The key to making excellent wine lies in having a H rm philosophy
on how you are going to go about doing it Myron has an iron ria l grip
on his wine making philosophy, "Don't oak i t " There is a sign on the
back wall of the tasting room that reads SAY MO TO OAK HELP PUT THE
FRUIT BACK IN WINE
Very rarely doe? a v in e ry co me fully loaded with excellent and
unique vine, a superb location and greet people A a it g V ia a y a rd s
is one of th o » rare instances where everything has come together
perfectly In this small winery is housed an intensity and passion for
wine making that goes virtu ally unrivaled in our part of the world
You owe ,t to yourself to go to this w inery, located about 7 miles south
of McMinnville in Amity, and explore one of the state s great small
business and wine industry success stories
One of the first things that w ill jump out at you about Amity is the
view from the winery Amity faces slightly southwest and looks out
over southern Yamhill County to the coast range Ihe winery is
perched atop a knoll at an elevation of about 5 0 0 feet affording It one
of the most striking viewpoints you could hope for An evening visit
gave me the opportunity to witness a spectacular sunset The distance
I could see nearly convinced me I was looking at Cape Perpetua
peering over the line of mountains This is a fantastic place »0 picnic
during this summer of warm, sunny weather
Amity Yineyards has moved toward the forefront of Oregon s
premium wine production over the past 5 years througn years of
effort, learning and determination on the part of owner and
winemaker Myron Redford If you ere fortunate enough to drop by
when he happens to be working the tasting room, give yourself some
time to ask some questions Myron is one of 1 he more antma’ed and
talkative individuals you could hope to run into His obvious
enjoyment comes from the years of personal labor he has put into
every single aspect of his winery
Amity had very humble beginnings
Myron purchased the vineyerd
In 1 9 7 4 , sans w inery, with a desire to make fine wine and a
knowledge of how to do it from years of being a self described cellar
rat at Columbia W inery in Washington Unfortunately, being a small
winery owner requires an in depth knowledge of farming, something
Myron larked His original goal of completely organic vineyerd
farming quickly ran into the reality of Mother Mature It was an
admirable goal but, having very little in the way of equipment, the
labor required to keep the vineyard productive was prohibitive
Lessons were learned the hard way, vines died and less grapes than
expected were produced He learned though and eventually began to
produce successful crops and increase the size of his vnwyard He
also designed and built the winery with no professional help To come
from such humble beginnings to where Amity is now is a testimony to
the power of endurance and zeal
The winery has expanded significantly, but artifacts from the early
years linger Outside the winery are two wooden structures that
serve as decorative ornaments They are actually part of the winery s
legacy They are the old style wine presses although they look like
they are better suited for housing petunias When in use these
presses held a maximum of 700 pounds of grapes tach batch of
grapes nad to be pressed 3 times to wring all the juices out In 19 77,
with 4 of these presses, they processed 52 tons of grapes Some quick
moth shows that they had to press in the neighbor hood of 2 0 0 batches
of grapes 3 times apiece Mot the speediest way to make wine
In 1 9 7 8 they ran into a bit of luck Bad weather It ruined the
wheat crop of Yamhill County and the area was declared an
agricultural disaster area Myron, who lost about $ 1 ,0 0 0 worth of
grapes, went down to see the local G- Man who told him that Amity
This w ill let you know. even before you leste,
what you can look forward to Myron refers to the trend in wine
making, not only here, but around the world, to expose virtu ally
every variety of wine to newly toasted French Oak as a sickness, a
disease ’ Hls point is that the tast of oak can mask the true flavor and
character of e wine and make almost anything taste like an oaked
Chardonnay His wine does age in oak barrels but not in newly
