I love sparkling wine and was fortunate enough to encounter Noble Estate Vineyards at a wine show where proprietor Mark Jurasevich dished up generous samples of Noble's multiple-award winning Muscat Semi-Sparkling, plus a dozen or so of his other sublime wines. Intrigued, I invited myself up to tour the winery.
Noble Estate Vineyards spread across hills overlooking soft green forested valleys. Once you get in the intimate tasting room, with panoramic views of trees and hills, you won't want to leave. I tore myself away long enough to learn how Noble works. Mark started out growing Pinot Noir just over 10 years ago, and what was a 'hobby' quickly became a beloved avocation. The entire process is labor intensive and literally hands on. The grapes are hand-picked and hand-sorted. When I was there, Mark and his assistants were in the midst of hand-bottling the wine -- a task they livened up by watching wine-fancy flick 'Sideways' on a portable DVD player. Continuing the tour, Mark explains that in addition to grapes grown on his property the winery sources fine local grapes from across Oregon:
"Because we have acreage contracts, we're able to have control over the consistent quality of our grapes. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris grapes come from the Willamette Valley Region and our Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes from the Rogue River Valley Region.
During our wine-making process we are careful not to mix crops from one vineyard with another. Each soil produces grapes with a distinct character and taste. Each wine is labeled with it's appellation such as Willamette Valley or Rogue Valley."
Check out Noble Estate for yourself at one of their weekend wine-tastings from 12 to 5 pm every Saturday and Sunday which offer:
* Access to handcrafted wines not available in all stores.
* Discounts
* Sample limited production wines.
(Call 541-338-3007 for info) or if you're in the Eugene area you can try it at several restaurants and shops including Sam Bond's, Marche, Turtles, Peruginos, B 2, Jiffy Mart, & Campbell House.
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