Our wine of the week fulfills the 4 -Ps that make me love a wine; people, place, palate, and pairings. Wine is best when lovely people them, I love the place where they comes from, they please the palate and are versatile to pair with a range of foods. Our wine of the week, Winter’s Hill 2019 Rosé, from Dundee Hills, Oregon gets 4/4 Ps!

People: Gladhart Family

Winter’s Hill is owned and operated by the Gladhart family. The family first planted Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris in 1961. Today the third generation of the Gladhart family is managing the business. Russ Gladhart is currently the winemaker. Prior to becoming the winemaker at Winter’s Hill, Russ worked at several wineries in Oregon, New Zealand and France.

I have been a fan of these wines since 2014 and received samples of the new 2019 Winter’s Hill Rosé. Our first Shall We Wine TV episode featured this winery; ShallWeWineTV featuring Winter’s Hill Wines. The love runs deep, In 2017 I hosted a trip to the Willamette Valley where seven Shall We Wine followers and I had a chance to meet the family, see the facilities and of course drink lots of wine. The folks at this winery have a way of making you feel like you belong, our group did not want to leave!  Winter’s Hill Winery gained new friends and few more wine club members that day!

About the Wine Club

Members of our Cellar Door Club receive two shipments a year (April & October) at a 20% or 15% discount. Enjoy New Releases, Exclusive Bottlings, and occasional Older Vintages. We also offer a Magnum Club that ships once a year in November, and a Rosé Club that ships once a year in March. States we can currently ship to: AK AZ CA CO D.C. FL HI ID IL IN LA MA MI MN MO MT NE NH NV NM NY NC ND OK OR SC TN TX VA WA WI WY.

Place: Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley Oregon

Dundee Hills is an appellation in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Located 28 miles southwest of Portland and 40 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. The Dundee Hills is made up of small group of hills. It has a cool climate and is known for its red volcanic “Jory soil, which was formed from ancient volcanic basalt and consist of silt, clay and loam soils.”  These conditions are ideal for exceptional pinot noir, pinot blanc, pinot gris and chardonnay. Expect to taste elegant wines with presences and complexity from this area. If you’ve visited, you’re one of the lucky ones.  If you haven’t, make it your business to experiences the electric vide, gorgeous wines and the fresh and varied foods as soon as we are allowed to travel.

Palate: Winter’s Hill 2019 Rosé

The 2019 Winter’s Hill Rosé is 100% pinot noir, fermented in French oak. The aromas reach up and tempts with perfume of cherry, spring garden, citrus, watermelon and crackers. The wine has cheerful acidity and saturates the mouth with flavors of vivid cherry, citrus and watermelon, fresh herbs and spices.

Pairings with Food: Winter’s Hill 2019 Rosé

As I try to stretch my wine inventory through this shelter in place, I am gravitating towards wines that are flexible and pair with variety of dishes. Here are the three pairings that worked exceptionally well with our wine of the week.

Pictured from left to right: Winter’s Hill 2019 Rosé paired with medium spicy Thai green curry with pork, eggplant and green beans (Opart Thai Restaurant, Chicago). Middle photo: Chorizo, spinach, goat cheese and chives omelet (I made this). Right: Chicken wonton soup (Opart Thai Restaurant).