Panther Creek News

Scenes from the Kalita Vineyard Harvest 2020 in the Yamhill Carlton AVA October 5, 2020  

On Monday, May 25, 2020 we did a mini-vertical Zoom Virtual Tasting of Kalita Vineyard Pinot with Madelaine Morford of Panther Creek Cellars to commemorate the two year anniversary of the Panther Creek Woodinville, WA Tasting Room which was still closed on that day in the lockdown.

Seattle food and wine writer Shaun Myrick participated in the Tasting. He recently wrote a very nice testimonial praising the Panther Creek virtual tasting format and the Kalita Vineyard Vertical event.  

September marks the beginning of harvest for most wineries along the west coast, which is always a big draw for wine lovers. Due to COVID-19, wineries have had to get creative about interacting with wine consumers. This includes virtual wine tasting, which has allowed wineries of all sizes and budgets a venue to interact with wine lovers.  

Oregon’s unprecedented run of outstanding vintages which began in 2014, has been extended yet again with 2018. In fact, you have to go all the way back to 2011 and 2007 to find years that were truly challenging, and both of those vintages actually produced a large number of outstanding wines.  

Panther Creek’s Pinot Noir Wins a Gold Medal in the Cascadia International Wine Competition. The Canada/U.S. border has been closed for months, but the pandemic didn’t prevent Wild Goose Vineyards in Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, from using its 2019 Mystic River Vineyard Gewürztraminer to win best of show at the Cascadia International Wine Competition.  

A recent tasting of Pinot Noir we conducted for Wine Press Northwest magazine once again showcased the brilliance found in Oregon’s Eola-Amity Hills.

Visitors from Portland don’t often make it to the southern end of the north Willamette Valley. Those whose touring takes them a few minutes northwest of Salem will be rewarded as a growing number of elite producers elsewhere in the Willamette Valley are investing in vineyards, buying grapes and producing stellar wines from the Eola-Amity Hills.  

Allow us to take you on a journey through Woodinville’s wineries, their tasting rooms, and the simple DOs and DON’Ts of wine tasting.  

Savor NW Wine Awards showcases the best of northwest wines and awareness of Pacific Northwest wine regions.  

There is an endless list of reasons why someone would want to visit the West Coast. The Pacific Ocean, infinite mountains and valleys to drive through, multiple national parks, and the most consistent low humidity and high temperature weather to be found anywhere in the United States, just to name a few.  

This is the last in my line-up of single-vineyard Pinot Noir tastings from Panther Creek. (Although I do have a bonus post coming up…). They were all beautiful in their own right, offering a surprising amount of diversity in each bottle. From the infant-youthful Maverick, to the regal De Ponte, and the easy drinking Lazy River.