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Getting Serious

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My friends Dan and Chas, who host the popular video blog Wine Is Serious Business, invited me to come and taste through my current releases with them and have a conversation about winemaking in Oregon. It was lots of fun and turned out pretty well. Check it out here You can see their archive on YouTube and link to them on Facebook.

 

 

New Varietals on the Horizon

Just when you thought it couldn't get any more exciting - Love & Squalor is introducing more flavors. Last Harvest we brought in some Pinot Gris from the Barnes Vineyard that we have been purchasing Pinot Noir from for some time. We also hooked up with a young vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills that has a block of Sauvignon Blanc - one of my all-time favorite varietals. The vines are young and bursting with intense fruit. Additionally there is a very special old-vine white project sitting in barrel that will likely only produce about 40 cases, so stay tuned for that.

No new reds to introduce yet, but we are hunting for the right addition to our line-up. Let me know what you would like to see . . .

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Oh My, What a Busy July!

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We're very excited to be releasing the new wines next week and have planned a mess of events so you can taste the goodness. NOTE: This dinner has been moved to August 7th. Seats are still available I believe. Next week - -Tuesday night - is the debut of a series of 'Mentor/Mentee Dinners' at Wildwood. The idea, brainchild of Wildwood somm Savanna Ray, is to pair up-and-coming winemakers with the winemaker who gave them their start. This dinner will feature my first wine teacher Patty Green of Patricia Green Cellars, me, and the dynamic duo behind Walter Scott Wines. Lots of wine, delicious foods and some ribald tales I am sure. Call Wildwood for reservations.

7/14 - Pouring New Seasons Raleigh Hills - 2pm 7/15 - Plate & Pitchfork w/St. Jack and Gruner - SOLD OUT 7/20 - Pouring New Seasons Sellwood - 4pm 7/21 - Pouring New Seasons 7 Corners - 4pm 7/28-7/29 - International Pinot Noir Festival (aka wino summer camp)

Stay tuned for more chances to taste Love & Squalor as the summer trips along.

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Spring Has Sprung

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The warehouse is getting emptier and emptier. The blends in the cellar are getting closer to their bottling date. In the meantime there are plenty of opportunities to get out and taste some Love & Squalor. This Friday from 3-6pm I will be pouring at the brand new Zupan's store in Lake Grove. I look forward to surprising the crowds with the Fancy Pants Riesling and other treats.

Next month marks the 10-year anniversary of the original eastside wine spot - Noble Rot. The Rot has been my hang since they opened, long before I was a winemaker. They were the first place to put Love & Squalor on the list and the first to pour it in a flight. I got all sorts of warm fuzzies for them. The Rotten Girls plus Leather are putting together a bash that is open to the public. 11 wineries pouring, mouth-watering snacks, some live tunes. If it is even half as memorable as the first anniversary, well . . . I guess I'll remember some of it.

Hope to see you all out there this Spring.

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Fancy Pants!

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Fancy Pinot

Why, thank you. They are for special occasions only. I'm not allowed to wear them to school. The new Love & Squalor wines were named after a favorite pair of madras trousers that I had as a kid. The first ever Love & Squalor 'reserve' wines are now available to our most devoted followers. Two wines were bottled; a primarily native yeast selection of dry (very dry) Riesling and a 1.5 barrel selection of the richer Pinots in the cellar. Both are very limited releases - 60 cases and 30 cases were bottled.

The wines are featured at select restaurants in Seattle and Portland - RN74, Marche Seattle, Wild Ginger, Wildwood and Metrovino. Look for them there or order them direct through me. Prices and tasting notes are up on the 'wines' and 'order' pages of this site. Go ahead and try on your Fancy Pants this weekend.

Update March 2012

The long sleep of Winter is coming to an end. We sacrificed our one hour to the hands of time and now we sit down to eat dinner with the skies still bright and filled with birds. In the cellar the wines are maturing. The new Pinot is ticking through malolactic fermentation - rounding out its rough edges and developing into full-bodied wine. The Riesling is dropping its cloudiness and waiting to be divided into blends - some for the kegs, some for the the Willamette Valley blend and a bit for the Fancy Pants. And, of course, there are the barrels of 2010 Pinot - racked and ready for the bottle.

