Wine Enthusiast Reviews are in... 93pts & Editors Choice

93 points
Editors Choice

L&S 2015 Riesling Willamette Valley 

This utterly delicious dry Riesling has just enough roundness to cut through the acidity. Its lush mix of citrus and stone fruit gathers strength and focus as it roars across the palate. It's instantly accessible yet built for enjoyment over the next decade.

VARIETY Riesling
APPELLATION Willamette Valley, Willamette Valley, Oregon, US
WINERY Love & Squalor
ALCOHOL 12%
DATE PUBLISHED 2/1/2018

Review online: http://www.winemag.com/buying-guide/love-squalor-2015-riesling-willamette-valley/

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92 points

L&S 2013 'Antsy Pants' Reserve Riesling

This 2013 is the current release. Its lovely floral highlights distinguish the aroma and carry into the flavors. Sourced from 40-year-old vines from the Brooks and Sunnyside vineyards, it was fermented entirely with native yeasts to almost complete dryness.

DESIGNATION Antsy Pants
VARIETY Riesling
APPELLATION Willamette Valley, Willamette Valley, Oregon, US
WINERY Love & Squalor
ALCOHOL 11%
DATE PUBLISHED 2/1/2018

Review online: http://www.winemag.com/buying-guide/love-squalor-2013-antsy-pants-riesling-willamette-valley/

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92 points

L&S 2015 Sunny Mountain Vineyard Pinot Noir

This well-balanced wine pushes cherry fruit front and center, underscored by refreshing minerality. The tannins are polished and firmly set on the finish, with a cinnamon kick that resonates long after the last swallow.

DESIGNATION Sunny Mountain Vineyard
VARIETY Pinot Noir
APPELLATION Willamette Valley, Willamette Valley, Oregon, US
WINERY Love & Squalor
ALCOHOL 14.4%
DATE PUBLISHED 2/1/2018

Review online: http://www.winemag.com/buying-guide/love-squalor-2015-sunny-mountain-vineyard-pinot-noir-willamette-valley/

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92 points

L&S 2015 Temperance Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir

This well-known and widely-admired vineyard doesn't disappoint in this wine, delivering lovely cherry fruit touched with a citrusy edge. The concentration builds gracefully, with tasty highlights of chocolate-covered orange peel and roasted coffee.

DESIGNATION Temperance Hill Vineyard
VARIETY Pinot Noir
APPELLATION Eola-Amity Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon, US
WINERY Love & Squalor
ALCOHOL 14.2%
DATE PUBLISHED 2/1/2018

Review online: http://www.winemag.com/buying-guide/love-squalor-2015-temperance-hill-vineyard-pinot-noir-eola-amity-hills/

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91 points
Editors Choice

L&S 2015 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley

Lovely cherry lollipop flavors introduce this smooth and tasty effort. Its juicy and irresistible sweet fruit is highlighted with sliced orange and lemon peel notes. A streak of coffee runs through the finish, and the wine is substantial enough to cellar for another half decade or longer.

VARIETY Pinot Noir
APPELLATION Willamette Valley, Willamette Valley, Oregon, US
WINERY Love & Squalor
ALCOHOL 13.8%
DATE PUBLISHED 2/1/2018

Review Online: http://www.winemag.com/buying-guide/love-squalor-2015-pinot-noir-willamette-valley/

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91 points

Love & Squalor 2015 Sunnyside Vineyard Riesling  

The first-ever vineyard-designated Riesling from Love & Squalor, this is bone dry and as tart as lemon juice. Its green apple fruit shows excellent concentration. For acid lovers, this will be a revelation. If acid isn't your thing, look to the winery's regular Riesling instead.

DESIGNATION Sunnyside Vineyard
VARIETY Riesling
APPELLATION Willamette Valley, Willamette Valley, Oregon, US
WINERY Love & Squalor
ALCOHOL 13%
DATE PUBLISHED 2/1/2018

Review online: http://www.winemag.com/buying-guide/love-squalor-2015-sunnyside-vineyard-riesling-willamette-valley/

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Reviews by Paul Gregutt, a Contributing Editor for Wine Enthusiast magazine, a founding member of the magazine’s Tasting Panel, and reviews the wines of Oregon and Canada.

Wonderful review of 2015 Pinot Noir from Great Wines Northwest

Love & Squalor 2015 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
By Great Northwest Wine on January 6, 2018

Portland vintner Matt Berson recently entered his second decade of Love & Squalor, and he named his duo-pronged passion project of Pinot Noir and Riesling as a tribute to iconic author J.D. Salinger. His flagship wine is this Pinot Noir, a melange of eight clones and six vineyards, primarily Sunny Mountain, Temperance Hill, Cherry Grove and Medici that represents about a third of his entire production. His choice of an 18-month program in mature French oak shows up merely as an enticing dusting of cocoa powder that’s behind the purple fruit tones of plum and blueberry. Fine-grained tannins are focused on the midpalate of this otherwise juicy approach.

Rating: Outstanding!

Production: 1,100 cases

Alcohol: 13.8%

http://www.greatnorthwestwine.com/2018/01/06/love-squalor-2015-pinot-noir-willamette-valley-28/

OREGON WINE PRESS ORANGE CRUSH

The Oregon Wine Press wrote an article about Orange Wines and our L&S 2016 'A FRAYED KNOT' ROSÉ OF GEWURZTRAMINER gets a shout out (we say Rosé right there on the label, but really it is an 'Orange Wine'). If you want to know more about Orange Wines, read on...

