette or a napkin, but what you wanna do is get a good handle on it. That's why you leave the cage on there to give you more leverage.

 

Laurie Forster (02:23.466)

And what you want to do is twist the bottle, not the cork. So if you think you can see I'm twisting the bottle and then when it gets close, I'm just kind of rocking that cork and deciding when I want it to come out. So I'm pressing down a little bit and then rocking it out. And I think you heard that little sigh that came out, not that loud, crazy pop that we all seem to love here in America, but the way we're taught or the way it was taught to me, and this is a slightly off color.

 

is that when you're opening it, should make no more sound than the sigh of a contented woman. A little misogynistic, but you get my idea. It's not supposed to make an explosion. Just a little, okay. Now that we have that done, what do we do? I know some people think right from the bottle, doing that, but I wanna talk glassware. So first I'm gonna put a little of this bubbly in a traditional flute.

 

This has been for many years what we all associate serving sparkling wine in. Then I'm going to put a little bit in another glass, which is the Riedel Extreme Champagne and Rosé glass. Okay. And then I'm going to put a little in just a plain old white wine glass. Now, Laurie, why? Why all the glasses? Why are we doing this? Well,

 

There is a new theory in the world of sparkling wines and champagne that while flutes are fabulous and they do help the bubbly stay cold and the bubbles preserved and continuing to form from the bottom of the glass, that a glass with a wider bowl like my Xtreme or in the case of the white wine glass are gonna give you more.

 

surface area with which to allow the aromas and flavors, which if you remember from a previous episode, that smelling part is 80 % of it. So these broader bowls give you more ability to actually smell what's going on in the glass. Flute, great for the bubbles. Broader bowl, great for the aromas and flavors. So play around a little bit with that and just experiment and see how much more you might get out of the wine.

 

Laurie Forster (04:40.962)

Don't do too broad of a bowl wine glass, but something a little bit broader than a flute. The old coupe style, know, the Marie Antoinette style that cocktails are served in. They're fabulous for cocktails, but because it's such a broad bowl and opening there tends to go flat very, very quickly. So I don't necessarily recommend those. Now the one other thing I wanted to show you outside of opening the bottle and some of the glassware,

 

Again, this is my preferred, the Riedel Extreme Champagne and Rosé is my preferred glass these days. But now that I have this open, I'm probably not gonna finish it today. I'm gonna have a little now with you guys, but I'm gonna save it for another day. So how do I make sure that it stays bubbly? If I just put it in the fridge, just like this, it's gonna go flat. If I try to use a regular bottle stopper like I do for my regular wines, it's gonna pop right out because of the pressure.

 

and the carbonation in the bottle. So what do you do? Champagne saver to the rescue. I have a couple of different types here, but you get the idea if you just Google it online. This part goes down into the opening of the bottle. You press down on the champagne saver and you click those wings, if you will, under the lip of the sparkling wine bottle. Now you can put this in your fridge and as long as you're not opening and closing it a million times,

 

it's gonna stay bubbly for days. So those are just a couple of the champagne tips and tricks that I thought you might be interested in, but let's get to the main course. Let's bring in Jim Bernau, who I met many years ago, I think about 2006, when he was making the rounds around Willamette Valley Vineyards, his main vineyard that he started in the early 80s. He grew up in Oregon. It is one of the

 

native Oregonians that has started a winery. A lot of people came from California. His dad actually when he was younger represented one of the California winemakers that came to Oregon to start a winery. And that's when Jim kind of got interested, went to law school, but then decided that wine was going to be his thing. He's super impressive, so dedicated to the entire wine region of Oregon and just a really fun guy. I'm super excited to bring him in.

 

Laurie Forster (07:04.14)

as well as Terry Culton, his director of wine maker and vineyards. And Terry has an illustrious experience dating back to his times at Calera and with his mentor from Wild Horse Vineyards, Kenneth Volk. And so I'm excited to have him join us. And then to round it out, we have Suzanne Schultz, a lot of fun, super knowledgeable. She's on the marketing arm there and she'll be joining us. We are gonna actually talk about Domaine Willamette, which is Jim's newer winery dedicated all to sparkling wines located in Dundee, Oregon. So let's go ahead and bring them in.