produced ones which give the oaky flavor to wines Because ot this
style of wine making you, as the taster, should be prepared for an
education on whet wines really taste like
The most distinct wine their style of wine making shows up in is
the pinot noir Amity s Pi nets are fru ity but still rich and complex
They are different from most Oregon Pinots but the quality of the
wine is exceptionally hiqh, even in whet they consider their lower
end wines Their flagship wine. 19 8 7 Pinot n o ir, (a deal at $ 12) is
an excellent example of Amity Pi riots
Many wineries would be proud
to call the 87 Pinot a reserve wine but Myron is nothing it not
patient He has aged his specially selected grapes 5 years in the bottle
and in August Amity 3 1987 Pinot noir Reserve ( $ 2 5 ) w ill finally be
released Before you drink your bottle of this beautiful wine give it
plenty of time to breath because it w ill be a little tight right after you
uncork it Along with the Rasarva Pinot 1» tha 1990 Estate Pinot noir
( $ 1 8 ) These two wines are both classic examples of what Pinot noir
really should taste like They are soft and warm in the mouth with
very distinct fru it flavors that finish with a pleasing intensity
These are the premier wines of Amity
The 4th Pinot noir to look for ,s their sulfite free, organically
grown Eco wine Amity was the firs t winery in Oregon ,0 produce
this type of wine Ptost sulfite free and/or organic wine is. well, not
so good It may be that these wines are produced to satisfy a certain
"groovy" market and the quality of the wine is secondary to the mere
fact that it exists Amity's Eco-Wine ( $ 1 0 5 0 ) is deep and bold by
comparison to most wines of this genre and is ready to drink now
although I suggest waiting 6 - 10 months Thera is a slightly oat mealy
taste to it right now that is simply Ihe result of not having sulfites in
the wine Io protect it from the minimal amount of oxygen in »he
bottle It w ill dissipate in time Buy several bottles and watch it
In C oumci Tticalcr Courtyard
change month by month
One of the great things about Amity wines, aside from their taste, is
I r a i u i N 0 1 ih w csi, ( jlifo im a
A Im p o ile d W mc*
C ollector W ine* 1 rum I H 7 5
1 h ro u (h ( u iic n i Vintage*
I r jiu r tn g 1 )*er 1000 W ine*
W m r K a *kt, (ila tte * A
Wmc K rla ird l im n
their packaging I worked for an environmental and consumer group
tha, tried to pass a packag'ng law so I know good packaging when I see
it On the back of each bottle Myron tells you what tha, bottle of wine
w ill taste like From a consumer perspective ,t ,s a dream come true
If you've ever gone ,0 buy wine and ended up with something igou did
no, really ke or «3 pet, io end up with you probably have wished that
this information was available The labels on the front of the bottle
are exceptional as well
wine is finished Kudos
Amity is rightfully acknowledged for their Pinot noir but their
other wines are well worth exploring Two are of particular note
The 1993 Dry Gewurztraminer ( $ 8 5 0 ) ,s an outstanding vine This
is surely ,he 1st time I have ever said this I am not a big Gewurzt
fan but this particular one is dr y but not bone dry and spicy enough to
I 9 8 9 the market for their wines finally began to become more
consistent and they have now established themselves as one of the
German wines The sweeter the better The term troc hen
btertnev*Jei* means "berry select" If you have ever seen the ad of
area s premier wineries
Some of ihe money from those government loans went to
commission stainless steel storage tanks niade by a Northwest
company Mol just any company but one that specialized in making
saw blades for local m ills Aftar two tanks this company gave up on
this part of their business, but two of the people in the company left
Io start a business of their own, JY Northwest, that would specialize
in these tanks Today that company manufactures most of the vats
used by the Northwest s numerous microbrewtries (Which business
do you think is the happy camper now7) If this doesn't explicitly
portray how the growing wine and microbrew industries in Oregon
Juan Yaldez and his burro walking around the hills of Columbia
selecting individual beans for Maxwell House coffee (MOT) this is
actually how this classification of wine is produced "Berry select"
