Oregon’s a magical place.
I nonetheless have fond recollections as a teen of snowboarding there on a glacier in the summertime.
In my twenties, I spent a blissful week exploring the state with a superb pal of mine.
A long time later, I nonetheless vividly keep in mind the startling landscapes, fascinating folks and the excellent bookstores, eating places and breweries.
That’s why I wasn’t shocked a couple of years in the past when a winemaker in France’s Burgundy area advised a narrative about their household’s love affair with Oregon.
Standing in an historic stone wine cellar in Beaune in France, Frederic Drouhin recalled the second when his father, Robert, stood atop a hillside in Oregon and noticed the longer term. He realized the panorama and the local weather there was as good as Burgundy. The Drouhins ought to know. The household runs Maison Joseph Drouhin, one of the revered wineries in Burgundy.
Robert Drouhin had been to Oregon earlier than however one thing magical occurred in 1987, when the Drouhins visited Oregon and checked out a bit of land on the market there. “We needed to cease the automobile on the backside of the hill as a result of there was no street, no nothing,” Frederic Drouhin stated. “So he (Robert) climbed with a wine maker by means of a wheat area and after they reached the highest of the hill, they noticed the surroundings. They felt it. Clearly, it’s so simple as that.”
A yr later, Robert Drouhin created Domaine Drouhin in Oregon In 1988.
Since then, the remainder of the world has slowly caught as much as the Drouhins and realized what a tremendous place Oregon is, particularly relating to wine.
Like France’s Burgundy area, Oregon excels at creating magnificent wines made with Burgundy’s signature grapes – Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Numerous that most likely has to do with the cool, misty local weather within the western a part of Oregon, the place many of the wine comes from in Oregon. There, the damp air typically lingers just a little longer and nights are sometimes cooler and damper. (Most of japanese Oregon’s the precise reverse – hotter and far drier.)
That’s most likely why I used to be eager about Oregon wines this previous week. The calendar may say June, however right here in New England, it felt extra like a moist, cool April weekend.
However even when the climate warms up, belief me, you’ll love the three Oregon chardonnays really helpful this week.
I understand I’m on a little bit of a chardonnay kick not too long ago. Final week, for Father’s Day, I really helpful 5 excellent California chardonnays.
Don’t fear. I gained’t write about chardonnay on a regular basis.
However I additionally suppose it’s vital to shine a highlight on these excellent wines from this distinctive wine area.
Many wine nuts most likely already love Oregon chardonnays.
For the remainder of you, you’re in for an actual deal with.
Lots of the finest Oregon chardonnays have character and depth.
They’re advanced, compelling, intense and delicate.
You possibly can style the cool, damp, mysterious air in each sip.
And you’ll sense the sense of place in each glass.
Whenever you style an Oregon chardonnay, the wine takes you on a journey.
And whenever you style the perfect ones, you don’t care the place you find yourself. You’re merely thrilled to take such an exquisite trip.
Hope you take pleasure in.
WINES RECOMMENDED THIS WEEK
2018 Gran Moraine Chardonnay Yamhill-Carlton ($45 Advised Retail Value)
2019 Penner-Ash Chardonnay Willamette Valley ($45 SRP)
2019 WillaKenzie Chardonnay Willamette Valley ($35 SRP)
OREGON WINE REGIONS
The three Oregon chardonnays this week come from the Willamette Valley, together with the one from Yamhill-Carlton, which is without doubt one of the 10 subregions situated within the Willamette Valley. Oregon’s Willamette Valley runs north to south simply south of Portland about 40 miles east of the Pacific Ocean. A lot of Oregon’s best-known and revered wineries are situated within the Willamette Valley. Nevertheless it’s not the one wine area within the state. In accordance with the Oregon Wine Board, different Oregon wine areas embody:
WINE TASTING NOTES
2018 Gran Moraine Chardonnay Yamhill-Carlton
Tasting Notes – Gran Moraine vineyard’s situated on the western fringe of the Yamhill-Carlton subregion in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. It’s possible you’ll keep in mind studying a couple of years in the past about this vineyard’s glowing wine. This chardonnay’s equally memorable. Its flavors vary from lemon and sea salt to hints of melted butter. Enable the chilled wine to slowly heat up within the glass and also you’ll discover that the lemon, sea salt and butter flavors change into brighter, livelier and much more refreshing. An outstanding wine from begin to end.