Laurie Forster (00:01.513)

I'm so excited to welcome to the sipping point all my friends out in Salem at Willamette Valley Vineyards. I think that's where you're oriented today. We're to be talking all about Domaine Willamette, your sparkling wine house. But I see Jim, Terry and Suzanne, and I thought maybe starting with you, Jim, you could just briefly tell what your role is there at the wineries and then Terry and Suzanne. So everyone can keep it straight.

 

Suzanne Shultz (00:31.95)

Laurie, I'm the founder and chief executive officer here at the winery, which for many, many years meant chief cook and bottle washer. And of course, now I'm privileged to have the help of many other colleagues and work alongside them as best I can.

 

Laurie Forster (00:51.331)

Awesome. Terry, I said I don't think we physically have met yet, but I'm so excited to be on here with you. Tell us a little bit about your role at the winery.

 

Suzanne Shultz (01:01.644)

Yeah, I'm the director of winemaking and vineyards. I was actually the cellar master here back in the 90s. And then I left to go down to work at Calera with Josh Jensen on the Central Coast of California, became a winemaker. And a few years ago, Jim called me up and said, don't you come back up and be our director of winemaking.

 

I always wanted to come back up to Oregon, know, 20 years goes by in a flash and so I've been back and it's been a great journey. Now Laurie, just to make sure everybody knows...

 

Laurie Forster (01:36.124)

Yep.

 

Suzanne Shultz (01:36.482)

I called Terry Colton to get his help solving a major wine puzzle. And it was in his offer of help and him stopping on his journey up to Oregon to help me is what gave me the opportunity to ask the next question. And that was, Terry, would you like to stay? Yes.

 

Laurie Forster (01:42.682)

Laurie Forster (01:56.497)

Will you have this rose? It's like the bachelor. I love it. Well, Jim, you're always great at attracting amazing talent. So I know you can be very persuasive there. So I'm sure Terry didn't have a choice. Suzanne.

 

Suzanne Shultz (02:14.606)

Laurie, so nice to see you. My name is Suzanne Schultz and I'm the industry relations manager here at the winery. So I work closely with Terry and with Jim, actually with our wines and communicating with people like yourself and wine writers and things all across the country, the world even, to.

 

Get our wines out there. Now, Laurie, another deeper story here in that Suzanne is a returning professional to our winery. She worked here and left and continued, I think, in Arizona as a wine professional and then came back to us. another returning.

 

Laurie Forster (03:00.722)

Yes.

 

That's a good sign. You're not scaring them away. They're coming back. So I love that, Suzanne. Well, I'm so glad that three of you joined me. I really wanted to focus on the Domaine Willamette, your sparkling wine house. I got a chance to visit when I was out with a group of ladies in June. It was a fabulous visit and I thought my listeners would want to know all about it. Sparkling wine being one of the hottest categories going out there right now and doesn't seem to be stopping any time.

 

And so maybe we could start with you, Jim. When did you get this vision to start and add on a sparkling wine house? I know you've made sparkling over the years, but to have a winery dedicated to just that, how did that come about?

 

Suzanne Shultz (03:47.842)

Well, Laurie, it was back in 1978 that I really focused on how was I going to enter the Oregon wine industry. And that's when I was at graduate school at Atkinson. And that's where I met Betty O'Brien, for example, who wanted to plant grapes as well.

 

and at Elton Vineyards. The idea started there and it was that's when the industry was just really in a very early stages of development. The reason why I chose the name Willamette Valley Vineyards is because it just seemed logical to me because there was only a handful of winemakers here in the valley at that time, a number of them using their own last names and I thought now I'd rather name it after the valley.

 

Later, of course, that became an American viticultural area, so our name has been grandfathered into the law.

 

as a result of that. So that's where the name came from. And so when we decided to and commit to making a building a facility that was just focused on sparkling wine, we used our brand name Willamette and used Gimé Willamette to distinguish it from our still winery here in the Salem Hills. So that's how it all that's how it kind of all unfolded.

