Indie Alum Matello Featured in The Oregonian
We received a pleasant surprise yesterday morning with our coffee and newspaper: Indie alum Matello was featured in Matt Kramer’s Oregonian column. Kramer gives much deserved love to winemaker Marcus Goodfellow’s newly released 2008 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.
Matello “Willamette Valley” Pinot Noir 2008: Here’s an example of how, if you want to sample something particularly fine and local, you’d better be right here, right now and you’d best act quickly, too.
Matello is a label created by Marcus Goodfellow, a former Heathman Hotel bartender who saw wine as his life’s calling. Starting in the 2003 vintage, Goodfellow bought grapes from a variety of Willamette Valley vineyards and set out to make Matello a reality. He took Russ Raney of Evesham Wood Vineyard as his mentor and model. Evesham Wood’s many fans will find Matello pinot noirs are similarly restrained, detailed and decidedly non-swoopy. Arguably the just-released 2008 Matello “Willamette Valley” pinot noir is his best yet. This is because Goodfellow has that much more experience under his belt and, not least, because the exceptional 2008 vintage handed him superb grapes to work with. Goodfellow, to his credit, knew what to do.
A beautifully made wine with a lovely mid-palate density with a core of wild cherry and berry fruits, Matello “Willamette Valley” Pinot Noir 2008 shows just what the 2008 pinots are all about. Dense yet balanced, with supple tannins and ideal acidity, it’s also still pretty tightly coiled. What you taste today is only a hint of what will emerge if the wine is given additional aging in a cool space.
At $19.95, it’s a standout deal in terrific 2008 Oregon pinot noir. Oh, by the way, only 336 were produced. Get it while you’re here — and while you can. (Distributed by Vinum Wine Importing and Distributing)
The column reinforces how truly fortunate we wine-loving Oregonians are to have access to such limited production, stellar wines. Congratulations, Marcus (and the rest of the Matello crew)!
2010 Call for Entries Now Open!
It’s hard to believe that the 2010 Portland Indie Wine & Food Festival is less than four months away! We’ve been very busy here at Indie headquarters gearing up for the event and are eagerly anticipating another great year.
As you may have seen on our twitter and facebook accounts, we are now accepting wine submissions for the 2010 event. Last year we received a record 194 wines for judging- and we’re looking forward to receiving even more this year! If you are (or know of) a small, Oregon craft producer, now is the time to submit wine for Indie judging!
The deadline to enter wine is Friday, March 2nd at 5:30pm, so head over to our website for more details!
Official rules, Frequently Asked Questions and more information can be found here.
PS: Don’t forget that tickets for the 2010 festival are now on sale and can be purchased on our website!
Portland Indie Wine Festival 