don t know whet does
Of course. Amity now has modern equipment, numerous fermenting
tanks and a decent sized barrel storage room, but it still has a
homespun feel to it If you manage to finagle a tour out of someone and
you go at the right time of year (ASAP) you w ill see carboys, wine
bottles and random jugs filled with wine alongside the more
traditional casks and kegs for those of you that think owning a
winery and making wine is all about Robert Mondavi and his
fur bedecked wife standing out in the vineyard sipping their latest
bottle of $ 2 5 0 Chardonnay, this is a close up view of the reality of
99% of winemakers
W in e T a s tin g
l w iv S.jiunlnv Afternoon
1 5 PM
D iffc rc n i W me*
I rom A ro u n d The W orld
I .u h Week
Open 1 I AM S I'M
Cloved Tue*
436-1100
F t)
1 24 N lla n s i» * a
( a n n o a K rai h O H
H.' a
I 10
counter the residual sugars ,n ,t I snatched up a couple of bottles to
serve with grilled spicy prawns which I have recently discovered how
Modern wine making equipment and more bar rels were purchased
with these loans and Amity hit a highwater mark They had n t quite
tur nad the corner though It wasn't until I 9 8 3 that they went into
the black for a year, just before the Oregon m id -80 s recession In
and Washington can help in making the desperately needed shift away
from an economy that lias for too long, relied on cutting down trees I
I slebltshed 1977
The bottles meke greet 01, lemps when the
to cook to perfection
The other wine is a collector 3 item It is a 1992 Riesling Late
Harvest Select Cl crater ( $ 1 5 ) This wine is absolutely mind blowinq
I am not one gi ven to religious experiences but I can honestly say the
firs t time I tried this one I at least came close to one Its labeling,
Select Cluster, approximates the German rating system of sweet
wines which Ihe Germans are famed for Without going into too much
detail and without having to spell too many Gar men words I w ill try to
give you an idea of wha, this means Sugar level equals quality ,n
Yineyards was eligible for low interest government loans Salvation
( u n n o n Beach
indicates a residual sugar level of no less than 36% The Select
Cluster Riesling of Amity is 34% residual sugar classifying it as a
beereneuslese It is essentially a honey-apricot mead Myron says
that if you didn't want to drink the wine it would probably make a
IX ITTX X
TW
W
Bee«» »Lae
»■a '> M m A y
great body ointment Such possibilities
This winery ,s well worth the trip You can pick up Ihe,r wines a,
Cannon Beach's two fine w ire shops, but to get a sense of their wines
and a much better selection of their premier wires you simply must
make the journey Bring your checkbook because you w ill want to
leave with more than one bottle They have great case discounts, by
the way Remember to mention that you read about them in the Edge
L a u r e l ’s
C
a ii non
Bra* 1»
W in e S h o p
)6 J N. Hem lock
(SOS) 4 16 1666
R c c a a a e a c d YViae T e a r f a r Aaqast A month with interesting
possibilities Two events I highly recommend are tha Summer Sunset
Barbeque at T s a la t, a Vise f i r
in Fores, Grove on Friday ,he
, 9th A 4course meal and wine for $35/person is a great deal at this
wonderful winery The following two days, the 20th and 21st, at
K a ads« a ( r a t h in Dundee ,s their 23rd Annual Harvest Festival
There w ill be music, food, jugglers and other entertainment For
$6/person you get a complimentary glass, wine tastes and access to
the great parties that they throw
'la ¿ i n usiA 1A4
o '- a v
v
’
tinnyany
Ta Xiw alain u impambU
i
'¡a itnu us IA xy h u tia n i
4u.tu.urw .irul urwlry r.-w ri^ N r
hum l u m
I
tn i t lan yaiuf
akc 1 line to Travel in
—Voiaea
( hcgoiis Scenic Wine Country1
IKZT S.W. J r f t . r x r n
t 'u r t l a n d , ( I n g o n 07X01
XXlt 7010
kxperient. e the beauty, pence anil
Janlaxtic nine nf (tregnn'x nine regiom
/ F
r
1 f
r - i’
1
n wt
r e a e r v « t 1 11 a
1’
I' I ■ I 1 si 1 - I A h ic .ik l ists Im lcl* .v,d 11 i.m i.m l ■
IQ
,i\ \scll is the in "*t interesting winery i<>ur*
Io
O re g o n W t r u ‘T r a x v iC o n n e c tio n
/ (»m«»Rt tiM(f /99I
converted cannibal 1« one w ho, on
Fridaq, eat« onlq fiaherm en
A
E n n ly Lotney
1-800 9 4 6 -3 8 8 5
im ilfT I D & E
AU G U ST I W
f