 

Laurie Forster (05:05.615)

I love that. Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting thirsty. And since we have three of your sparkling wines to sample and let everyone know about, Terry, I thought we'd start with the Blanc de Blanc. And since you are the, you know, head of winemaking there, maybe we could start with that. You could tell me a little bit about your thoughts on the Blanc de Blanc.

 

Suzanne Shultz (05:17.41)

Perfect.

 

Laurie Forster (05:29.027)

and obviously a white from whites, meaning it's 100 % Chardonnay, I would assume, given the style, and then anything that's special about the way you guys craft your blanc de blanc.

 

Suzanne Shultz (05:41.518)

Yeah, definitely. Well, this is the 21, I believe. The 20 Blanc de Blanc, The brew was the different one there. And it's 100 % Chardonnay, like you said. This had some barrel ferment.

 

So neutral French oak in there also, but it was predominantly stainless with a little bit of neutral French oak at the time. We pick really early, it's usually the first fruit off comes in, nice low bricks, like 18, 19 bricks, really high acid, TA of usually around 10, 11.

 

and three, you're hoping to break three on the pH, basically, and that's, you you bring it in. It's bright and pretty austere, but you go through the secondary fermentation that really brings out that creaminess and spending two years, basically, entourage.

 

Laurie Forster (06:32.477)

He

 

Suzanne Shultz (06:45.826)

really helps develop the character from the leaves in the bottle. that's part of what makes these wines beautiful. They're all done in the traditional method. It's very painstaking and takes a long time, but we get beautiful results in the bottle.

 

Laurie Forster (07:04.519)

Yeah, I love the crisp acidity. is more that elegant, sort of more delicate style that you get with the Blanc de Blanc and the apple and sort of that stone fruit notes, but that creaminess on the palette.

 

It's, know, for me, what gives you that champagne, we can't call it champagne because it's not from Champagne, France, but it is made exactly like champagne, and you get that quality that you can't get from a Prosecco or other types of sparkling wine. So I think it's really, really elegant. What would this, Suzanne, what would this typically retail for? Can people find it in the stores or do they have to order it direct from you?

 

Suzanne Shultz (07:44.792)

Well, the Blanc de Blanc L'Oreal is pretty special. This wine is reserved for our wine club members and our owners. So you get to share in it. I know. So we send it to you. So this one is reserved, a little bit more special. It's pretty low quantities produced. I'm trying to think about how many.

 

Laurie Forster (07:52.509)

Okay. I was gonna say I'm an owner, all disclosure.

 

Laurie Forster (08:05.411)

Okay, yeah, and what is the quantities produced now at Domain Willamette overall? What would be the overall quantities cases produced at this time?

 

Suzanne Shultz (08:17.71)

In 22, we have close to a thousand cases, so there might be more available going forward, because we've grown the program a little bit. And then the same with the brew, we up that a little bit also. generally, total production is roughly around 5,000 cases, including the brew.

 

Laurie Forster (08:34.352)

Okay.

 

Suzanne Shultz (08:42.71)

the Blanc de Blanc. We also do a Blanc de Noir starting in 22. And so between all those, it's just over 5 to 6,000 cases. So it's still real small, artisan. Everything's handcrafted. Pretty much, you know, we're handling all aspects of it and storing it both at Domaine Willamette in the alt cove, also in the traditional tirage bins here at the facility.

 

Laurie Forster (08:48.893)

right?

 

Suzanne Shultz (09:12.606)

find one of these bottles though, Laurie, there's only 260 cases made of the Blanc Blanc. It's a very, very special wine.

 

Laurie Forster (09:20.139)

wow. It is. It's very delicious. And so I guess you'll have to either be an owner or join the club to get access to this. let's go ahead. And one of the things that I found really exciting, really all over Oregon, I feel like there is such great focus on.

 

sustainability and biodynamics. I know that Domaine Willamette is certified biodynamic farming and production. so whoever wants to jump in, I'm just curious, know, that I know that takes a lot. It's a lot more than just saying we don't do chemicals and pesticides. There's a whole process that maybe some might call it a religion to what goes into being biodynamic. What, you know, what made you want to focus

 

and how has the journey been getting to, I believe you're Demeter certified, correct?

