THREE BOTTLE THURSDAYS

10% OFF THREE OR MORE BOTTLES
THURSDAYS IN THE TASTING ROOM.
(WINE CLUB, 20% OFF)
 

28 August - Garageland Pinot Noir 2021
14 Sept - Pet Matt Rosé of Zinfandel 2021
21 Sept - Love & Squalor Gamay Noir 2021
28 Sept - Love & Squalor Skin Contact "A Frayed Knot" Gewürztraminer 2022
5 & 12 Oct - Love & Squalor Riesling Reserved 2016 

As you can see, each week we'll be featuring a special wine in addition to our regular flight of wines. The first week is the Garageland Pinot Noir 2021. The name is stolen from The Clash, and is an homage to all of the artisans - from musicians and painters, to vintners and food makers, who toil away behind nondescript roll-up doors.

The next 2 weeks it’s our PET MATT Sparkling Rosé of Zinfandel 2021. A play on the word Pét-Nat made by Matt, a cheeky sort, who deserves some little scribbles on his face. This one looks playful, but it is seriously good… a refreshing wonderful little fizz that tickles the tongue.

Then we have the dazzling Love & Squalor Gamay Noir 2021 that has gotten lot of press — and for good reason! We were voted one of the "20 best Northwest wines of 2022" by Seattle Times. We were praised with a gold metal from Great Northwest Wine. It got 92 Points in Wine Enthusiast, 92 points from from James Suckling, 91 points from Northwest Wine Report and 16.5/20 from Jancis Robinson, who also included us in an article about great Thanksgiving wines.

In the last week of September there’s the Love & Squalor Skin Contact "A Frayed Knot" Gewürztraminer 2022, which is truly a singular wine from the 1971 planted Sunnyside Vineyard. The color derives from a long cold skin maceration and was fermented dry in Syrah barrels. It has a floral and sweet nose, medium weight body and a nice mineral finish. We call it a rosé but technically it is really an “orange” wine (no! oranges were NOT used in the making of this wine!). This one has also gotten a little press with Wine Enthusiast, Northwest Wine Report gave it 92 points & Critics Choice and Paul Gregutt’s site also gave it 92 points and called it inspired, delicious, and unique.

In October we will be spotlighting the Love & Squalor Riesling Reserved 2016, Angie's favorite. The Riesling Reserved, formerly labeled as "Fancy Pants" Riesling, this one is all old vine sources and wild yeast, which gives it a distinctive zing. The 2016 vintage was warm and dry, which gave us a complex grape with well established acid. All of my favorite sell-known riesling aromas and palate are there, young lemon, honeysuckle and a light note of the elusive "diesel". The press thought so, too. Paul Gregutt gave it 93points, Northwest Wine Report gave it 91 & Critic's Choice and Jancis Robinson gave it 16.5/20

Savings apply to ANY three wines, so feel free to mix and match wines that you love. 

TH/FRI 4-8pm
SAT/SUN 4-8pm

more about the tasting room here

90pts 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

Best 100 wines of 2016 says Wine Enthusiast. Guess who’s #53?!

#53

Love & Squalor 2013 Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley)

93 Points Editors’ Choice

A sensational value, this is a Pinot lover's wine, beginning with the gorgeous color of a deep red/orange sunset. Cherries, chocolate, and a light touch of orange peel elevate the aromatics and inform the well-integrated midpalate. The wine lingers gracefully through an immaculate finish.

You can buy the wine online here (click)

The article can be seen here: http://www.winemag.com/toplists/top-100-wines-2016/

Great Northwest Wines Says We Are "Outstanding"

Great Northwest Wines latest review on our Love & Squalor 2012 Ansty Pants Riesling, Willamette Valley

You can see it here: http://www.greatnorthwestwine.com/2016/10/18/love-squalor-2012-antsy-pants-riesling-willamette-valley-28/

The Portland Wine Company’s reserve-style dry Riesling continues to focus on four-decade-old Brooks Vineyard in the cooler Eola-Amity Hills, but this vintage debuts an inclusion from Sunnyside Vineyard, an even older site planted in 1971. Matt Berson’s expression from the 2012 vintage continues with the residual sugar at (0.6%), and here there’s a great presentation of acidity. Rich aromas of baked pear with cinnamon, peach pie, apricot glacéed and jasmine lead to luscious flavors of ripe white peach and dried pineapple. It’s fruity, yet capped with a touch of slate for a food-friendly finish.

Rating: Outstanding!
Production: 59 cases
Alcohol: 11%

By Great Northwest Wine on October 18, 2016  

Portland Magazine's top 50 wines

Guess who is in the top 50 wines chosen by Portland Monthly Magazine— Check out #33! 
hint: Love & Squalor Riesling

http://www.pdxmonthly.com/articles/2016/9/13/oregon-s-50-best-wines

33. Love & Squalor
2013 Riesling. 
Willamette Valley, $20
Grapefruit zest and crabapple. Mouth-watering acidity that makes your mouth pop. Earthy. Textural and aggressive. Pair with: choucroute garnie

Here's what Great Northwest Wines says...

