Do you watch the Tour de France? If so, for the time trials, cyclists start at the top of a ramp to get an excellent rolling start before hauling patootski the remainder of the time. After coming back from Palm Springs last week, I feel like my time trial is still in full gear, and not exactly sure when I will reach the end. There are a lot of fun and exciting things in the works, and when the time comes, I can’t wait to share them with you. So, thank you for reading along and being a part of this journey with me!

If you get the Events Newsletter, you know all of the Bubble events occurring this month. Well, it doesn’t stop there. Oregon Live has a nice feature on Varnum Vinters and their Bubbles!​

Are you ever in Corvallis? If so, a new wine bar opened up this week. It is definitely on my list to check out next time I am in town.

Janis at Arlyn works her patootski off to bring us all fantastic wine to enjoy. Did you know she has some pork shares available? I am sitting here imagining eating shredded pull pork over the summer with a bottle of State of Grace Pinot Noir. Excuse me while I get some food quickly.

And just in case you don’t have a gift yet for your Valentine's, Amazon is your friend! This stemless $15 wine glass will put a smile on anyone’s face!​

I am wrapping up my Thanksgiving weekend visits this week. What I found interesting is my three primary visits all started with an A (Antiquum, Andante, and today I am talking about Authentique). Yes, I also went to a multi-winery tasting at Bjornson, but I have to stick with all of the wineries that start with an A.

So, back in August, I got a text from a friend asking, “Have you ever had Authentique?” I replied, “I have not, and it’s not on my radar either.” I got another reply saying, “Omg!! You have to come out here! It’s seriously some of the best wine I’ve had.” How in the whole wide world of sports could I say no to that?

I reached out to Authentique via Instagram before my Thanksgiving weekend excursion and set up a time with the winemaker Nicholas Keeler. I had yet to learn what I was in store for, and I did zero research being visiting.

I don’t know if you remember, but the Friday after Thanksgiving was rainy and nasty. The World Cup was also happening. The US and England started at 11:00, and my appointment was for 1:00. I wasn’t keeping up with the score or anything because I had left the multiple wineries tasting at Bjornson.

The tastings for Authentique are at Keeler Estate, where Nicholas’s parents bought the property in 1989. It is a Demeter Certified Biodynamic vineyard, and I wish it hadn’t been raining because the property looked gorgeous. After taking a couple of pictures, I walked up to a door, unsure where to go, and Nicholas came walking out. He says hi and informs me the score for the soccer match was nil nil or 0 0 or a tie or some other term I can’t think of at this minute.

After exchanging some pleasantries, he mentions taking a ride through the vineyard to see everything, even though liquid sunshine is in full effect. So I grab my raincoat, and off we go! It wasn’t a long tour at all. The rain was starting to blow sideways. I have a feeling Nicholas was way more miserable than myself.

Before going to the winery, we stop at the cellar to pick up some wine to taste. I adore seeing people get excited about wine because when I get excited, I want to pull bottle after bottle. Sharing incredible bottles of wine with other people is the best thing ever! You could see the excitement on Nicholas's face and body language. Holy Toledo, he pulled a lot of wine!

We walked from the cellar to the winery and yet another Holy Toledo moment. Typically, walking into a winery, you see the equipment and some barrels. Well, there was the equipment with barrels, but also multiple amphoras and concrete eggs. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of everything, but I was more than a little shocked to see quite the lineup of fermentation containers.

We start talking, and one of Nicholas’s passions is cooperage, aka wine barrels. He used to sell barrels. So not only does he have this deep knowledge and passion for winemaking, but he can also geek out on the barrel selection process. If you are curious, he can talk in-depth about understanding a winemaker's style and pairing that with a forest and grain type for a barrel. Yeah, it was yet another Holy Toledo moment for me!

I have no idea what is in store for me when we start tasting the wines, but there might be more Holy Toledo moments ahead. First, we try the 2017 and 2019 Fond Marin Chardonnay from the Eola-Amity Hills. Both of these wines were exceptional. For the 2017, it tasted more minerality (did you know that’s not a real word?), with great acidity and a killer finish. The 2019 had the same qualities except for a heavier mouth feel.