 

Suzanne Shultz (10:14.594)

Yeah, we are both in the vineyard and...also so we can actually make true biodynamic wines here. It's a vigorous process. Biodynamic farming looks at the whole, it's slightly distal, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. And so it looks like the whole vineyard and it's about the vineyard and not things coming in from outside. we try to develop the biodiversity from within.

 

Laurie Forster (10:19.771)

Okay.

 

Suzanne Shultz (10:48.378)

in the vineyard. we get the cow manure and bury the horns in the fall.

 

dig them up in the spring and we make a water concoction with it and we spray it actually on the ground because you want that to go into the earth to you don't spray it on the vine just spray it on the earth around the vines and that helps produce biodiversity in that and then we'll take those same horns and we'll grind up the quartz and we'll take the silica powder and put a little water in we'll pack the horns again we'll put those back in that we'll dig up

 

Laurie Forster (11:05.213)

Mmm.

 

Suzanne Shultz (11:27.555)

later in the summer and we'll spray those actually on the vine and that helps with the photosynthesis. So it's a whole farming technique that works off the lunar calendar and it goes back to, I always joke it's a cross between organic farming and the farmer's almanac and a little bit of religion and all thrown together.

 

Laurie Forster (11:34.353)

Hey

 

Laurie Forster (11:52.41)

Okay.

 

Suzanne Shultz (11:54.484)

And you know, I was always somewhat skeptical because, you know, I'm always a little bit skeptical on things that require all the, you know, the...

 

religious aspect of it. but at the same time, it's a, there's something different in the vineyard. When you pick up the soil and you smell that soil, that's soil special. You know, that it's really working and we bring sheep in that and they, you know, they eat the weeds and leave their droppings behind that help fertilize the vines. you know, we don't, we can't, we don't spray anything on the vines to kill weeds or anything like that. So we have to have

 

Laurie Forster (12:21.927)

Mm-hmm.

 

Laurie Forster (12:31.93)

Hey

 

Suzanne Shultz (12:39.552)

you know, sheep help us, we hand hoe, our guys are out there cutting back the berry bushes sometimes, and so it costs more to do it, but I think in the end, all that effort in the vineyard shows in the wine. know, Laurie, you can think of us as naturopathic farmers. I said you can think of us as naturopathic farmers.

 

Laurie Forster (12:52.869)

I love that. And who knew we'd be talking about horns and manure? What Tim?

 

Laurie Forster (13:01.871)

I like that, I know. And I think people are very curious about organic and biodynamic and all of these things. So I think it's helpful to always talk to the winemakers and the owners about it so people understand a little bit more. Can a person tell by looking at your bottle that you have this certification and what are they looking for so they know, okay, this isn't approved.

 

biodynamic wine.

 

Suzanne Shultz (13:34.198)

Yeah, well we were only, we've been farming this way for years, for about four or five years now. We got certified last year just before harvest, so starting with the 23 vintage, sorry, we're on 24 now, so give me a sec. We just got a bunch of grapes in last night, so it's been a long night for us.

 

Laurie Forster (13:41.521)

Okay.

 

Laurie Forster (13:51.29)

Okay.

 

Laurie Forster (13:58.264)

Stay.

 

Suzanne Shultz (14:00.302)

So starting with the 23 vintage, can write made from biodynamic grapes. Then we got the winery certified also. And so for 24, we'll have, we have one lot that will be fully biodynamic wine all the way through. Last year I made all the wine in that method, even though.

 

Laurie Forster (14:07.325)

Okay.

 

Suzanne Shultz (14:23.182)

We won't be certified for those, but it's all native yeast fermentation on all of the Bruneau estate wines. So that's really a fun process. You don't add any yeast. It's just the indigenous yeast that were in the vineyard or in the winery that ferment naturally. And you just sort of throw holy water on it and hope it works. Dance in the moonlight, whatever nomination you want to do, it's fine.

 

But as long as the grapes go dry, we're happy campers.

 

Laurie Forster (14:56.581)

And the Domain Little Lamot, officially in the Dundee Hills, and the Brno Estate Vineyards that are on the property are those, only vineyards being used for these three bubblies that we're tasting today.

