Laurel Ridge Winery

 

Laurel Ridge Winery

Reasonable prices, delicious Pinot noir, a Port and Ice Wine among the best in their price range, Laurel Ridge has a lot to check out. A new winery building features a tasting room and the wines are quite good values.

One of Oregon's oldest wineries, Laurel Ridge has recently experienced a renaissance. The winery, established in the eary 1980's, is one of Oregon's oldest, and had quite a reputation for its red and white wines until the Phyloxera epidemic of the 1990's. Phyloxera damage required they replant, and their wine production slowed while they responded to the crisis. The new vineyards are now established and are producing grapes. Laurel Ridge has moved into a lovely new facility on the road between Carlton and Ribbon Ridge (Beaux Freres, Willakenzie, Patricia Green).

New winemaker Jason Bull moved up from Napa where he worked as winemaker for Von Strasser and Mayo Family wineries. He was consulting winemaker to Domaine Danica, a small highend Pinot noir producer in Healdsburg. His work with a French wine barrel company has clearly given him an edge when it comes to oak.

The new wines show his expertise and, as Laurel Ridge is trying to get back into the swing of things with a new winery and winemaker, the prices of their wines are very reasonable.