October 1, 2017 - OREGON WINE PRESS

Orange Crush

Skin-contact whites color harvest season and cellar

By Tamara Belgard

Photo by Andrea Johnson

As the leaves turn and pumpkins ripen on the vine, the color orange reigns. Even the Harvest Moon casts a tangerine hue as the autumnal equinox approaches. Unlike the calculated timing of the season, some orange wines are best described as “accidents gone deliciously right.” No surprise for owner Matt Berson of Love & Squalor, who says, “Isn’t that the prevailing thread in the history of wine?”

Produced from white wine grapes using the red technique of fermenting fruit along with skin and seeds — the source of a wine’s color — orange wine represents a category all its own, with texture, weight and a broad palate of character as its trademarks. Not to be confused with rosé, traditionally crafted from red varietals such Pinot Noir, Grenache and Tempranillo, orange wine is most commonly made from Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer, whose grapes are actually pink in color.

Back to the scene of the “accident.”

“We began experimenting with skin-contact wine somewhat accidentally when we made our first Pinot Gris in 2013,” said Jenny Mosbacher of Fossil & Fawn. “We were making wine at two facilities, and time got away from us, as it tends to do. The juice spent 36 hours on the skins and when we pressed it off, it was the color of electric watermelon Jolly Ranchers. We rolled with it, and it turned out to be a hit. The following years we approached it with much more intention.”

This purposeful strategy is growing throughout Oregon as winemakers experiment with Pinot Gris production, treating it more like the red grape it is. In fact, Pinot Noir and Gris share similar genes. And yet, the two varietals couldn’t be treated more distinctively.

Mosbacher sees a lot of Pinot Gris in Oregon cropped for higher yields, rushed through the production process, released in late winter or early spring and priced to move. Practically speaking, it’s treated as a cash-flow wine, while Pinot Noir sells at a far more prestigious price point.

Does Pinot Gris warrant more time in the cellar?

Enter orange wine.

In making rosé, the juice undergoes only brief contact with the grape skins during the fermentation process — often around 24 hours — imparting the recognizable pretty pink hue. The juice is then pressed off and finished like a white. With orange wine, the juice macerates with skins and seeds — and stems, too, when working with whole clusters — for days, weeks or even months, just as a red wine would.

Skin contact imbues orange wine its gorgeous color, ranging from golden to salmon, from coral to amber, even a bright pink — like the striking colors of a fall sunset. The skin also contributes tannic backbone, intense richness and grippy texture, compelling complexities making it irresistible to wine connoisseurs.

Nate Ready of Hiyu Wine Farm explains, “Skin contact amplifies everything about a wine, like increasing the contrast in a photograph. A little bit can be wonderful, but for each wine, there is probably a place where you’ve taken it too far.”

Like the range of color and styles of orange wines, opinions of the style run the gamut, as well. Wine buyers struggle with its position on their lists, while critics and consumers often disagree on its merit. Either they’re revered — think cult following — or despised, presumed faddish and trendy, a novelty that won’t last.

Considering orange wine is ancient — estimated origins trace it to Georgia in Eastern Europe some 5,000-8,000 years ago — it can hardly be considered novel.

Savvy wine consumers approach wine with fewer preconceptions than professionals; they’re true wine adventurers, accepting both new techniques as much as a return to the past.

Rudy Marchesi of Montinore agrees, “I’m very excited consumers are embracing orange wines because I think they provide a nice combination of weight, texture, and fresh fruit that pairs so well with dishes difficult to find the right wine to serve with.”

Expanding on the theory of consumer acceptance, Tyler Bradley of Bradley Vineyards says, “Food, wine, beer lovers — and Oregonians in particular — have a more evolved palate than the average bear. I’ve found that experienced wine drinkers love the L’Orange because it has so much power, aroma and flavor. The less experienced may find it a tad overwhelming, but I’m fine having a more ‘expert-level’ wine.”

Mosbacher discovered clarity in orange wine. “The longer we make Pinot Gris with skin-contact, we coax out flavors that I would never have imagined associated with the grape. I often wonder aloud if this is maybe how it was always meant to be made.”

Taste one of the featured Oregon oranges, and see if you agree.

Tamara Belgard is a freelance writer who explores the Oregon wine scene from her home in S.W. Portland.

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Love & Squalor 2016 A Frayed Knot Rosé of Gewürztraminer

Pure aromatics and a lithe palate with plenty of acid keep the whole show poppin’. Lychee candy, orange blossom, honey and fresh peach pie on the nose, with strawberry, peach, pink grapefruit, tangerine and stony minerality on the palate. This one keeps unfolding forever. $20; 150 cases

Read the whole article here: https://www.oregonwinepress.com/orange-crush

90 pts in Vinous Review of Oregon Wines

Vinous Review

Josh Raynolds, of Vinous (WIne Reviews and Ratings) gave the 2013 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 90 points in his roundup of Oregon Wine.

We only have a few cases left of our top rated wine and are only selling direct from our site.

buy it here

WHAT?! A Rosé of Gewürztraminer? Here's a nice review...

Great Northwest Wines review of Love & Squalor 2015 A Frayed Knot Rosé of Gewürztraminer, Willamette Valley

One of the leaders of Portland’s urban wine scene, Matt Berson, finally has answered the pleas of his peeps and given them a rosé — and he chose 30-year-old Gewürztraminer from prized Sunnyside Vineyard near Oregon’s state capital. Foot-pressed fruit grown by Lucille Wisniewski and Tom Owens produces an intriguing pink that could at first look be mistaken for a Pinot Gris rosé where it not for the tropical nose of lychee, rosewater and kiwi with peach pie and honey. That exotic blend of fruit makes it way to the palate with a dry approach, picking up hints of strawberry and peach skin with a lingering finish that blends pink grapefruit with tangerine. That he tagged this #orangeisthenewrosé bodes well for a 2016 version.

Rating: Excellent
Production: 110 cases
Alcohol: 13%

By Great Northwest Wine on October 1, 201