A Formal Tasting with Jay McDonald of EIEIO

One of the things I miss about doing the newsletter on a weekly basis is my little ramblings. I've been getting on the bike quite a bit this month, and I remember a little ramble I had about an electric bike I almost overtook. I was in the same spot this morning and chuckled to myself.

On another note, did you hear about IPNC? This is the last year it will be in its current weekend-long format. I’m so sad this 38-year tradition is changing. I understand that taxes, death, and changes are the only constants in life, but to think this might be the last year of the Salmon Bake, the Grand Seminar, or the Champagne Brunch makes my eyes well up. I sure hope you are going this year. We have to make it one hell of a weekend and go out with a bang. If you haven’t already bought your ticket, here is an immense amount of peer pressure to buy your ticket. I promise you will miss out on so much if you don’t go.

Shall we explore some links?

Shout out to Pray Tell Wines for being amoung the Top 25 Pinot Noir list from VinePair!

Please tell me you have made a reservation with Corollary to check out their new tasting room. It is pretty darn fantastic if I do say so myself!

Sokol has a new wine bar onsite I need to check out!​

Are you ready to dive deeper into the Ribbon Ridge AVA? Check out this piece from Sam from Jancis Robinson.

​Reusable wine bottles, yes please!

Ste. Michelle Wine Facility in Prosser, WA got bought.

Flaneur has a new head winemaker!

In Block 55 news, yesterday I signed up a couple of new wineries, but they are not 100% live yet. You will have to wait until next month to hear who signed up. I will tell you there is a winery that is part of the Oregon Wine Core that signed up. I am super ecstatic about everyone who is signing up.

Do you by chance know a winery that is paying too much for their reservation system and is super complex with zero user-friendliness? Reply to this email and let me know of a good contact. If that winery signs up, I will send $20 your way!

I took a look at how I opened last month’s email, and it started off something like, “Do you remember back in February at the Oregon Chardonnay Celebration?” I was going to open this month’s email in a very similar fashion, but now I think that isn’t the best thing to do. Instead, I am going to start off by saying I got a wonderful invite from Jay McDonald to come out and taste his wines from EIEIO.

Michael Alberty wrote about Jay in the Oregonian in 2021 with this opening:

If you have been tasting wines in Oregon for a while, you have undoubtedly heard about Jay’s wines. You know beyond a shadow of a doubt that when you take that first sip, magic will happen, and you should prepare to have your socks blown off! This is why I wanted my first sip of wine at the Oregon Chardonnay Celebration to be a Chardonnay from Jay.

After Jay and I decided on a date and time, this is what he wrote:

A two to three-hour tasting with plenty of food. I knew I was in for a treat and couldn’t wait for March 30th to come around!

The end of March in Oregon is unpredictable when it comes to weather. Luckily, it was a false spring day with plenty of sun and not a cloud in sight. How do I get so lucky?

Pulling up the driveway, Jay was waiting for me with his puppy, who I think was 3-6 months old. I wish I had taken a picture, because oh my goodness, such a cute little pup. We talked a little and discussed some of the vineyards we could see from the property. One of the properties was CJ McCollum’s, which should be coming online pretty soon.

Side tangent real quick, does anyone know if Adelsheim will be able to continue making CJ’s wines with an increase in production? I mean, I am assuming there would be an increase since there is now estate fruit coming online. When will CJ build a tasting room? What is the plan for the property? So many questions and I haven’t heard a peep. Curious minds want to know!

Ok, back to Jay.

After looking over the property a little, we went to the tasting cottage, and wow, there were a ton of glasses lined up with an out-of-this-world charcuterie board. I always try to eat before tastings for obvious reasons, and when I saw this board, I was thinking, “There is no way I can begin to put a dent in this bad boy.”

The cottage is a perfect place for a tasting. Can you imagine getting a handful of friends together for one heck of an intimate tasting? How often do you get to sit one-on-one with the winemaker, tasting through an incredible lineup?

Speaking of an incredible lineup, Jay started us off with the 2013 Saffron Fields Pinot Noir, followed by the 2015, 2019, and 2022. All of these were incredible! What I found similar in all of these wines was how the dark red fruits continued to shine through from mid-palate to an extended long, spicy finish.

