HARVEST 2024 UPDATE

It's the most wonderful time of the year - Harvest!

This will be the 19th harvest for Love & Squalor/Portland Wine Company, but it's never "old hat" nor do I ever tire of it. It's a time of anticipation and excitement, adrenaline and experimentation and camaraderie. 

I'm spending more time in our partner vineyards this time of year. Kicking down the dusty rows of Pinot and Riesling to judge how the grapes are growing. We can't wait to get our hands on them, but first we have wait and worry. 

The 2024 growing season has been good overall. A bit dry and with more than a few heat spikes that had us concerned about sunburned grapes and reduced natural groundwater supplies. In the picture above you can see the grapes covered with a natural clay sunscreen that protects the skins from damage. The clay is 100% organic and doesn't affect our ability to have clean and fresh natural ferments. 

The vineyard pictured is the newest we've added to our lineup. We are proud to announce that we have signed a lease on a Chehalem AVA  site named La Cantera II. The name means "hilltop", and it is located on the crest of Rex Hill just north of Newberg. We can't wait to get our paws on the Pinot noir from LC2. 

Happy Harvest to all of you. Thank you for your support of our craft winery. If you find yourself in our neck of the woods, stop in to smell the heady aromas of harvest and sip on some fruits of our labors. 

Cheers,
Matt

VIDEO OF JOHN + FRIENDS TALK

Last Saturday, April 25 at 5 PM PST, We joined John Grochau of @grochau_cellars for a new virtual tasting series, John & Friends. John and Matt both found wine by working in the restaurant industry and both got into winemaking thanks to some fine, forward-thinking Oregon winemakers. We tasted a few wines and shared a few stories across the digital divide along with a some friends who joined the live chat on Zoom. Here is what we had to say.

SPRING 2020 WINE NEWS

2019 was one for the books. It sure was fun.

Front of our Building on SE 50th Ave

It has been our longtime family dream to move our winery to Portland, and 2019 is the year that we made that dream a reality. After years of touring warehouses and vacant lots, we secured our sweet spot on the corner of 50th and Kelly and started putting pen to blueprint. It took some patience, and a few tantrums, but we finally got our remodel approved and then we got to break ground.

First Crush photo by Josh Chang

Grand Opening party photo by Cheryl Juetten

Our building used to be the local neighborhood grocery, built sometime in the ‘20s. We had to take it down to the studs, rebuild the entire storefront, erect seismic sheer walls and pour a new concrete floor. Not to mention installing an entirely new roof.

The back section of our building was erected in the ‘50s, when the street became a bit more light-industrial. It’s the perfect shell for winery production. Lots of roll-up doors and strong floors. All we had to do was put in trench drains, electricity, water, lighting, gas heat, ventilation, a couple of extra doors . . . that’s all.

We finished up construction and got approved for occupancy in the beginning of September (just in the nick of time), moved in our truckloads of equipment and wine in barrels in a big hurry, and then saw our first grapes come through the doors on September 5th. Most of the equipment worked, and the fermentation was smooth (always an unknown in a new space). The drains worked. Phew.

We have never had a tasting room before, but now was the time to open one. Many of you were at our opening party or have been by since to check it out – thanks. We are trying to make it a cool and welcoming place to hang out and enjoy our wines. It’s a pretty room with a full view of the barrel cave. We look forward to putting some tables out on the sidewalk come Springtime so neighbors can bring their dogs. We have started booking some private events – so think of us for your next party or work function. We have also been planning some public events, starting with a special menu we had last Friday for Valentine’s Day.

We got a few mentions you can read more about: EATER PDX and a longer list on our site, here

HERE’S A RECAP OF 2019

Here’s a few things Love & Squalor got up to in 2019

• We got to sponsor Shuck Portland with our Mothershucker White for their inaugural year,

• Matt was added to the Oregon Wine Archive with this interview

• Because we used to buy fruit from Vista Hills Vineyard Francis Ford Coppola invited us to a dinner at their new tasting room

• The Mom & Pop shop invited us to pour our wines at very fun tasting,

• Jacobsen Salt had us (and our A Frayed Knot Rosé) at their Rosé event,

• We had a fun party for our Spring Wine Club Pick-Up Party,

• As always, we participated in The Gamay Fest because we LOVE GAMAY

• We were the invited Riesling Heads on A River Cruise down the Mosel from NW Travel (Ask us about it!),

• We were one of the proud producers at the West Coast Riesling event(s) in San Francisco,

• In July, We were asked to co-host an amazing dinner at Adelshaim as IPNC was kicking off,

• We were an International Pinot Noir Celebration featured winery AND Matt was the President of for the 2019 IPNC,

• We showcased some Pinot at the Cellar 503 Pour Oregon Event

• We celebrated Sun Gold Farm in Forrest Grove with the famous Plate & Pitchfork dinner

• We had the most fun booth at the FEAST festival in September,

• We were in two different places for the Portland Gamay Nouveau Celebrations (St Jack’s party and SE WINE COLLECTIVE tasting),

• We participate in the Classic Wine Auction at a wine maker dinner every year. This year we were at Trifecta — My goddesses Chef Chris Diminno is brilliant! Follow him!

• We had our first ever Harvest 2019 in our new building

• Our Grand Opening party was a hit (somewhere around 300+ guests came)

• We hosted a Holiday/Post Harvest party with a couple of other wineries to celebrate our amazing crews

• Our Fall Wine Club Pick up Party was a blast in our new space

UPCOMING IN 2020

Check back with us, but we have many more events and specials coming up in 2020. In the meantime, you can find Angie or Matt (and sometimes Corey of Jackalope Cellars behind the barrel bar 5 days a week.

