Dru Allen of Compris on Living the Dream

I am changing this week's newsletter up a tiny bit this morning. First, I want to wish all the dads out there a wonderful Father's Day tomorrow. I hope you can spend time with your Dad, recall some stellar memories, and pop a cork or two.

Secondly, I am giving a shout-out to my sponsor this week, ​Aubaine​. This week on the podcast, we dive into the Anahata vineyard. It is the vineyard surrounding AtTheJoy and is the estate vineyard for Aubaine. If nothing else, you should listen to the first 60 seconds of the podcast for a bit of education. Afterward, head over to the Aubaine website, stock up on some 'Joie' Pinot Noir, and use the promo code of WEINNOTES for 20% off.

And now, let's dive into it!

Food and Wine has a great list of Washington Wineries to visit.

UK Sparkling is raising some eyebrows!​

Have you heard about the Lucid Wild winery opening in Dundee?

Holy Toldeo Batman this is a great Dick Erath write up!

It is a podcast week, and this interview moved me. From the consumer side of the house, we mostly see the glamour side of wine. We see husband and wife teams live their lifelong dream of bringing people together at the dinner table, at special events, or maybe on a quiet Thursday night on the back deck in the middle of summer. Rarely do we have the opportunity to get a glimpse into the blood, sweat, and tears that go into the bottle we are so fortunate to experience. In my interview with Dru Allen from Compris Vineyard, I had the luxury of conversing with a wine lover living a lifelong dream.

Before I get to all the links, I want to provide some of the backstories leading me to today’s interview.

I am incredibly fortunate to have an abundance of incredible Wine Country memories! One train of memories starts with finding Tempranillo at Vidon, which leads to a memorable Thanksgiving weekend with Shantel, Don telling me about his Dick Erath’s Clone 95 Pinot Noir, a winemaker dinner at Rosmarino before the lockdown, and reading about the new owners of Vidon Dru and Erin.

A new train of memories began when I visited Dru and Erin for the first time in January of 2021. It was a cold day, I visited a couple of other wineries, and this is when tastings were outside due to some pandemic. Anyway, I am all layered up, tasting through the wines, it is towards the end of the day, and Dru sits down with me. We talked for a while, and I might have been referred to as the Unabomber in my layers and hoodie.

Since January 2021, Vidon is now known as Compris, and this team has been blazing quite the path through Wine Country. One of the employees for Vidon was Stephanie. She ended up taking a position at Stoller and referred Tiquette Bramlett. Tiquette was hired as the first Black woman appointed to oversee a winery in a significant U.S. wine region. I couldn’t go anywhere online without seeing this news.

In November of 2021, Dru invited me to their first-anniversary celebration, and let me tell you, I didn’t recognize this place! In years past, when I visited Vidon, there might be three groups tasting if you were lucky. This place was packed with people, and everyone had a grand time!

While there, I got a chance to talk with Dru for a few minutes, and he gave me an update on the 2021 Dick Erath Pinot Noir. He was super pumped with it being in Amphora. I didn’t think to ask him about the 2019 vintage because my heart was beaming with joy for Dru and Erin. They were making their dreams become a reality.

Community plays a huge role in their roadmap. Tiquette is a fan of Tempranillo and came up with the idea of bringing Oregon Tempranillo producers into one room. We now have a yearly Tempranillo event called “Raising the Temp.” Unfortunately, I didn’t attend the first year, but tasting Tempranillo throughout the state was fabulous last year!

Last Spring, Dru and Erin changed the name to Compris Vineyard. It is French, meaning inclusive. With a name change came all of the marketing changes, new labels, new bottles, and all sorts of unimaginable tasks I have zero clue about. Just a month or so ago, there was the first Anniversary of being Compris.

Last summer, I got to know Dru and Erin a little more during a couple of dinners at IPNC. Dru is quite the Beaux Freres fan, and I connected him with another fan.

Speaking of IPNC events, Dru and the Compris Chardonnay were at Oregon's Chardonnay Celebration in February. I'm telling you, Compris is everywhere!

When I sat down with Dru on that cold January day, he mentioned how he wanted to expand the winery. Wouldn’t you know it, that project finished up last Harvest. I was lucky to take a look after the interview, and it’s nice not to have your tasting room and winery in the same building.

If all of those things aren’t enough, Dru is the Vice President of the Board and Chair of the Marketing Committee for the Chehalem Mountains Winegrowers. I know every winery owner puts in a metric crap ton of work, and I do not want to discount anyone when I say this. Still, it is incredible to see the impact Dru and Erin have had on embracing their venture and becoming solid community members!

I can’t wait to hear more exciting news in the coming months!

One last tidbit before we get to the links for this week’s episode. The 2019 Vidon Dick Erath’s Clone 95 Pinot Noir is out of this world. Dru surprised blinded me on it after the interview. It sounds like it will be released this Fall, and yes, it was well worth the wait! Here are my thoughts on the wine.

Deep dark red colors in the glass tempt you to take way more than a sip. On the nose, dark red fruit intermingled with spice and clove. Resisting the temptation to take a huge gulp, the first sip on entry instantly grabs your attention, where your mid-palate is already salivating in anticipation. When I say a lot is going on, I am not exaggerating! On the mid-palate, you are greeted with an assortment of spices and dark red fruit. There is an incredible balance of acidity where the tannin structure easily blends into the background. For the finish, you can feel those wonderful spices through and through for an extended duration.

It would make me incredibly overjoyed if you could listen to or watch this episode of Dru Allen with Compris Vineyard. A minor side footnote, the original plan for the interview was also to have Erin, but there was a scheduling issue.

• ​YouTube​
• ​Apple Podcasts​
• ​Spotify​

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If you have yet to visit Compris, I can’t suggest it enough. If nothing else, sign up for their newsletter to be notified with the Dick Erath Clone 95 Pinot Noir is released. When you see Dru or Erin in the tasting room, please tell them, “A.J. sent me!”

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With Gratitude,

A.J.

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