Sip Northwest, Fall 2016

BY PETER SZYMCZAK 39 S I P N O R T H W E S T C O M stainless to preserve the pristine fr uit Green apple and apple blossom lead the vivid fr uity palate while crisp pithy grapefr uit and lemon linger on the juicy fi nish Lively and refr eshing in the glass 18 ancestrycellars com 2ND PLACE Sweet Cheeks Winery 2015 Umpqua Valley 17 3RD PLACE Seven Hills Winery 2015 Columbia Valley 20 PANEL PICKS 2Hawk Vineyard Winery 2014 Rogue Valley 18 EFESTE 2015 Feral Ancient Lakes 20 Cadaretta Wines 2015 SBS Columbia Valley 23 BEST PINOT GRIS 1ST PLACE Benton Lane Winery 2015 Willamette Valley ORIGIN Monroe OR CHARACTER One of Willamette Valleys most established wineries Benton Lane farms exclusively estate fr uit and they have their pick of sites fr om 142 acres of prime vineyard land The generous warmth of 2015 leaps out of the glass with orchard fr uit light honey and melon tempered with a fi ne herbal spicing Lean and brisk this fi nishes dry and bright 19 benton lane com 2ND PLACE King Estate Winery 2015 Domaine Willamette Valley 28 3RD PLACE Foris Vineyards 2015 Rogue Valley 14 PANEL PICKS Duck Pond Cellars 2015 Willamette Valley 14 A to Z Wineworks 2015 Oregon 14 Jones of Washington 2014 Ancient Lakes 14 Industry Influencer JANIE BROOKS HEUCK BROOKS WINERY AMITY OR H ey you need to get in the wine business exclaimed no accountant ever Making wine is an expensive time consuming endeavor and returns on investment can take years even decades to realize if ever Yet thats just what fi nance whiz Janie Brooks Heuck did when her older brother Jimi a bohemian winemaker in Oregons Eola Amity Hills died unexpectedly right before the 2004 fall harvest Not that she had a choice really The day after Jimi died 14 of his winemaking cohorts from a dozen local wineries banded together and presented her with an offer she couldnt refuse they would make the wine for Brooks Winery that year The people who helped me could just as easily have said Were taking Jimis fruit and you can shut this whole thing down and I probably would have said OK she recalls They had such a vision why Jimis work had to continue Jimi was an ardent believer in biodynamic farmings ability to produce delicious Riesling and Pinot Noir that could transparently showcase the terroir of the Willamette Valley There was another much more important reason however for Brooks Heuck to preserve her brothers legacy his 8 year old son Pascal who inherited the winery Until Pascal comes of age Brooks Heuck was entrusted to oversee the winerys management With the help of Jimis close friend winemaker Chris Williams Brooks Heuck has grown the winerys output almost 10 times over from 2500 cases the year Jimi passed away to 25000 cases in 2015 Part of the reason for all of the growth is price point and accessibility to the wine which was super important to my brother she says We havent changed the distribution prices since we started And thats just the beginning of her accomplishments Shes become an ambassador of the Oregon wine industry through organizations such as WineAmerica the International Pinot Noir Celebration and International Riesling Foundation In 2008 she purchased the 20 acres that her brother had farmed biodynamically since 2002 and in 2014 she opened a new production facility on the site with an adjoining tasting room thats quickly become one of the valleys chillest hangout spots For those wanting to improve their enological and viticultural knowledge Brooks Heuck invested in a full time wine educator who has helped to develop programs such as Brooks University an annual tasting seminar and a Sunday Sommelier Series teaching on a wide variety of wine and vineyard topics each month Working in the wine industry as compared to the health care and accounting worlds she operated in before has allowed Brooks Heuck to understand the passion of people who get up every day and love what theyre doing and the people they do it with she says I think that was the lesson Jimi wanted me to have and I am super grateful for it For Brooks Heuck the biggest payoff of her involvement and evolution in the winery has been the relationships shes forged in the industry Life is way too short to do this just for the sake of doing it she says Its an investment in the people who knew Jimi PANEL PICKS panl piks noun The next highest ranking wines for your grocery list