Hours: M, TH, F 4pm-7pm; SAT/SUN 1-5pm

Looking forward to popping some corks for you.

WINE CLUB

Our next shipments and pick up party will be in the first week of May. Don't know what to get the wine lover in your life? Buy them a membership to our "Friends With Benefits" wine club. Twice yearly shipments catered to your tastes at club discount prices. We can get your first shipment out in time for summer feasts if you order soon. For more info click here or eMail us at info@loveandsqualorwine.com

IT'S HARVEST!

We are in full swing here at the winery, but that doesn't mean we can't get you the wine you need for your holiday plans. We'll be sending out our next round of wine club boxes the second week in November. Don't miss out! JOIN US and have some delicious wine to share with friends and family before the Holidays get started.

More about the wine club –––>here.

The Newest Portland Urban Winery Tasting - TOMORROW!

Last minute impromptu get-together in a cavernous room that will someday house a winery. Jesse Skiles - Fausse Piste, Prop. - is opening up his new space in Industrial SE tomorrow and asked me to bring some wine. We'll be popping some corks, eating some cheese and talking smack. Also in attendance will be the-man-named-after-a-river, Ewald Moseler, pouring the wines he likes from Teutonic Wine Co. This will be a fun time and there will be some good wines open - many made in such small quantities that this may be your only chance to put them in your mouth. The Details Sunday 9/18 3-8pm 537 SE Ash St. (right behind J&M Cafe ((mmmm, delicious waffles))) 97214 $10

It's Gonna Happen!

Sunset View 8/30/11

This cool Spring and Summer has left a lot of winemakers wondering if we will ever get to harvest grapes this year. Well, of course we will. And the Pinot grapes will be red as proven out by these snaps taken on Tuesday at Bob Bailey's Sunset View Vineyard in the Eola Hills. See?

Sunset View 8/30/11

It's In The Bottle

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Here are are Frank and Stephen packing cases on the bottling truck. Weather be damned, we managed to get all of the Love & Squalor wines into their final homes. Now they will rest up after their tiring journey and come to your table fresh and ready to drink with your meal.

The 2009 Willamette Valley Riesling $18 (200 cases) is once again 100% sourced from the Brooks' Eola Hills Vineyard - old-vine and biodynamic. This year sees a return to a more minerally wine, bracketed with tropical fruits and varietaly typical apple and citrus. It is a bit drier than previous years but is still packed with plenty of fruit.

2008 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir $24 (175 cases). Wow! The '08 vintage is a doozy. This wine is sourced from Temperance Hill, Winter's Hill and Left Coast Vineyards. The wine is brimming with dark cherry and bramble with a delicate floral overtone. A real mouth-filler, the fine tannins coat and the gentle acid carries the finish to a long linger.

As usual, I will send out a formal release invitation, but the wines are available for pre-order now. Just get in touch with me.

Thanks to the hard-working bottling crew, the timely label printers and cork makers, and, especially, to Chris Williams and Janie Brooks-Heuck at Brooks Wines

Love & Squalor In Print!

The 2006 Love & Squalor Pinot noir (the maiden vintage) is one of only nine Oregon wines featured in Robert Parker's new book - Parker's Wine Bargains; The World's Best Wine Values Under $25. While we may not always agree with the world's most valuable tongue, we think this inclusion was a very smart choice. The wine is listed as a product of Ransom Wine Company as this was before the Portland Wine Company was established. While the '06 is long gone, and the '07 has just left the building, the 2008 Pinot is just finishing its journey to the bottle. The final blend (Temperance, Winter's Hill and Left Coast Vineyards) is marrying and will be bottled at the end of this month. Expect an early summer release. The price will be a bargain as always - the same price Parker paid for his taste of the '06 - $24

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Come to the Table (and bring some Damn Riesling!)

Thanks to Sally Summerson for the lovely write-up on her blog: Come to the Table. She may not know heaps about wine, but she knows how to pay a lovely complement. Check it out here. I'll update more soon - promise.

This is What it Looks Like . . .

. . . when we turn grapes into wine

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Temperance Hill Pinot noir coming out of the destemmer

Here Comes The Riesling

10/22/2009

Well, so much for regular updates and posts. We've been up to our necks in ripe Pinot noir grapes, and haven't had the time, nor the unsticky hands, to type. The 2009 Harvest is good. The late heat and brief rainless window led to a spike in ripeness and a quick scramble to pick everything before the weather went to crap. I don't know that it will be a classic vintage, but the sugars are nice (if a bit high) and the flavors seem deep so far. We (Brooks and Love & Squalor) brought in about 100 tons of freshly picked grapes in the span of 4 and a half days. Needless to say, we didn't get a lot of sleep. We did let a little bit hang through the rains, and it still looked good coming in, although not necessarily better than the earlier pick.

Now we're in a punchdown holding pattern. Managing all of the fermentations and enjoying the aromas and textures of juice turning into wine. You are welcome to swing by the winery and experience this yourself, but be forewarned, you may be pressed into labor.

Tomorrow, as this post's headline alludes, is the first of two big Riesling days. We've got the press nicely cleaned and are ready to receive Riesling from four sites, including the newly purchased Brooks Eola Estate Vineyard (formerly Eola Hills Vnyd) some of which will become the 2009 Love & Squalor Riesling. We'll be running the press nonstop to capture all that delicious nectar so we can put some fresh and pure wine on your tables. Prost!