 

Suzanne Shultz (15:00.483)

Yes.

 

Suzanne Shultz (15:11.214)

For the biodynamic one, yes, but back, they were a blend of our estate vineyards back in previous years.

 

Laurie Forster (15:13.904)

Okay.

 

Laurie Forster (15:21.455)

Okay, great. Now I know the second sparkling wine, and it sounds like maybe a little bit more production than we had with our Blanc de Blanc, is the Brew, which is a blend of both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay 6040, I believe, Chardonnay Pinot Noir. So we've got with the addition of the Pinot Noir, some more power, some more intensity on the nose.

 

Tell me a little bit about this and it seems like maybe this is the one if people are gonna order online or find that it would be more available, correct?

 

Suzanne Shultz (15:57.804)

Yes, exactly. And you know the case of production on this one? Yes, this was, well, it's 24 barrels are made. About 500 for the 20 vintage. So yeah, the Brutes, I personally love Brute. I like the combination of the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir together in the blend.

 

And we've even played with going into 23, we put a tiny bit of Pinot Blanc in there, which is another natural grape that you can use, they use in champagne actually. So it's really fun to have that diversity in there and give you different characters and just really develop a unique blend. So it's produced in the same way as two years, Entourage again.

 

Laurie Forster (16:29.789)

Ooh.

 

Suzanne Shultz (16:51.534)

And Jim has given his blessing that it's like going the entire two years, because you can go 15 months, but we prefer to go two years. And I think you get a nicer, you get better bubbles and you get more time on the leaves and really get the breakdown of the yeast cells and that sort of give a creaminess to the mid-palate of the wine.

 

Laurie Forster (17:18.265)

Absolutely, and I feel like...

 

Each of these, well, the Blanc de Blanc, I could see so well with seafood, with oysters. That's certainly a big thing. I'm here in Maryland, Terry, in case you didn't know. So we're all about our seafood here. But that has such a nice, elegant minerality to it. This, with a little bit more power, we can kind of step up to something a little bit bigger food-wise, which I love, with the addition of that pinot noir. What, Jim, would be your favorite thing to enjoy with your sparkles?

 

feeling brute.

 

Suzanne Shultz (17:52.62)

My wife.

 

Laurie Forster (17:55.323)

Not my wife. I love that. Jan, Jan gets the gold star. I love it. And any anything that you like to cook or she likes to cook that you would break out a bottle of this brute with.

 

Suzanne Shultz (17:57.462)

Good answer.

 

Suzanne Shultz (18:02.414)

you

 

Suzanne Shultz (18:11.926)

say crab, right? But we could use your kind of crab too, but our crab over here on the coast. Yeah. But either I think would work beautifully. I don't mind blue crab at all, I'll go either way.

 

Laurie Forster (18:14.759)

Crab, yes.

 

Laurie Forster (18:19.081)

the Dungeness versus the blue crab, okay. Perfect. I love that.

 

Laurie Forster (18:29.545)

There you go. Perfect. Well, you're in the middle, so Terry's gonna, yeah, he's gonna be with me. All right, perfect. This is wonderful, and price point, Suzanne, remind me on the brute.

 

Suzanne Shultz (18:39.95)

It's around 79, usually regional.

 

Laurie Forster (18:43.761)

Wonderful, really beautiful and.

 

Now that we have Thanksgiving on the horizon, the holidays, New Year's, this is the perfect time to start thinking about, you know, what sparkling wine are you going to add into your dinner table or your celebrations? And I love the idea that, you know, we're not just limited to French champagne. If you want great world-class sparkling wine, we can get it from Oregon and California and even New Mexico. I'm a huge Gruet fan. I don't know if you guys are Gruet fans, but I'm just so excited that my

 

Suzanne Shultz (19:14.082)

Yeah.

 

Laurie Forster (19:16.223)

listeners can find great sparkling wine right here in the US so we can support our home wineries.

 

All right, we talked about biodynamic, but the other thing I know that Jim you've been involved with and I know are on all of the sparkling wines we're tasting today are both the live certified and the salmon safe certified programs. Jim, I think you were kind of involved in getting those off the ground. What should consumers expect if they see that on a bottle? What does that mean to them?