2019 Penner-Ash Chardonnay Willamette Valley
Tasting Notes – Penner-Ash might be finest identified for its advanced, highly effective Pinot Noir wines. Its chardonnay’s simply as spectacular. Layers of flavors vary from hints of oak and toasted butter to a touch of sea salt and grilled lemon. All the things about this wine is extra delicate and intense. You possibly can clearly style the mist that always lingers in lots of vineyards within the Willamette Valley, giving this wine an charisma. An thrilling, energetic wine with a definite character.
2019 WillaKenzie Chardonnay Willamette Valley
Tasting Notes – This final chardonnay brings collectively most of the flavors from the primary two wines. Citrus-like flavors and aromas share the stage with hints of butter, sea salt, oak and lemon. And the opposite two wines, the flavors listed below are clean and mellow. There’s nothing excessive. As an alternative, the wine communicates its depth and complexity in a whisper.
That’s what’s so nice about so many good Oregon chardonnays. They don’t shout from the rooftops. They draw you into an intimate dialog and make you’re feeling such as you’re the one two folks within the room. And the perfect ones make you wish to linger just a little longer, fascinated by what secrets and techniques they are going to disclose to you with every sip.
Cheers!
(Wine Press by Ken Ross seems on Masslive.com each Monday and in The Republican’s weekend part each Thursday. Older “Wine Press” articles could be discovered right here. Observe Ken Ross on Twitter and Instagram and Fb.)
Tips to manage poor air quality
Smoke from wildfires is increasingly impacting the Willamette Valley. Here are a few tips to manage poor air quality.
Four Oregon lawmakers are calling on Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to help stop a plan that would kill 450,000 barred owls in an effort to save endangered spotted owls over the next 30 years.
The entrepreneurs were named by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
In a letter sent Tuesday, state Rep. Ed Diehl, R-Stayton, Rep. David Gomberg, D-Lincoln County, Rep. Virgle Osborne, R-Roseburg, and Sen.-elect Bruce Starr, R-Yamhill and Polk counties, asked the incoming Trump administration officials to stop the reportedly more than $1 billion project, calling it a “budget buster” and “impractical.”
Environmental groups Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy in late 2024 filed a federal lawsuit in Washington state to stop the planned killing of the barred owls.
Here is why the Oregon lawmakers are opposed to the plan, what the plan would do and why it is controversial.
In August 2024, after years of planning, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service came up with a proposal to kill a maximum of 450,000 invasive barred owls over 30 years as a way to quell habitat competition between them and the northern spotted owl.
Spotted owl populations have been rapidly declining due in part to competition from invasive barred owls, which originate in the eastern United States. Northern spotted owls are listed as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act.
According to the USFWS plan, barred owls are one of the main factors driving the rapid decline of northern and California spotted owls, and with their removal, less than one-half of 1% of the North American barred owl population would be killed.
The plan was formally approved by the Biden administration in September 2024.
Shortly after it was announced, Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy immediately responded in opposition to the plan to kill barred owls. They argued the plan was both ill-conceived and that habitat loss is the main factor driving the spotted owls decline.
“Spotted owls have experienced significant population decline over decades,” a news release from the groups filing the lawsuit said. “This decline began and continues due to habitat loss, particularly the timber harvest of old growth forest. The plan is not only ill-conceived and inhumane, but also destined to fail as a strategy to save the spotted owl.”
In their complaint, the groups argued the USFWS violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to properly analyze the impacts of their strategy and improperly rejecting reasonable alternatives to the mass killing of barred owls, such as nonlethal population control approaches, spotted owl rehabilitation efforts and better protections for owl habitat.
