| Northwest Wine Fan visits Bethel Heights Vineyard |
| Talk To The Cellarmasters: Tim & Carolyn Sinniger northwestwinefan@msn.com |
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| Great Pinot Noir and one of the best Pinot Blancs in Oregon? Yep, it's Bethel Heights Vineyard! Located just 10 miles outside Salem and just off Wallace Road which takes you to the Northern Willamette Valley, Bethel Heights Vineyard is a perfect first stop if heading to McMinnville, Newberg or Dundee from the Salem area. Being ahead of schedule on our way to Portland we took a chance and called ahead to Bethel Heights to see if we could stop by for a tasting. Even though they had a tutored group tasting scheduled at the time we were able to arrive, they were happy to accommodate us. Bethel Heights Vineyard was planted in 1977 and they started producing their highly regarded Pinot Noirs and other varietals in 1984. Bethel Heights makes several Pinot Noirs including their flagship Casteel Reserve, Estate, West Block, Southeast Block, Flat Block and Justice Vineyards (just 152 cases produced of this gem). In addition to their fine Pinot Noirs they also produce oaked and un-oaked Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir Rose, Pinot Gris and their excellent Pinot Blanc (yum!). The Visit Our hosts Jennifer and Kate were great. They were engaged and knowledgeable about all of the wines we tasted and definitely made our visit enjoyable and informative. White wines tasted included the 2007 and 2008 Gewurztraminer, 2008 Pinot Gris, 2007 Pinot Noir Rose, 2007 Estate Chardonnay and even though not on the list they opened a 2008 Pinot Blanc for us to try. We enjoyed the Estate Chardonnay and of course both the 2008 Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. Pinot Noirs sampled included the Estate, Casteel Reserve and Justice Vineyard. The Casteel Reserve (92 Points Robert Parker) was a tremendous wine exuding dark fruits, spice and well rounded tannins. One of the best Pinot Noirs from the 2007 vintage we've tried to date. A close second was the Justice Vineyard (91 Points) that currently is dense and monolithic, but has all the hallmarks of what will be an incredible Pinot Noir with proper cellaring. All in all a very satisfying visit. As we left the winery and started our journey to Portland we had one really cool surprise as we headed towards Woodburn to get on the Interstate 5 Freeway... the Wheatland Ferry. Never knew it was there, but we paid our toll, got on and ferried across the river. What fun! These and other fine wines are available from Northwest Wine Fan. Contact us at 541-948-4350 or by email at northwestwinefan@msn.com |
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| Bethel Heights Vineyard Winemakers Ben Casteel & Terry Casteel Assistant Winemaker Adam Smith Tasting Room 6060 Bethel Heights Road NW Salem, OR 97304 503-581-2262 Hours February 1st - December 23rd Tuesday thru Sunday 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM Website www.bethelheights.com |
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