Walter's World, Edition No. 22 (May 2026)

May is Oregon Wine Month!

Can you believe that in our almost two years of being open, we haven’t done a wine club release entirely focused on our southern neighbors? You all know we love our Oregon pals and feature their wines year-round, so imagine my (Jess’) surprise when Chris started pulling together a loose Oregon theme with very little coaxing. (Chris self-starting on a theme? What is this, y’all?!)

Honestly, it all started with the Analemma En Vaso and then spiraled from there. The more we tasted, the more we loved — from Gamay vermouth to Sangiovese inspired by an Italian icon (the label is a riff — let us know if you recognize it!), complete with extended barrel and bottle aging, hand-bottled and labeled and even brought up from the winery by the owner himself today.

Even those in our Bubble Club are getting the Oregon treatment, with a local Blanc de Blancs taking the lead! But don’t worry — we didn’t forget some classic Champagne for you too. ;)

We hope you enjoy these wines as much as we enjoyed tasting through them.

Cheers,
the Walter's team

I | Bow & Arrow
2024 | Willamette Valley | Melon B

Melon B is the new official name for Melon de Bourgogne, supposedly to minimize the confusion with Burgundy as this grape is known for being cultivated in the Muscadet sub-region of the Nantes in the western Loire Valley right on the Atlantic coast. Historically, it would make a lean-and-mean style, full of sea spray, jicama, and face melting acid, but these days with climate change and better know-how in the vineyard, it is one of the most exciting wines in the valley. This example is inspired by the evolution of Muscadet but grown in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and made by Scott Frank who is a Loire superfan. If you’re an old school club member, you may recall his Cabernet Franc that we put in the club about a year ago which is also delish. The Willamette Valley’s climate is definitely warmer than Muscadet so it’s developed more yellow fruit – plum, meyer lemon, and Charentais melon – with a really lovely texture to boot! Drink this in the sun with Cheetos, popcorn, chips & guac, or whatever your favorite guilty snack is.

 

II | Analemma En Vaso
2022 | Mosier Hills, Columbia Gorge | Grenache & Mencía

As you may know, the Columbia Gorge is one of my favorite places on earth because it has everything I love - sailing, mountain biking, hiking, and most importantly amazing wine. Analemma is on the Oregon side of the river just outside the town of Mosier and is planted on an old cherry farm, which, by the way, they still grow and you can go pick your own and have a glass of wine when it’s harvest time. Everything is grown biodynamically, including the cherries, and they have gravitated more and more to Iberian varieties, including the wine we are featuring from them this month. While many people associate Grenache with the Rhône, it actually hails from Spain and - as you also may know about me - the variety is perhaps my favorite red in all the land. With this wine, the winemaker Steven has blended in another Iberian variety from the northwest called Mencía to bring a little more structure and savory elements to the fruit-laden Garnacha. Stylistically, Mencía is kind of like a blend between Syrah and Pinot Noir and has an alpine herb undercurrent to it, making it crushable on its own or great with a summer night grill full of PNW salmon, corn, and snap peas.

 

III | Sacred Shore Classico
2021 | Treos Vineyard, Willamette Valley | Sangiovese

We’ve featured the Mencía from these guys before and like Analemma they have gravitated toward Iberian grapes grown in the Gorge, but here we have the exception to their lineup – a Sangiovese from the Willamette made as an homage to Montevertine’s Le Pergole Torte. Sangiovese is most famous from Tuscany making Chianti and Chianti Classico but there were a cadre of producers in the 1970s who didn’t agree with the appellation rules around what grapes or percentages had to be used and broke off on their own. Dubbed “Super Tuscans,” they quickly garnered international attention for their pursuit of quality, individuality, and rule breaking. Montevertine created Pergole Torte to prove that a 100% Sangiovese from the high-elevation sub-region of Radda could equate or surpass the great wines of Chianti, whose laws at the time dictated that white grapes must be blended in with Sangiovese. Sacred Shore chose to emulate Pergole Torte not only because the wine is 100% Sangiovese, but also because the Willamette Valley is synonymous with Pinot Noir and they are “breaking the rules” to demonstrate that other varieties can match or surpass the greatness of the Burgundian focus of the valley. Raised in concrete and neutral oak just like Montervertine does, this wine is all about a sanguine and savory tone that balances out the sour cherry, tobacco, and tomato umami. A classic pairing would be bistecca but I’d rather have some braised lamb shank with a really bright gremolata and a side of risotto with a plethora of mushrooms that are rolling in right now.

 

IV | Color Collector Vermouth
NV | Willamette Valley & Columbia Gorge | Gamay

We’re huge fans of Bethany here at the shop who is the talent behind Color Collector, a label that focuses mainly on Gamay with a little bit of Pinot sprinkled in here and there. She also owns a really cool wine bar in White Salmon, on the Washington side of the Gorge, called Soča that you should definitely check out the next time you’re in the neighborhood. It’s this wine bar culture that inspired her to craft this Gamay-based vermouth from Björnson Vineyard in the Willamette’s Eola-Amity Hills. It’s aromatized with 15 different botanicals and fortified with Pinot Noir distillate before a subtle sweetening with honey from her very own hives. What doesn’t this woman do?!? Pour it over a cube or two and garnish with a generous peel of lemon to really make it sing!

BUBBLE CLUB

I | Concinnitas Blanc de Blancs
2021 | Yamhill-Carlton AVA, Willamette Valley | Chardonnay, Aligoté

Here’s another house-favorite producer…..I think this is the third wine we’ve featured from them! I swear we’re not on the payroll. What it really is is the talent of Bree & Chad Stock whose “Limited Addition” label we feature all the time because we love the diversity of varieties used and the sensible amount of ripeness and richness that always keeps the wines crushable. With Concinnitas they’ve partnered with West Seattleites Zulima & Nate to create a biodynamic farm in the Yamhill-Carlton sub-region of the Willamette Valley that’s growing Gamay, Pinot Noir, Aligoté, Chardonnay, and Chenin Blanc. This wine is a blend of Chardonnay and Aligoté Doré (the coveted yellow skinned biotype) made in the traditional sparkling method that defines Champagne production with the second fermentation happening in the bottle that it’ll be sold in. This takes a ton of work but also foresight when making the picking decision in the vineyard as the average sparkling wine made in this way won’t be released until 3-4 years after harvest at a bare minimum. Put this in a lineup with Champagne and you’d be hard-pressed to find it hiding amongst the rest - it’s that good. Get yourself some Ezell’s and pop this puppy on a patio during golden hour. 

 

II | Francis Boulard Les Murgiers Brut Nature
2019 | Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne | 100% Pinot Meunier

Normally I think half bottles are silly, with the exception of Champagne because they are the perfect size for two to share before heading out to dinner or a show. This takes away the temptation to just finish the whole bottle, keeping you honest and bright eyed for the rest of the evening. Delphine Boulard was an architect before becoming a winemaker and every year she became more and more bored with the discipline, daydreaming at her desk of working out in the sun with her hands and crafting something a bit more meaningful. She left to join her dad on their tiny little 3 hectare plot and this is their core wine, made entirely from Meunier, which dispels the earlier thoughts that the variety is suitable only for bringing fruitiness to blends of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. This wine is toasty, rich, and unctuous with deep red fruits and vibrant minerality. I’d definitely recommend some food with it like Comté or sour cream & onion chips to tame that opulence. Yum!