The current releases are dwindling in the warehouse. The 2010 Riesling is still available on a few shelves and lists. The last bottles are being poured by the glass at The Heathman, The Ringside Fish House and Jade Cafe in Sellwood. The 2009 Pinot is on by the glass at Wildwood restaurant and remains on the at a few other restaurants and groceries in Portland and Seattle. I am excited to be shipping some cases up to Calgary for the first time for inclusion on the opening list at Jackie and Kirk's new restaurant "Avec."

Fancy Pants Pinot and Riesling are in slow release (and extremely limited in quantity). Look for a newsletter soon with more ordering info on these wines. And lastly, Behemoth, the beast, is available by the glass at Metrovino and Park Kitchen in Portland and most of the close-in New Seasons, Whole Foods and Fred Meyer stores.

The summer is starting to fill up with vinous and gastronomical events. I will be pouring for five courses at Plate & Pitchfork with Gruner and St. Jack in July. Sadly (for you), the night sold out in 24 hours. Save May 6th, Noble Rot's 10-year Anniversary, as that is going to be a great party. Stay tuned as other chances to hang out and drink with me are announced.

Lastly, links to some recent mentions in local and national pubs.

Good Stuff NW (wherein your winemaker butchers a half of a pig)

Travel and Leisure (wherein Kir Wine Bar is picked as one of the nation's top)

WineJulia (who really likes Fancy Pants Riesling paired with spicy Thai food)

Thanksgiving Open House

Ah, Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday. Food and drink and an excuse to sit for hours with family and friends. 2011 was the latest grape harvest in my career - Pinot noir was still out hanging on the vines into the beginning of November - and there is still lots of work to be done in the winery. So I welcome even more heartily the excuse to sit and catch up and eat and laugh. The fermenting wine can wait one more day.

Please join Love & Squalor and my four winery-mates for the first tasting at our brand new winery in downtown McMinnville. We will be popping corks and slinging adjectives from 11-4pm, Friday, Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Matello, Love & Squalor, Bow & Arrow, Ribera Vineyard and Vista Hills Vineyards Five wineries for $10 November 25, 26 and 27 925 N.E. Seventh Avenue, McMinnville (corner of NE 7th and Alpine, across from the Saturday Market) Phone: (503)453-9505

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"Really Tasty"

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Wine Enthusiast Magazine

91 points

love & squalor 2009 Riesling (Willamette Valley)

Biodynamically-farmed, old vine fruit from the Eola Hills vineyard is the source. The wine is forward and tangy, with a Vouvray-like sweet/sour character. It could be Chenin Blanc, only just a bit lighter, but with the same tart and tasty mix of acid and sugar, with lemony fruit and floral highlights. Really tasty.  — 

Paul Gregutt

Published 10/1/2011

Link to the original web page

here

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The Newest Portland Urban Winery Tasting - TOMORROW!

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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

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It's Gonna Happen!

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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

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Oregon's Best Wines!

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AwardPlaque

They blind-tasted over 400 wines. Four days of arduous sipping and spitting. They chose just 15 white wines and only four were Rieslings. Love & Squalor 2010 Willamette? No. 12!

I am extremely grateful to the tired palates at the Portland Monthly for their nod. I'll buy you guys a beer.

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No.12

Best-buy-graphic

Love and 
Squalor

2010 RieslingWillamette Valley, $18

Matt Berson’s zesty riesling—made with organic grapes—is sweet, lush, and refreshing, offering flavors of peaches and mangoes for a balanced palate that’d be a perfect picnic sipper. Pack a backpack with a baguette, smoked salmon, Peppadew peppers, and a corkscrew, and you’re set for a wonderful meal.

Here's the link.

Enthusiastic?

Wine Enthusiast Logo

I just got word that my 2009 Riesling received a 91-point rating from the quaffers down at Wine Enthusiast Magazine. I don't put much weight on these sorts of things, but I always am happy when someone likes the wine, and am happier still when they say so in print.

I agree with these guys - I think the '09 is my best yet, and, of course, it is almost completely sold out. Luckily for you the smart people at the brand new Ringside Fish House are pouring it by the glass until I run out. Also, there are a few bottles on the racks at two Whole Foods stores - Hollywood and Tanasbourne. I look forward to hearing how it scores with you. If you'd prefer to go the path of less resistance, the Love & Squalor 2010 Riesling is now available and plentiful, just contact me if you need some.