Standing across from Nicholas discussing the wines was a treat, but talk about nerve-racking simultaneously. So much hard work goes into making these wines, and what if I get minerality and he doesn’t? Questions like this constantly ping from side to side inside my head. I know rationality it is okay if we disagree, but it doesn’t help the question subside.

The 2016 and 2019 The Corridor Pinot Noir are the next side by side. Sourced from Eola-Amity, I am pretty sure the wine is giving a shoutout to the Van Duzer Corridor. Both of these were great. The 2016 was a little lighter in color, but the 2019 had a decadent fruit with a tannin structure setup for some time to lay down.

Somehow, we got on the topic of NFTs, which was a fun rabbit hole to go down! He told me he is part of the Bored Grapes. If you know anything about NFTs, you are aware of the Bored Apes group. If you aren’t into NFTs, hopefully, you see the resemblance between Bored Grapes and Bored Apes. We talked about Club Dvin, the Cuvee Collection, Kevin Rose, and Tim Ferris while trying the next round of wine, focusing on Keeler Estate Pinots.

This group had the 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2019 Keeler Estate Pinot Noirs. All the wines from the Estate were even better than the previous round. I remember standing across from Nicholas as we tried the 2014, and both of us, in unison, were shaking our heads in agreement about how fantastic it was. One of my notes on this wine was, “Fan-freaking-tabulous!” The middle word might have been a little explicit in my journal, but isn’t a journal meant to express your true feelings with no regard for someone else reading it?

There were no more side-by-side comparisons of wines. Still, there was definitely more wine to try, such as the 2019 Wind Ridge Pinot Noir, 2019 Murto Vineyard Pinot Noir, 2016 Ridge Crest Vineyard Pinot Noir, 2016 Chehalem Mtn Pinot Noir, 2016 Eola-Springs Pinot Noir, 2020 Breman Town Riesling, and the 2019 Bois Joli Chardonnay. I know you are almost done with your coffee, and to try and summarize the remainder of these wines is wrong on so many levels. Every single wine was crazy good, but there are a couple of callouts in the last group you should know.

The first one is the 2019 Murto Vineyard Pinot Noir. This was the first time I had heard of this vineyard, and those who know it adore the ever-loving heck out of the vineyard. I meant to do more research for you, but it is now 4:30 on Friday. It looks like the research isn’t happening tonight, my apologies. I will tell you this vineyard is in the Dundee Hills, and I would love to have this in a blind tasting with other Dundee Hills Pinots. I don’t think I would call it as Dundee Hills because there were these big luscious dark fruits compared to the more dainty, refined, brighter fruit you find in other Dundee Hills Pinot.

The last one I want to call out was the 2020 Breman Town Riesling. Yes, a Riesling! I wrote down one comment, “holy hell,” in my journal. I don’t recall much about this wine, but I do remember absolutely loving this wine through and through. Oregon should be known more for its Riesling, and I am sure since Nicholas grew up with German Riesling in the house, there is some influence there.

I was fortunate enough to bring home a few open bottles and methodically tasted them over several days. Everything I tasted four days later was still showing amazingly well.


My vocabulary isn’t the greatest, and maybe it was all of the cheat sheets I made for spelling tests, but I looked up the meaning of Authentique via chatGPT, and this is the response I got.

The word "authentique" is French and means "authentic." In this context, the term suggests something is genuine, original, and true to its origins or essence. In the world of wine, "authentique" can describe a wine that reflects the unique character of its terroir, grapes, and winemaking techniques. It can also be used to express a winery that is true to its traditions and produces wine with a sense of place and tradition.

The definition fits Nicholas and his wines to a T! He is doing some incredible work with his winemaking skills and pushing the boundaries of winemaking on the blockchain. To top it all off, he is a great human, and you should visit the website to make a tasting appointment! One last thing, when you visit, please let him know, “A.J. sent me!”

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With Gratitude,

A.J.

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PS - This week on the podcast, I revisited Domaine Divio (Apple Podcast, Spotify).

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