 

Suzanne Shultz (19:51.278)

Well, a live certified wine must meet very strict certification standards that are independently audited and verified. And so all of our records, our farming activities are studied to make sure that the consumer is getting the right thing, that this is a true representation of the conduct of the grower.

 

in making, in growing and making this wine. And so the live system was based on the, it was the first actually agricultural certification system for sustainability in the United States designed after the International Organization for Biological Control.

 

Geneva, Switzerland. And I had the honor of serving with my founding industry colleagues in forming this organization. And now it's actually one of the largest certified programs in viticulture in terms of the penetration and the number of participants as a percentage of the industry in the country.

 

So it's people can consumers can choose this wine knowing that great care has been taken to make sure that there's no externalities. There's no pesticides or herbicides that are ending up in the groundwater and into our other into our food chain.

 

Laurie Forster (21:18.737)

Gotcha. And Salmon Safe, similar but just different group.

 

Suzanne Shultz (21:23.202)

Well, the Pacific Rivers Council has a program called Sam and Say.

 

And the Pacific Rivers Council said they would apply their salmon safe designation to live certified vineyards. that, I mean, really, if we catch them, they're really not safe from us. But the point is that the messaging is that our seafood and our wildlife and our salmon are safe from contamination from commercial agricultural practices.

 

Laurie Forster (21:45.351)

Yeah.

 

Suzanne Shultz (21:57.104)

That's what Sanlis-Ape means.

 

Laurie Forster (21:59.389)

Gotcha. Okay. Love that. I often tell the story when I came out to Pinot Camp, which I think was my very first time out in Oregon, was my first time I had ever had salmon with Pinot Noir. I know that's probably not that crazy for you guys, but it was pretty crazy for me because I had never had that experience. So you guys have some amazing salmon.

 

Suzanne Shultz (22:23.246)

Laurie, it's the perfect pairing for Pinot Noir in particular, grown in the North Willamette. And that's really, that's one of the reasons why we're really excited that you're doing this program on sparkling wine from the North Willamette today. Because it's still.

 

Laurie Forster (22:32.061)

Mmm.

 

Suzanne Shultz (22:42.402)

very little knowledge is really available to consumers about what is going on here. People don't know that Bollinger, which is a sparkling wine producer out of Champagne, which is older than our country, has purchased a winery here in Oregon, a famous founding winery, Ponzi, and planted their flag. There are other French Champagne producers that have planted their flag in the North Boulanget. And the reason for that,

 

Laurie Forster (23:01.868)

Suzanne Shultz (23:09.678)

is that there are very specific soil and climatic conditions that allow the development of aroma and flavor in these thin-steamed grape varieties to develop at low levels of brightness, 17 and a half to 18 and a half bricks, which is normally what you'd regard as too immature right to harvest.

 

That is when we harvest this. So at very low sugar levels, our climate in soils ripen these grapes to give these wines extraordinary aroma and flavor.

 

Laurie Forster (23:46.526)

I totally agree. And speaking of that and Pinot Noir, the third sparkling wine that we have in our trio here is the Brut Rosé. And I think it's 100 % Pinot Noir. You guys can correct me if there is a little Chardonnay in there, but I believe it's all Pinot Noir. Or what's the blend here?

 

Suzanne Shultz (24:11.598)

We generally do it 100 % Pino since I've been doing it anyway. There's a little over 600 cases to be.

 

Laurie Forster (24:14.971)

Okay.

 

Laurie Forster (24:20.89)

And here, know, with that focus on Pinot Noir, I get a lot of red fruit. You get a lot more melon notes versus the apple citrus notes we were getting in some of the previous sparkling wines. This is the gorgeous salmon color. Anybody jump in and tell me the inspiration on this. I think it's beautiful.

 

Suzanne Shultz (24:45.358)

Well, it's got, what I love too is that even though it's got the beautiful bubbles, it's got a little bit more weight and just, it just sort of rounds your whole palette and it's got that fruit profile. Again, 100 % peanut and that really comes out on it. And when we do the desage on it, we'll often.

 

Laurie Forster (24:52.391)

Yes.

