Brandborg Winery & Vineyards
  541-584-2870 345 First Street, Elkton, OR 97436 info@brandborgwine.com  

2009 SF Chronicle Wine Competition

2007 Umpqua Valley Gewurztraminer ($16)

DOUBLE Gold Medal

"COOLEST, COOL CLIMATE VARIETALS"

Our site is very cool. We are one of 9 reference vineyards that are scattered throughout the Umpqua that participate in an ongoing research project. We are collecting climate and phenology data from each of the sites. Our site is the coolest of the nine and our growing degree days have not reached the 2000 growing degree days that are the minimum threshold to be classified as a region I. Region I is generally considered to be the only climate cool enough to grow top quality pinot noir. We are farming on the edge, and that is what always gives the most distinctive grapes, stretching the ripening curve to the very last minute.

Wine Enthusiast April 2009 White Reviews:

http://www.winemag.com/buyingguide/detail.asp?wineid=95405 92pts gewurztraminer

RATING
92
2007 Brandborg 
Gewürztraminer, Umpqua Valley, $16



Brandborg really knocks it out of the park with this Gewürztraminer, the strongest in a very solid lineup of white wines. It perfectly captures the oily, floral essence of the grape, in a dense, focused wine loaded with citrus oil, Key lime, and tropical fruits. Great length and balance, as with all the Brandborg white wines. — P.G. (4/1/2009)


http://www.winemag.com/buyingguide/detail.asp?wineid=95403 91pts riesling

RATING
91
2007 Brandborg 
Riesling, Umpqua Valley, $16



Creamy and dry, this outstanding effort boasts a wonderful array of tart green fruits—apples, citrus and berries— but goes the extra mile. A sharp, spicy edge is also evident, tasting like nothing so much as fresh pine needles, and the wine is loaded with creamy acids that set up the palate in much the same way that bone-dry Rieslings from Australia do. — P.G. (4/1/2009)


http://www.winemag.com/buyingguide/detail.asp?wineid=95404 89pts pinot gris

RATING
89
2007 Brandborg 
Pinot Gris, Umpqua Valley, $16



In much the same style as Brandborg’s Riesling, this creamy Pinot Gris has a rich, leesy texture, here augmented with streaks of vanilla and toasted almond. The fruit is tangy and refreshing, tasting of ripe lemons and limes, and the balance and full midpalate show a fine winemaker at work. — P.G. (4/1/2009)

Wine & Spirits April 2009

Pinot Noir Year's Best

90 pts.  2006 Bench Lands Pinot Noir

"Bench Lands is a blend of several vineyards in the Umpqua Valley, and that valley's heat gives this pinot more tannic depth than many of its counterparts in Willamette to the North.  Its aromas are darkly floral and earthy, its flavors of forest floor adoring a core of red plum.  It has the structure for duck breast ."

SF Chronicle Top 100 Wines

2006 Brandborg Love Puppets Umpqua Valley Pinot Noir ($30)

Sue and Terry Brandborg keep making the case that Oregon's prime Pinot country extends just a bit farther south, in his case to the Umpqua Valley, southeast of Eugene. From low yielding, dry-farmed parcels, they produced this lean (but at 14.3 percent alcohol, not too lean) and focused wine full of clear, clean raspberry and candied cherry notes, heightened by a complex dry-loam note.

2006 Bench Lands Pinot Noir

20 Wines under $40

More great news....

Quotes from Papa Pinot

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Oregon Wine Press Value Picks

SF Chronicle The Sipping News...

 

  • July 2008 Wine Enthusiast

87 pts . . . Brandborg 2006 Bench Lands Pinot Noir (Umpqua Valley); $20

Here is your perfect salmon wine, light in color and offering plenty of fresh herbal flavors along with tart currant and cranberry fruit. It does not have the color or density of Yamhill county Pinots, but that makes it more suitable for a meal, and the herbal side of the wine is nicely matched to its juicy acids and tight tannins. - P.G.

88 pts . . . Brandborg 2006 Love Puppets Pinot Noir (Umpqua Valley); $30

Brandborg has established a style that is well-suited to the locale, and their Pinots are perfectly balanced and mix in spices and fresh herbs with the tart, cool climate fruit. This is a crisp, unpretentious style of Oregon Pinot. - P.G.

89 pts . . . Brandborg 2006 Ferris Wheel Vineyard Estate Pinot Noir (Umpqua Valley); $38

As with the other Pinots from Brandborg, this estate bottling puts the spices front and center, and matches the intensity of the fruit and the barrels appropriately. This is seductive and elegant with feminine grace. The spicy plum and red currant flavors carry some tasty barrel notes of clove and cinnamon, and the wine has a bit more intensity than its stable mates. - P.G.