Ambar, the Valley's First Regenerative Organic Vineyard

Well, will you look at this? It is the second Saturday of March, which means the newsletter didn’t go out last week. I promise to make it up to this week with a long story you don’t want to miss out on!

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Enough rambling already. I do enough of that already. Let’s get into some links!

Calkins Lane is doing their Block Party again this year!

Jeanne from Corollary Wines finished up a huge project!

The Yamhill-Carlton AVA is celebrating 20 years!

​Paden West is on a podcast, you gotta listen!!

Sokol Blosser at this year's Rose Festival​

Let's take a deep dive into Krug!

​Wine by Joe has a new CEO

Oregon Wines in Atlanta, oh my!

Yamhill-Carlton is doing their Annual Spring Tasting in May

Alexana is hosting a Organic Wine Conference!

The Chehalem Winery is opening a new tasting and I can't wait to check it out!

Amaterra is expanding to Bend​

Oregon Wine Press on the Queen of Sparkling, Kate Payne Brown​

Huge news, Kate Payne Brown is now the head winemaker at Argyle​

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You know every February is an exciting month for me. I mean it is my birth month and trying to celebrate all month is actually next to impossible. With that being said, I do try to have some major highlights. One of those highlights is the Oregon Chardonnay Celebration. Long-time readers are probably expecting me to dive into OCC again this month. I thought about it for quite some time, but I felt it was time to share another story, that started for me last year at the Celebration of Everything Chardonnay.

Here is the excerpt from the newsletter last March of where this March’s newsletter will begin:

Here we are a year in the making and I am just now telling you about Ambar. Shall we begin?

I was hearing rumblings out in Wine Country. The first was Bryan Weil, the winemaker at the time for Alexana, was starting a new project. The second one came from Kate Payne Brown while at a function. She hinted at a new opportunity she was pursuing. Eventually I heard about Vinovate. It is a state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line custom crush facility off of Worden Hill Road. Bryan and Kate were the winemakers. Wow, shocking news and I love every minute of it.

Not too long after (3-6 months I don’t remember), that was when I fell head over heels for the Lustral Chardonnay from Ambar. With Kate Payne Brown behind the table at OCC, I needed to start putting some pieces together. If you remember, in my little passage above, I started talking with Rob Townsend after giving Kate a hug. Come to find out, Rob is also the Co-Founder of Vinovate. I got Rob’s card and set out to explore Ambar.

After emailing Rob a couple of times to coordinate on a date to come out and visit the winery, that wasn’t open yet, was not all that fruitful. Schedules, I tell you! But, out of the blue, I got a message from a good friend, Julie Mettille. For those of you who haven’t been with me for that long, let me give you some backstory on Julie.

October of 2019, Domaine Serene was getting ready to open their Lake Oswego Lounge. They needed some “test subjects” for a dinner they were putting together at the Downtown Portland Lounge. I happily agreed to attend, and this was the very first time I met Julie. Come to find out, this was Julie’s first day at Domaine Serene, and she was expecting to work the event. Instead, she sat across the table from me. There were countless times I ran into Julie at Lake Oswego. Later on, Domaine Serene opened another lounge in Bend. I was sad to see Julie leave for Bend, but I was happy for her. Next on Julie’s journey was at Bledsoe McDaniels. Here is a picture of us at the Coulee Estate vineyard, which used to be the Hopewell Vineyard owned by Mimi Casteel.

Getting back to the message I got from Julie, I am pretty sure you can guess what it was at this point. Yes, it was news that she was moving back to the area and will be heading up hospitality at Ambar Estate. I was thrilled and excited for her. Don’t you just love how stories come together? I do, and this is why I wait sometimes over a year for nature to take its course. The problem, though, is there are so many topics to dive into.

Let’s start with Rob Townsend and then I will continue with his wife, Pam Turner. It was announced on the Softbank Group’s website and press release that “Robert Townsend, current co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’s Global M&A Practice Group, will join SoftBank as Chief Legal Officer and Senior Vice President of SoftBank, and Chief Legal Officer of SoftBank Group International, effective September 17, 2018.”

Pam Turner is an award-winning author of several science-based books for kids. Some of her books include: “Hachiko: The True Story of a Loyal Dog”, “Gorilla Doctors: Saving Endangered Great Apes”, “Samurai Rising: The Epic Life of Minamoto Yoshitsune”, and so much more! You should visit Pam’s website to learn more about her!

