When in Wisconsin, drink wine. Ok, that’s not something you’d expect to hear in this part of the world but the fact is you’ll find many winemakers from Wisconsin who have relocated to Oregon, Sonoma and Napa Valley. In this case, Casey Stringer, Owner and Winemaker at Stringer Cellars gets his grapes from select vineyards in Napa Valley and has made his wine in Wisconsin. But there is more to it than that. Casey has an interesting story beginning by making wine in various parts of the world. Then he was led back to the midwest. Imagine that!

Learn more by visiting www.stringercellars.com

If you love drinking Pinot Noir, then Oregon is the place to get to. The Willamette Valley is a very close community of Winemakers creating world class Pinot. Joe Wright is the Winemaker at Left Coast Cellars and Pinot is his passion. We met up with Joe back in April during the week of the Pinot Noir Auction. The winery and vineyards are exceptional. Although it rained during our visit, nothing can take away from the raw beauty of the area. And Joe’s wines, make the trip worthwhile.

Learn more by visiting www.leftcoastwine.com

Being the first winemaker at a family estate is quite an honor. Especially when you’ve work your way through fifteen vintages to date. Melissa Burr is now the Director of Winemaking for Stoller Family Estate in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. The Pinot Noir grape is a challenge to grow and Melissa has the experience to bottle some exceptional wines. After all, the Willamette Valley is well known for Pinot. We met with Melissa at the winery on a rainy spring day in April.

Learn more by visiting www.stollerfamilyestate.com

Brooks Winemaker Chris Williams carries on the mission of late owner Jimi Brooks by making a wide variety of fine wines in the Willamette Valley. Oregon is known for great wines and Chris loves the opportunity to experiment whenever possible. Brooks makes exceptional Pinot Noir as well as Reisling, Gewurztraminer, Viognier, Sparkling Riesling to name only a few. We spoke with Managing Director Janie Brooks Heuck back in 2013 (Podcast #82) but this time we met with Chris in person, at the winery for the first time.

Learn more by visiting www.brookswine.com

The magic of Willamette Valley wine is known as Pinot Noir. This beautiful part of Oregon produces some of the worlds finest Pinot’s. This was our first trip to the Willamette Valley to see the wineries first hand and to document the Pinot Noir Auction. In it’s 3^rd year this auction brought in $800,000. Previous to the auction many winemakers were concerned if their lots would do as well as 2017. They had nothing to worry about. The auction exceeded last year by 56%! We conducted brief interviews with 26 winemakers during the barrel tasting just before the auction. Willamette Valley Wine, this is where passion reigns!

Learn more by visiting www.willamettewines.com