 

Suzanne Shultz (25:07.022)

use our estate rosé as the dosage on it which is a really fun little thing just to give it a hint you know keep the color just right and that's the fun tweaking at the very end that little tiny bit you add at the end that that's where we all get to geek out and be mad scientists so but yeah and all that was trying to give that full palette

 

Laurie Forster (25:15.772)

Yeah.

 

Laurie Forster (25:23.655)

day.

 

Laurie Forster (25:26.938)

I

 

Suzanne Shultz (25:30.604)

flavor and that richness for a rose. So when you're out there on the deck at Willamette on a beautiful summer day, looking at it at the cascades, having a glass of this, it's perfect for the setting and everything. know, Laurie, we're in the month of

 

Laurie Forster (25:43.29)

it

 

yes, totally. Go ahead.

 

Suzanne Shultz (25:52.19)

In a couple of days, we're going to have the Hunter's Moon. There's only three super moons, and we're going to have the largest super moon two days from now. And that's one of reasons why Terry is picking like crazy today and took a moment out to come and speak to you. But this is come over October. This is the wine industry's response to the neo-prohibitionists who are way over blowing this issue of concern over alcohol.

 

Laurie Forster (25:59.954)

Wow.

 

Laurie Forster (26:04.637)

Thank you. Yes.

 

Suzanne Shultz (26:21.012)

use of wine improves one's lifestyle, healthy lifestyle, and actually their longevity and their enjoyment of life and their enjoyment with their friends and neighbors. And so we're participating in Come Over October. And Laurie, if anybody wants to be a hit going over to somebody's house on October, it's taking this delicious rosé with them.

 

Laurie Forster (26:36.871)

great.

 

Laurie Forster (26:43.739)

Yes.

 

That's a great idea. And really they should just make it come on over, you know, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, every month really. Because as you know, I mean, for me, wine is about connection to the place where it's made, to the people you're sharing it with, to the food that you're enjoying it with. And so I love that focus for October, but for every month really, because I think that's what makes wine different at the dinner table than...

 

Suzanne Shultz (26:53.666)

Right.

 

Laurie Forster (27:16.317)

you know, other beverages may disagree with me, but I see wine as different than having a gin and tonic on the table or a beer or something. It's a different process. So I thank you for bringing that up. And Terry, for bringing up the setting because I was so thrilled to get to take a tour of Domain Willamette when I was out there in June and do a tasting. And so when you guys were conceiving of the winery there, was there any, what was the vision for the space?

 

I know the outdoor gardens are phenomenal and walking around there, but what did you want for Domaine Willamette that was different and special?

 

Suzanne Shultz (27:58.126)

We need Jan here for this. So I'll take this one. Jim's lovely wife, Jan, actually was the project manager for Domain Willamette and worked tirelessly for years on the concept. I, it's part of my favorite part, actually. And I think it actually begins with the logo for Domain Willamette. If you look at the logo, it has the four roses.

 

Laurie Forster (28:00.347)

Yes.

 

Suzanne Shultz (28:27.404)

And if you recall when you were there, there's the rose bush planted at the beginning or end of

 

Laurie Forster (28:34.737)

Yes.

 

Suzanne Shultz (28:35.296)

a nod back to, I think, the French and the rosebushes act kind of like that, what is it, the canary in the coal mine, kind of, you know, any disease or fungus or anything usually will show up on the rose buds first before the vines.

 

Laurie Forster (28:45.234)

Yep.

 

Suzanne Shultz (28:52.482)

So it's kind of an early warning system for us, but also there's four roses. So I think it ties back into the bio-dynamics and back into the four seasons of the year that go through. And then as you start to walk through the property, you'll see all the special touches that Jan has added using local artists and artisans from the artwork, reflecting all of the different seasons. If you went down into the starry sky room.

 

Laurie Forster (29:22.577)

I did.

 

Suzanne Shultz (29:23.027)

where you can see the stars and occasionally you feel like you have a tit because they're shooting stars that go by and the artwork.

 

Laurie Forster (29:29.969)

Yes, it's beautiful.

 

Suzanne Shultz (29:34.743)

summer.