The couple met as exchange students in Kenya and traveled the world. Their three children were born in three different countries and spent about six years in Japan. I mention Japan because the landscape architecture is brought to you by Hoichi Kurisu, known for his designs of the Portland Japanese Garden, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, and Morikami Museum.

I knew none of this for my first visit on June 8th. I was simply blown away when I first stepped foot onto the property. I will share my pictures with you, but I have to steal a picture from The Dundee so you can get a sense of the overall property.

Gorgeous right? Here are some of my pics.

I wanted to write about Ambar after that visit, but it felt like I needed more depth. So what does one do? Well, in my case, I went back out on July 13th for a tasting, and since then, they hired Chef Heidi Whitney-Schile. For some of you, I am sure you know Chef Heidi; others, maybe not.

Chef Heidi, from what I have been told, is known mostly from a restaurant her and her husband started in downtown Portland called Grain and Gristle. The restaurant gained much popularity, and when it closed in 2023, Eater, Willamette Week, and Koin let the community know. Later that year, the couple started L’ecole to focus on wine, charcuterie, small bites, brunch, and classes.

Going into the tasting, I was expecting to taste through some wines, enjoy the view, and instead, I got the luxury of meeting Chef Heidi along with incredible fresh burrata and veggies along with a decadent spread of veggies, spreads, and bread. I have never had quite the spread like this before. I can see why Grain and Gristle was so popular!

Shall we talk a little bit about the wine? I mean, that is what you are here for, right?

The 2023 Rose was one I liked. It didn’t have the typical sourness I get, and the acidity was spot on!

Next up was the 2021 Ambar Estate Dundee Hills Chardonnay. I really enjoyed how full-bodied this wine was along with its acidity. Sometimes the acid can take over, and this did not one bit.

The third wine of the tasting moved us into Pinot Noir Land and more specifically the 2021 Ambar Estate Pinot Noir. There is something to be said about Pinots in Oregon. There is a bar, a standard you might say. This Pinot definitely achieved that bar with ease.

With that being said, the next Pinot in the line-up was the 2021 Sacra Terra Pinot Noir. In my little journal, I made a note to look up the definition of Sacra Terra. AI is telling me it is a Latin term meaning sacred earth and can refer to a special place or to a commitment to caring for the land. I don’t know, but I have a feeling Pam came up with this name. The wine itself spoke to me with a strong spice on the nose, mid-palate, and an extra-long finish. I enjoyed it and have no doubts in 15+ years it will be a treasure to explore!

Speaking of treasures to explore, the final wine of the tasting was the spotlight of the Oregon Chardonnay Celebration last year. The 2021 Ambar Estate Lustral Chardonnay. I already told you about this wine. It is gorgeous and stunning!

Oh, I totally forgot to mention the view for the tasting. I mean, take a look at this! It’s gorgeous beyond belief. There is only one group at a time in this little room, and it’s like you have the whole vineyard to yourself.

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Are you thinking at this point I am going to tell you to visit and tell them, “A.J. sent me?” I am not quite there yet. I am only at July of last year for today’s newsletter. As I mentioned earlier, this story has taken a year to bring full circle. Shall we continue?

As I started this extra-long newsletter, I mentioned how the Oregon Chardonnay Celebration is a special, fun event for me every year. Well, the Friday night before OCC, Ambar hosted a special, intimate dinner along with Lytle-Barnett and Source Farms. And of course, Chef Heidi was in charge of food!

Walking into the room, I was greeted with a glass of one of my absolute favorite wines, Lytle-Barnett’s 2019 Blanc de Blanc. I had to step outside and capture the moment.

I was in awe at who was in the room. Andy Lytle, Andrew Davis, Isabelle Meunier, Sarah Tynan from Source Farms, Kate Payne Brown, Bryan Weil, Rob and Pam, and Randy (a Texas friend), Rachel, and Lars. Yes, there were more people, but knowing all of these people kind of felt like walking into a warm house for a big family gathering.

I got a big hug and chatted a teeny bit with Kate Payne Brown. She didn’t let on that she had big news coming up. Yeah, in case you haven’t heard, she is now the head winemaker at Argyle. I was blown away myself when I heard the news. She is definitely the Queen of Sparkling!

I also chatted with Julie a little bit. She is loving Ambar. As we were being motioned to go find our seats, I asked Julie where my assigned seat was, and off I went. As I approached my chair, I could tell Julie took extra special care of me. I was sitting across the table from Andrew and Isabelle. To my right was Rob and Pam. To my left was Lars and Rachel. I wanted to fanboy out big time with Isabelle, but I held my composure until the next day. I seriously made a fool of myself at OCC the next when Isabelle came to talk with me. At least that was better than me dropping food on the floor like I did last year.

