tying-new-vines.JPGI met Don Mixon of Madrone Mountain Vineyard. His wines are delicious!!

He is a boutique producer of artisanal dessert wines in the Applegate Valley of Southern Oregon. Near the California-Oregon border. Madrone Mountain makes very limited quantities of hand-crafted fortified red and late harvest white wines -and though they do not have a tasting room per say – you can make an appointment and sit down with Don for a tasting at the vineyard. Give him a call if you are passing thru.

Coming this September 2008 he will have a tasting room nestled in Central Point between Rogue Creamery and a chocolate store I did not catch the name of. Can you imagine tasting blue cheese, sweet wine and rich chocolate all within feet of each other? Heaven.

I enjoyed all of these wines immensely- but will let his words tell the story:

The Special Select Late Harvest Gewürztraminer 2005
Tasting notes:
Beeswax, honeysuckle and lychee bouquet. Full, round mouth feel with ripe mango, stone fruits and melon. Bright, fresh acids on the mid-palate balance the substantial sweetness. Rose petal notes on the back palate confirm the varietal character. Finish is long and full of spice — hints of nutmeg, white pepper and the bite of honey.

The Starthistle Cuvee 2007
Tasting Notes
A nose of cream, mint, linden flower and ripe pineapple is followed by classic Riesling flavors of lime, peach and wet stones. The mid-palate hints of something tropical — I think of mango, guava, coconut — while the finish, bright and clean, rolls languidly into leafy notes — black currant bud, fresh-cut hay and thyme. Ethereal and deeply complex, this wine should live long, long. Who will let it?

Mundo Novo 2005, Portuguese for “New World,” is a red dessert wine
Tasting Notes
Inky black, the wine is almost impenetrable to light; some dark purple at the rim; stains on the
glass as the wine swirls; great extraction. On the nose, deeps notes of red and black currant
blend with blueberry and violet, followed by more savage smells — truffle, cedar, thyme and
leather — all wrapped in sweet vanilla