 

chandeliers that look like bubbles for the sparkling wine. feel like every piece of the property is a nod back to the biodynamic farming. The quartz sculptures in the garden that represent all of the different plants and flowers and things that are used in all of the anecdotes that Terry's burying in the ground and spraying on the vines.

 

Laurie Forster (30:04.007)

Perfect.

 

Suzanne Shultz (30:04.47)

It just, there was nothing that wasn't thought of, I think. Everything there has a purpose and a story to tell.

 

Laurie Forster (30:12.252)

Love that.

 

I love it. And I love all these wines. So I'm so excited for my listeners to connect with this and check you guys out at wvv.com, WillametteValleyVineyards.com. And then there's a page for domain Willamette. Anything, any news or anything new that's coming that we can kind of break for the listeners and let them know about what you're working on. Obviously a new vintage is coming, but anything else you want people to know about that's going on at either

 

Willamette Valley Vineyards or domain Willamette.

 

Suzanne Shultz (30:47.49)

Laurie, first of all, I want to thank you because when people go over to see their friends or their neighbors, they will take a bottle of wine with them. And what you do is you provide an opportunity for the conversation to get started with something about what they brought. And it's in the process of them sharing that knowledge and the appreciation for the wine, how it's making their time together even more enjoyable.

 

that really starts with the information you're providing wine consumers. And that's what you do so well. And so thank you for that. With respect to Willamette, we're just getting started. We're taking the show on the road. We've built a tasting room and restaurant in the Vancouver waterfront, right on the Columbia River, in Lake Oswego, in Enhapie Valley, and now in downtown historic Bend, Oregon. As you know, we have a tasting room in historic Folsom, California.

 

Laurie Forster (31:26.205)

Thank you.

 

Laurie Forster (31:46.918)

Nice.

 

Suzanne Shultz (31:47.795)

And we're just getting started. So what we'd like to do is invite your viewers to become an owner of Willamette Valley Vineyards and help us continue to tell the Oregon story.

 

Laurie Forster (31:51.12)

I believe that.

 

Laurie Forster (32:00.943)

I love that. And if you, if you get out to Oregon, to the Willamette Valley, you must visit both the Maine Willamette and Willamette Valley vineyards. And hopefully you'll get the pleasure of running into Suzanne, Jim or Terry, but everyone at the winery is so helpful and so amazing. and you have a great restaurant there, at the winery too. So that's always really fun. I thank you guys so much. You always get me going there, Jim, though, when you say happy Valley, because

 

that Happy Valley means a little bit something different to me as a Penn Stater. But I know you're not talking about Happy Valley, Pennsylvania. And I understand we're not gonna get up against your ducks until next year. So we're gonna have to make arrangements for that game. We're gonna have to make arrangements for that game. But it's exciting to have Oregon in the Big Ten now. so that'll keep things front and center as well. All right, guys, I want to Jim, Terry, and Suzanne, thank you so much for joining me.

 

think this has been super informative for everyone. Everything about your sparkling wines in Domaine will lamb it. And I thank you for coming and just hope you guys will join me again soon.

Laurie Forster (00:01.046)

I hope you enjoyed this week's episode. loved having Jim, Terry and Suzanne with us talking all things Domaine Willamette. Check them out online. Go to wvv.com. That stands for Willamette Valley Vineyards.com. And then you can click on Domain Willamette. It's a great visit. It's amazing wine. And I just want to thank them so much for being with us this week.

And I want to thank you as always for tuning in. If you have any ideas for future episodes or wine tips or topics you want covered, email me at laurie@thewinecoach.com and check me out on all the socials. posting video clips on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. Everywhere I'm out there at The Wine Coach.

And don't forget, as always, you can sign up for my free gift, which is a video series for videos all about tasting, serving, pairing and enjoying wine. Just go to TheWineCoachSecrets.com and we'll email everything to you so you can enjoy it. And you can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, anywhere you get your podcasts, as well as listen to it in my free app, The Wine Coach, available in the app store for iPhones and Androids, and it's 100 % free. Lots of great wine picks, as well as the podcast in there.

So as always, thanks for listening, and until next time, keep on sipping.