Anyway, before dinner got started, Rob talked to me a little bit and told me I was a hero of his. I was perplexed to say the least, but before he could go on, announcements were being made. Julie kicked things off and immediately handed off to Andy Lytle and Andrew Davis.

Shortly after, the first course arrived: scallop carpaccio, sugar loaf radicchio, citrus vinaigrette, citrus segments, Durant olive oil, toasted almonds, paired with the 2022 Ambar Estate Dundee Hills Chardonnay.

Once the excitement settled a bit, Rob continued talking about me being a hero. The only hint he gave was that it was part of his speech later on. Oh geez, no pressure at all.

The first course was amazing, and the ’22 Estate Chardonnay had a fantastic nose—high acidity with a narrow, racy mid-palate and finish.

Not long after we finished the first course, more food was on the way. The second course featured seared beef tenderloin, root vegetable purée, roasted purple sprouting broccoli, and Oregon black truffle. The beef came from Source Farms, and Sarah gave a short speech. Seriously, if you haven’t checked out Source Farms yet, do yourself a favor. Here’s the link: Source Farms. They’re incredible. And just look at this food! Lars had the salmon.

The wine for this course was the 2022 Ambar Estate Dundee Hills Pinot Noir. If you remember, I tasted the 2021 last year and how it leaped over the bar we set for pinot noirs. The 2022 is no different. The nose was gorgeous, and it was silky and smooth with the lightest tannins—but in the best way possible.

I want to hurry up and get to the third course, which was white wine coq au vin, potatoes, parsnips, carrots, leek, herbs. I ate the coq au vin, I loved it so much, and if I wasn’t typing this up right now, I would forget the name. I had never had it before, but wow—give me some more. It’s a French dish of chicken braised with wine, lardons, mushrooms, and optionally garlic. Chef Heidi’s version didn’t use red wine; she used Ambar’s Chardonnay along with Source Farms chicken. I’m still lusting over it because I was talking too much and didn’t get to finish all of it. Side note: in doing some research, I found out there’s also a coq au Champagne. Yes, please!!

The reason I didn’t finish the third course was because Pam and I were talking. She is amazing, and I loved how she came up to me the next day at OCC and asked which wines she should go taste.

The main topic of our conversation was the regenerative certification Ambar has. Pam said she looked into biodynamic farming, but trying to explain the phases of the moon and the different preparations felt too complex for customers. Regenerative farming is much easier to explain—giving back to the soil in a way that’s more science-based. Another thing most people aren’t aware of is that the regenerative certification for wineries also applies to how employees are treated. The regenerative organic certification ensures that employees receive wages equal to or exceeding a living wage, along with a safe workplace, free from discrimination and harassment, ensuring the well-being of all employees.

Talking with Pam about this, it was extremely evident how passionate she is about it. When you visit Ambar’s website, you’ll see a statement that they are Willamette Valley’s first regenerative organic certified winery. This is true—they are the second winery in Oregon to achieve this certification. Troon was the first.

The final course of the evening was dessert: puff pastry, cara cara orange white chocolate, toasted black sesame, and winter squash crème brûlée, caramel corn. Once this was brought out, it was Rob’s turn to speak. Oh crap, this was Rob’s speech where he was going to talk about me being his hero.

I don’t know why I was nervous about this speech, but it was great. He mentioned how last year at OCC was the very first time they poured their wines for the public, unsure how people would receive them. Then, he started talking about my interaction with him at OCC, and the reason I was his hero—because I kept sending people to their table. That was incredibly kind of Rob, and it’s a memory I will always treasure.

The final wine of the evening was Lytle-Barnett’s 2019 Blanc de Noir. 100% pinot noir. Typically, I’m a little apprehensive about a Blanc de Noir because of the bite you get from a pinot-based sparkling. But there was zero bite here, and I loved it through and through!

What else is there left to say? I have rambled on big time this week. I’m seeing over 3,100 words, but what can I say—this is a story that took time to create, and I wanted to bring you along for the ride. The next thing you need to do is visit Ambar’s website, place a reservation, and when you see Julie, please tell her hi from me—and also say, “A.J. sent me!”

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With gratitude,

A.J.

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PS - If you also haven't visited the Lytle-Barnett and Aubaine tasting room in Dundee you gotta go!