Sitting across the table from Jay and sipping through these wines was something else. This was the first time we sat down, but from the conversations we had, you wouldn’t think that for a minute. One piece of advice Jay got from Steve Doerner was to make wine you want to drink because the worst-case scenario is you have to drink the wine yourself.

I noticed on the back label of the Saffron Pinot Noir there was some Kanji. I asked Jay about it, and he said it translated to, “The best I could with what Mother Nature gave me.” There was another story about how it didn’t translate into that saying 100%, and for some reason, I didn’t write down those details.

One other conversation that sparked an interest was about another vineyard close by called White Cloud. Jay sources some fruit there, and what’s interesting about this vineyard is the fact that the vines don’t follow the standard trellis method. Instead, the vines are shaped kind of like an umbrella. Jay got his phone out to show me the label.

I made a note in my little journal to research this winery more, and believe it or not, I ran into Narrow Window at the Indie Wine Mixer last weekend. We briefly chatted, and I found out the Viticulturist Joey Myers is part of the Myers family that owns Siltstone. I did a newsletter about Siltstone back in 2022. You should check it out and notice the label design for Siltstone, then compare the label for Narrow Window. I see a lot of similarities!

In my journal, I noted that we tasted the 2021 X Chardonnay, 2019 Saffron Fields Chardonnay, and a 2011 O Chardonnay. The 2021 and 2019 were excellent. Both had great acidity, and I highly suggest you try them out!

Getting to taste the 2011 Chardonnay was quite a treat. I remember looking at it in the glass, thinking it did not look like a 13-year-old wine. The color was still very vibrant and young. Jay didn’t give me details about this wine when he poured it. I knew it was a Chardonnay, but had no clue about the year. My first sip reminded me of an Aligote in a good way. Jay was asking me what I thought. Of course, I told him I enjoyed it, and the next words out of my mouth had me shaking in my shoes a little, “Please don’t take this the wrong way. I mean zero disrespect by what I am getting ready to say, but this reminds me of an Aligote.” I don’t remember what Jay said in response, but it wasn’t negative in any fashion. We talked a little more, and Jay offered to pour me more wine as we walked down to the winery.

Walking into the winery, there were barrels up to the ceiling, and yes, I can see why Jay calls it "Oregon’s most efficient facility.” On the wall, I saw a big sign that said, “Everything Matters.” I couldn’t help myself and had to ask if there was a story behind the sign. Wouldn’t you know, there is a story. Turns out there were some people helping Jay with bottling one day. One of those people was putting the stickers on the boxes crooked. Jay needed the label to be straight, and the person helping said something like, “It’s just the sticker on the box, and it doesn’t matter.” Jay’s response was, “Everything matters!”

Jay takes extreme pride in the wine he creates, and it shows. Getting the winery ready for harvest, it is cleaned from top to bottom. He sources some stellar fruit and has his process humming along quite nicely!

Jay got a wine thief to taste through a few barrels. He got some wine out of one barrel and said, “This is pretty much ready to go. What do you think?” I might have panicked a little inside when I said, “I have no clue and can’t begin to speak if the wine is ready.” I mean, what I tasted was quite nice, and I liked it! He then poured a different wine into my glass and said, “Taste this and compare.” Yup, that was easy. The second wine was nowhere near ready.

After a little while in the winery, we walked back up the hill, and what a gorgeous day it was to taste with Jay. If you haven’t already figured this out, you should put together a group of six to visit Jay on his farm! You might wonder why six? Well, when you go to Jay’s website to make an appointment, you will get sticker shock at first, but take a couple of breaths to think this through. The prepayment of $500 is refunded with the purchase of wine. I promise your socks will be knocked off by Jay’s wine. Everyone in the group getting two bottles of wine is super easy. You will be happy, Jay will be happy, and you will have some incredible memories to look back on! When you make your reservation with Jay, please tell him, “A.J. sent me!”

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With Gratitude,

A.J.

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PS - Did you notice the newsletter was a week late? Want to know why? Reply to the email and I will let you know.

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