Summer of Love & Squalor!

Come and Get It! Whew! What a crazy busy couple of weeks. Rolling out the new wines, Serving up kegged Riesling all weekend at IPNC's 25th Anniversary (and my 10th year serving there), and tonight - Plate & Pitchfork with my Avignon and Brooks families. Here's the spots that have taken delivery of the Love & Squalor and Behemoth wines this past week:

  • Whole Foods Tannasbourne
  • Whole Foods Hollywood
  • Ringside Fish House
  • Ringside Steak House East
  • Ringside Steak House Burnside
  • Wildwood
  • Navarre
  • Portland WIne Merchants
  • Fred Meyer Stadium
  • Vino
  • Secret Society
  • New Seasons Happy Valley
  • New Seasons Cedar Hills
  • New Seasons Raleigh Hills
  • New Seasons Sellwood
  • Portland Bottle Shop
  • Laurelhurst Market
  • Le Pigeon
  • Farm
  • Ned Ludd
  • New Seasons Concordia
  • Metrovino
  • Dundee Bistro
  • Tina's
  • Thistle
  • Cafe Uncorked
  • Grain & Gristle
  • Bar Avignon
  • Blackbird Wine Shop

I am so grateful for all of your support and thanks for keeping me running around.

Pinot Invasion

I am happy to say that the new Love & Squalor 2009 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir has met with a very warm reception. It is already available at a number of fine Portland restaurants (see previous post) and shops. Look for it by-the-glass at Laurelhurst Market (sorry Patty). I will get a formal mail-order release together after IPNC weekend, but let it be known that you can order at will. Pricing is the same as last year. If you want to know what some think about it, read the review below. Thanks to Shannon Fitzpatrick for making me blush with this piece she wrote for the Ponzi Wine Bar site:  

Matt Berson stopped by the wine bar yesterday to pour his new 2009 Pinot Noir for us. Let me say I was impressed. I have been a fan of Matt’s wines since the beginning and each year his Pinot and Riesling are fantastic but I must say that this 2009 bottling is amongst my fav’s to date.

The 2009 vintage was a mighty warm one here in the beautiful Willamette Valley and I have come to anticipate richer style wines from those being offered to me. What a pleasant realization then, when Matt’s Pinot from this hot vintage showed me the same grace and elegance I have come to expect from his wines. The color and body of the wine were my first hint- light but not by any means weak. The nose follows with a faint damp earth note, pleasant fruit and just a hint of orange oil. On the palate the wine is balanced and smooth. It lays down a nice core of sweet dark-toned fruit with a lovely underpinning of acid that lifts it and provides a nice lingering finish. The wine comes from four vineyards in the Willamette Valley: Momtazi, Temperance Hill, Winter’s Hill and Johan. All four of the sites are farmed either organically or biodynamically and are a nice blend of old and young vines.

Matt is fairly hands-off in the cellar using only native yeasts and some “old skool funk music” to coax his ferments along. When the wine is finished he gently racks it clean but never fines or filters. No wonder the wine is so expressive! The best, most amazing part? While he makes less than 300 cases he sells this rare commodity at a steal of a price- just $24. Grab yours now or you’ll miss out!

 

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Summer of (Oregon)Riesling

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I am happy that Paul Greico's obsession with all things Riesling has spread out from it's New York home and has become a national epidemic. Here in Oregon, nine restaurants are participating in the Summer of Riesling by pouring three Rieslings by the glass all summer long, with many others restaurants highlighting Riesling as well.The following are signed up:

Bar Avignon, Portland - featuring Love & Squalor

Clyde Common, Portland

Gruner, Portland

June, Portland

Le Pigeon, Portland

Heathman Restaurant and Bar, Portland - featuring Love & Squalor

Metrovino, Portland

Ned Ludd, Portland - featuring Love & Squalor

Olympic Provisions, Portland

Love & Squalor Riesling is showing up at these fine spots and is additionally ON TAP! at Kir and St. Jack. This is a special one barrel 2010 cuvee that I created for these guys. When it's gone, it's gone.

Check out more in this recent Portland Monthly article.