Trium, Grenache Rose, 2009, Pheasant Hill Vineyard, Rogue Valley

Gevurtz is back like it never hurt before! Happy summer everyone. Sorry for the long hiatus. I lost my tasting mojo for a bit at some point but the sunny weather has got me all motivated to spend lots of time on the internet drinking, spitting, and swirling all by myself! Ha. Anyway, I just got back from a little trip down to southern Oregon with the lovely Shannon Wilson and tasted some really great under the radar wines bursting with originality and character. Here is a little sneak peak.


We stumbled upon Trium Winery in the hills outside of Ashland and both fell pretty hard for this ballsy little scrapper of a wine. The 2009 Grenache Rose features fruit from the estate Pheasant Hill Vineyard. (This is the same vineyard that produces fruit for the outstanding Ransom Cabernet Franc.) The Trium is colored at the darker end of the rose spectrum. In fact, it's just a hint lighter and brighter than a Willimate Valley Pinot. The nose has forceful creamy strawberry shortcake notes combined with green honeydew and a touch of heat.


It has a more rich, luscious, and mouth-coating body compared to many of the roses I have been drinking lately. This is a very giving wine putting forth layers of gummy cherries, gummy peach, and ripe plum flavors on the front to mid-palate. It walks right up to that line of being too sugary sweet but it ends with a nice high limey saline note that somehow leaves your palate feeling clean. At 15% alcohol, this is no easy feat. I don't know if it was just because it was one of the first really hot days I had experienced in Oregon. And even though it was quite fruit forward something about this wine felt terroir-driven. A bit of southern Oregon summer in a glass . . . Yum.

Foris, "Fly-Over Red" 2007, Rogue Valley

This meritage blend (67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc) is deep cherry red color but still somewhat translucent. The nose reminded me of red hots candy, canned cranberry sauce slices, little hot green peppers, and a nail polishy chemical component. There was a fair amount of heat present as well. The Foris has a surprisingly mid to light body for this style. Layers of under-ripe rhubarb, sweet cranberry, and smoky oak chips stick to the front end of ones mouth and don’t move much from there. The flyover has a decent grip from the mid-palate to the finish but lacks tertiary flavor components. It finishes quite dry. An hour of decanting gave the alcohol a nice shove out of the picture, cleaned up a bit of the chemical-iness, but also deadened the fruit as well. I’m a huge fan of the Foris Cabernet Franc and think their Pinot is killer value. I remember liking the 2003 flyover but the 2007 vintage is a bit of a stinker. P.S. I am curious to try the 2008 since over half the fruit is sourced from Washington.