Wine of the Week
Wine By Joe 2019 Pinot Blanc
Appellation: Willamette Valley
Best Buy! For two decades, Joe Dobbes has loved this unappreciated white grape native to the Burgundy region of France, and his work under his nicely priced Wine By Joe brand has been getting attention from some of the wine world’s biggest pundits going back to 2006. Dobbes retired from winemaking in 2017, so it’s his longtime protégé, Andy McVay, who now works primarily with Tualatin Estate Vineyard for this Pinot Blanc. (The site, prized by Dobbes’s former employer — Willamette Valley Vineyard — is in the newly established Tualatin Hills American Viticultural Area.) This is a remarkable oak-free and enticing example, opening with fun aromas of dusty white peach and cotton candy. Inside, it’s utterly delicious with long and complex flavors of tree-ripened peach, tangerine oil, pineapple and pleasing minerality. The crystalline finish should also appeal to devotees of dry Riesling.
Rated “Outstanding!” by Great Northwest Wine. (13.5% alc.)
Price: $14
Cases produced: 1,231
Food pairings: Suggestions include seared scallops, tonkotsu ramen and Thai noodle salad.
Wine By Joe/Dobbes Family Estate
240 SE Fifth St.
Dundee, Oregon 97115
(503) 538-1141
As a result of the pandemic, the Dobbes room is open by appointment each day from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Great Northwest Wine
This story was originally published October 7, 2020 1:37 PM.