Adventures in McMinnville & Yamhill-Carlton AVAs

Remy Wines is located in McMinnville’s historic Granary District

Earlier this month, I was offered an opportunity to visit two sub AVAs of the famed Willamette Valley: McMinnville and Yamhill-Carlton. Both of these AVAs are unique in so many exceptional ways, and spending just a day in each of these areas allowed me to literally taste the terroir of a region known for some of the world’s best Pinot Noir.

Carl Giavanti, of Carl Giavanti Consulting, is a well-respected and incredibly insightful wine consultant that works with wineries in both the McMinnville and Yamhill-Carlton AVAs. Carl mainly works with small producers while focusing on communications and marketing required to sell wine directly to consumers. My visit to these two key sub AVAs of Oregon’s Willamette Valley was Carl’s idea, and he worked diligently to set up tastings and meetings with winemakers and winery owners for my visit.

Six year vertical of Youngberg Hill Jordan Block Pinot Noir

Starting with a day spent in McMinnville’s historic Granary District, we tasted some spectacular wines from Grochau Cellars, Remy Wines and Biggio Hamina Cellars. With a night’s stay at the breathtaking Youngberg Hill Vineyards and Inn, we joined several other Pacific Northwest based wine writers for a vertical tasting of Youngberg Hill’s Jordan Block Pinot Noir – a six year vertical with a focus on holistic farming was definitely a momentous experience.

The next day, we visited the super charming, small town of Carlton, where we had a walking tour with Carlton Mayor Kathie Oriet, and Jeff Lorton, co-owner of Carlton’s unique vintage and collectibles shop and tasting bar, Valley Emporium. I absolutely fell in love with Carlton. The entire town has a theme going: a wine theme. Their high-end restaurant is named Cuvee, the shops that line Main Street are mostly tasting rooms, wine bars and cafe’s – all with exceptional local wines. I tried some exceptional wine at the tasting room for WildAire Cellars. And, get this: the local high school has a viticulture program for the students, and it’s hands on. An entire vineyard was planted and is maintained by students! Indeed, Carlton captured my heart.

Downtown Carlton’s Cuvee Restaurant

While visiting my new found favorite town of Carlton, I not only had lunch and a tasting with Ken Wright of Ken Wright Cellars, but Dick Shea (Shea Wine Cellars) and Mark Huff (Stag Hollow), and vineyard owner, Joel Kiff, who provides fruit for Denison Cellars, joined us as well. After lunch, Ken Wright drove us up to one of his vineyards, Abbott-Claim Vineyard, where we could see four of the five AVAs from where we stood. It was truly amazing; in addition to, being an incredible learning experience. The two day, two AVA adventure ended with marvelous visits to Lenne Estate and Blakeslee Vineyard.

During those two days, some absolutely incredible wines were tasted and even more incredible stories were told. Both McMinnville AVA and Yamhill-Carlton AVA have particularly unique histories, and I’m looking forward to writing about each of the wineries that we visited and, of course, writing about the wines we tasted. For the next couple weeks, I’ll be posting stories about the terroir, tastings, people and places I experienced during those two fabulous days. There are great stories to be told – McMinnville and Yamhill-Carlton AVAs are truly amazing.

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Carl Giavanti is a true gentleman with an enthusiastic passion for wine, consulting and marketing. He’s absolutely brilliant at what he does. Visit CarlGiavantiConsulting.com for more information or to contact Carl directly.