Great Northwest Wines gave our Love & Squalor 2013 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley a wonderful review.

You can see it here: http://www.greatnorthwestwine.com/2016/09/08/love-squalor-2013-pinot-noir-willamette-valley-28/

"This vintage marks the 10th anniversary of Matt Berson’s introduction to winemaking, and his flagship wine from this rain-interrupted season illustrates a blend of nearly equal contributions from eight vineyards – led by Dundee Hills sites Winter’s Hill and Vista Hills. The choice of essentially all neutral French oak at his McMinnville winery allows for a Pinot Noir to reveal itself as a cherry bomb with secondary aromas of strawberry, plum juice and fresh fig with a pinch of herbs and shaving of dark chocolate. As a drink, it’s eminently approachable with Bing cherry and raspberry flavors that offer ripeness rather than sweetness. That feeds into a smooth and round structure capped by orange zest, Earl Grey tea and cocoa."

Rating: Excellent
Production: 1,100 cases
Alcohol: 12.9% 

By Great Northwest Wine on September 8, 2016 

WINE ENTHUSIAST REVIEWS ARE IN!

Fine winemaking is on display here...

— Paul Gregutt Wine Enthusiast June 2016

love & squalor WV Riesling 2013 - 93 Points - Editor's Choice
This packs tremendous flavor into a low-alcohol wine with moderate residual sugar. Peach pit and juice, green apple and citrusy acids start it off. The flavors keep going through a long, complex finish, adding subtle notes of herb and cut grass.

love & squalor Antsy Pants Riesling 2011 - 92 Points
Ignore the silly name and focus on the important particulars—old vine (planted 1976), wild yeast, biodynamic farming. Absolutely bone-dry yet bursting with complex minerality, citrus rind, and penetrating acidity, it has phenolics that give length, breadth and detail.

love & squalor WV Pinot Noir 2012 - 91 Points - Editor's Choice
Fine winemaking is on display here, as the blend includes grapes from six far-flung vineyards. It’s artfully melded, with brambly berries, Bing cherries, cola, cocoa and red licorice notes. Seamless and buttressed with natural acids, it’s not at all reliant on barrel flavors, having seen just 6% once-filled oak, with the rest neutral.

love & squalor Antsy Pants Pinot Noir 2011 - 91 Points
The proprietary name indicates that this is the winemaker’s reserve cuvée, a three-barrel selection mixing equal proportions of grapes from the Eola Hills, Dundee Hills and Ribbon Ridge AVAs. It’s austere, tight and yet authoritative, showing compact wild berry fruit, Mediterranean herbs and a slight saltiness. It’s best to cellar it until 2020, or give it a good long decant.

Thanks Mr. Gregut 

source: http://www.winemag.com/buying-guide/love-squalor-2013-pinot-noir-willamette-valley

WINE & SPIRITS Article featurES Matt!

From Wine & Spirits Magazine August 2016

Riesling Resurgent
by David Schildknecht

pg 47. "...That Seestedt’s Sunnyside success isn’t some winemaking tour de force is demonstrated not only by his familiar claim to have done as little “making” as possible, but also by the equally vibrant and infectiously juicy 2014 Sunnyside Riesling crafted by Seestedt protégé and former restaurant manager Matt Berson under his Love & Squalor label. Berson, who also works adeptly with the fruit of Richard Cuddihy’s 1971 planting, ferments and raises multiple tiny lots according to di ering protocols, one possible explanation for the satisfying complexity of his results. Another intriguing piece of the Sunnyside puzzle—assuming you’re puzzled that riesling this good comes from a place of which few riesling-lovers have heard—is that the vines are trained with so-called Pendelbogen arches, a method that promotes sap distribution and efficient picking, as well as depresses must weights, which might nowadays be advantageous."

The article can be downloaded here

Portland Monthly Knows Good

Thanks to Portland Monthly magazine and Amalie, proprietor of Kir Wine Bar, for the nice mention in the latest ish.

The Budget Oenophile

Amalie Roberts, owner of the intimate Kir Wine Bar in Northeast Portland, is known for her eclectic taste in affordable wines. We asked her how to find value in Oregon’s traditionally pricey wine market.

Is it getting easier to find bargain Oregon wines? There is a new trend here toward lower-priced, entry-level wines, which is positive as long as we don’t lose the taste profiles that make us “Oregon.”

What characteristics do you expect from great, inexpensive wines? Purity of fruit, qualities of the varietal, and a sense of place. I love Patricia Green Cellars’ ‘Dollar Bills Only’ pinot noir ($17) and the Commuter Cuvée pinot from Grochau Cellars ($15).

Where do you find the best value? Whites and rosés. Matt Berson of Love & Squalor—he’s a winemaker to watch—makes an excellent pure Riesling for $18. I like Matello’s pinot rosé ($15) and J. Christopher’s ‘Cristo Irresisto’ (a show-stopper at $12).

What are the best places in Portland to drink value wines? I’m a huge supporter of Bar Avignon, Southpark, and Vino Paradiso for knowledgeably selected and reasonably priced local wines.

Link to the whole issue here