The four Oregon lawmakers are siding with the environmental groups and calling for Musk and Ramaswamy to reverse the federal government’s plan to kill the barred owls. It was not immediately clear how the two could stop the plan.
The lawmakers letter stated the plan was impractical and a “budget buster,” with cost estimates for the plan around $1.35 billion, according to a press release by the two groups.
The letter speculates there likely isn’t an excess of people willing to do the killing for free: “it is expected that the individuals doing the shooting across millions of acres – including within Crater Lake National Park – will require compensation for the arduous, night-time hunts,” according to the press release.
“A billion-dollar price tag for this project should get the attention of everyone on the Trump team concerned about government efficiency,” Diehl said. “Killing one type of owl to save another is outrageous and doomed to fail. This plan will swallow up Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars for no good reason.”
USFWS says they aren’t trying to trade one bird for the other.
“As wildlife professionals, we approached this issue carefully and did not come to this decision lightly,” USFWS Oregon State Supervisor Kessina Lee said in announcing the decision in August. “Spotted owls are at a crossroads, and we need to manage both barred owls and habitat to save them. This isn’t about choosing one owl over the other. If we act now, future generations will be able to see both owls in our Western forests.”
Statesman Journal reporter Zach Urness contributed to this report.
Ginnie Sandoval is the Oregon Connect reporter for the Statesman Journal. Sandoval can be reached at GSandoval@gannett.com or on X at @GinnieSandoval.
A rebound basket with 3.5 seconds left in overtime allowed Santa Clara to escape with an 82-81 overtime win over Oregon State in men’s basketball Thursday night.
The Beavers, looking for their first road win of the season and their third since 2021, just missed when Tyeree Bryan’s tip-in with 3.5 seconds left was the difference.
Oregon State, leading 81-78, had two chances to rescue the win.
Adama Bal, fouled while shooting a three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining, made his first two free throws but missed the third. But Bal outfought OSU for the rebound, then kicked the ball out to Christoph Tilly, whose three-point shot glanced off the rim. Bryan then knifed between two Beaver rebounders, collecting the ball with his right hand and tipping it off the backboard and into the basket.
OSU (12-5, 2-2 WCC) came up short on a half-court shot at the buzzer.
The loss spoiled what was a 12-point second-half comeback for Oregon State, which led by as many as four points in overtime.
Parsa Fallah led the Beavers with 24 points and seven rebounds. Michael Rataj had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Isaiah Sy scored 12 points and Damarco Minor 11.
Elijah Maji scored 21 points for Santa Clara (11-6, 3-1), which has won eight of its last nine games.
The game was tied at 32-32 at halftime following a first half where OSU trailed by as many as 12 points. Fallah and Minor combined to score the final eight points as OSU finished the half on a 10-2 run.
The game began to get away from the Beavers again as Santa Clara built a 60-48 lead with 9:43 remaining. Sy got OSU going with a three-pointer, as the Beavers whittled away at the deficit. OSU eventually grabbed the lead at 67-65 with 5:19 left on another three by Sy. It was a defensive brawl for the rest of regulation, as neither team scored during the final 1:58.
Oregon State never trailed in overtime until the final three seconds. A Sy three with 1:29 left gave the Beavers a four-point cushion. After the Broncos later cut the lead to one, Fallah’s layup with 17 seconds left put OSU up 81-78.
Oregon State returns to action Saturday when the Beavers complete their two-game road trip at Pacific. Game time is 7 p.m.
–Nick Daschel can be reached at 360-607-4824, ndaschel@oregonian.com or @nickdaschel.
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Cal Mukumoto answers to the Oregon Board of Forestry, a citizen board appointed by the governor that helps oversee and implement forest policy. His resignation was announced Thursday during a board meeting by Chair Jim Kelly.Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
Oregon State Forester Cal Mukumoto has resigned.
Mukumoto’s resignation was announced Thursday by Board of Forestry Chair Jim Kelly during a meeting of the board. Mukumoto answers to the board, a citizen panel appointed by the governor that helps oversee and implement forest policy.
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