To wrap up my winery visits in Oregon, I spent some time with the CEO of one of my favorites vineyards, and found out more about it.  I went to what I thought was only A to Z.  Well, there is so much more to it!  They also produce Rex Hill wines, which is actually the primary one at the tasting room, and a few people who work there produce their own wines in small quantities.

William (Bill) Hatcher gave me a tour of the cellars and I got to taste wines that were still ‘grape juice’ — as in had no alcohol content yet — to slowly working up to perfection.  The ones I sampled went from 1-7 days ‘old’ (there is a much more technical name for this) and it was interesting getting a ‘feel’ for what the process entails.  There is also a labeling system for each wine as they are being produced, then I got info on bottling, corking, distribution and more.

After that I tasted many of their amazing offerings, from whites to reds, Chards to Pinots.  I don’t love Chards but wow!  Bring…it…on.  I spent more time talking to Bill about the history of the company, what has brought them to where they are and what/where they hope to go in the future.  This is yet another location where I wanted to load up on tons of bottles but I did have to travel across the country to get home so it wouldn’t be the easiest thing to do.  I somehow left with only three, knowing that would give me reason to go back.  The William Hatcher bottle in the middle is Bill’s own and was quite amazing!