As the wildfires in Oregon seem to be subsiding, it feels like we need to give a bit of love to one of my favourite wine regions in the world. I absolutely LOVE Oregon wines. And one of my favourite producers is the (relatively) young operation called Division Wine Co. It’s an urban winery in downtown Portland where they source grapes only from organic and biodynamic vineyards and make some of the most exciting wines in the Willamette Valley. And at the moment we have these 3 wines from them.

Kate Norris and Thomas Monroe aka Division Wine Co.

I went to Oregon for the first time in 2013, and while in Portland I happened across the Southeast Wine Collective just off the Division Street strip. It was new urban winery and wine bar that housed several startup wine labels that were making very interesting, small lot, low-intervention wine. Owned by Thomas Monroe and Kate Norris who had been living in France and making wine between Loire, Beaujolais, Burgundy, and Rhone and decided to set up shop in the Willamette Valley. The collective housed 5 or 6 labels, as well as Division Wine Company, their own label. -When I arrived there I met Thom, we chatted, tasted, and toured their facility for a couple of hours. The wines were outstanding, but as a newer winery they had nothing to sell us for export to Ontario. We exchanged contacts and kept in touch, but I just chalked it up to a fun little surprise after a boozy brunch down the street. Fast forward to 2017 when I happened to be in Portland again and I reached out to see if I could visit—hoping they had enough wine to sell us in Ontario. Thom was away but I met with his partner Kate and tasted through their outstanding line of wines. They went from great upstart label to a top-tier producer in just a handful of years, and they were game to work with us and start shipping small allocations to Ontario. Division doesn’t own any vineyards themselves, but they have long-term contracts with some of the very best vineyards in Oregon. And they only work with organic or biodynamic vineyards, making wine in a natural, low-intervention way. But don’t expect something super funky or experimental of the natural wine movement, they are still making classic Burgundy inspired wines (and Piedmonte inspired with the Nebbiolo), but they all have a complex raw edge that makes them so beautiful and interesting. These wines have impressed even the most serious of my Oregon and New Zealand Pinot Noir clients and we’re down to the last few cases, so they won’t be around for much longer!

On top of all this they’re the nicest, fun-loving folks with a great winery dog, Butch Cassidy aka Cass aka Cassman. Thom and Kate have both visited Ottawa several times, had dinner parties with clients at my house, and hopped around to many of our favourite Ottawa restaurants. Looking forward to hosting them back in the Capital once Covid is over. But for now we’ll just have to drink their wine and hope the fires don’t cause too much damage in Oregon!

DIVISION WINE CO, CHARDONNAY ‘UN’ 2018 $52.99 x12

Current Division lineup at the Byward Wine Market

It’s no secret I love a really great minerally Chardonnay. And this is that. But something you don’t see as often is that added bit of complexity called reduction. It’s this little hint of elegant funk that’s sometime referred to as flinty matchstick, or struck match, etc. Too much reduction can be seen as a flaw, but a little bit is so nice and is seen in some of the best most famous Burgundies. And some are famous for their measured use of it, like Coshe-Dury. I’m not suggesting that Division is an Orgeon Coshe, but they’ve got the vibes that hint toward that style with this outstanding Chardonnay that hits all the notes of vibrant green apple, baked pear, wet stone minerality, acacia and that flinty gun smoke reduction. Just a few cases left, grab this to enjoy now or cellar for at least 5 years.

DIVISION WINE CO, PINOT NOIR ‘UN’ 2018 $52.99 x12

The Pinot and Chardonnay are called ‘Un’ because it’s their first wine, the main representation of their style with a mix of vineyards from across the Willamette Valley. A blend of the whole region they work with. They also have higher-end Deux, Trois, Quatre labels of old single vineyards. But this Pinot Noir ‘Un’ for example blends together a bunch of what could be considered Grand Cru Oregon vineyards like Temperance Hill and Eola-Springs. This is a Pinot Noir with some pedigree. It’s made with a slight fruit forward style, with bright cherries interwoven with classic earth and Oregon terroir. It’s a natural wine masquerading as a refined classic Burgundy-esque Pinot.

DIVISION, ‘NIGHTSHADE’ NEBBIOLO 2018 $89

You don’t see much Nebbiolo in the U.S., especially not in Oregon or Washington. Most would be old vine plantings in Northern California still there from Italian settlers to the area. But these come from a single vineyard in the Columbia Valley. We popped a bottle the other night with some Lasagna takeout from a favourite restaurant and it was to die for. It made for the perfect date night in. Elegant, layered, nuanced and softer on the palate….in other words more Barbaresco than Barolo, but the comparisons to Piedmonte were certainly obvious. Light in colour but big in flavour, more on the pretty, floral side of Nebbiolo, a wine perfect for a pasta pairing or some nice after dinner glasses in the cool fall weather.

Unfortunately were have sold out of cases of this at Lifford, but we do have some bottles left at the Byward Wine Market if you’d like to try one out. We also have the Pinot and Chard at the shop as well if you’re just looking for a mix of these wines to try out. We’d be happy to put together a mixed six-pack with 2 bottles of each. Send me a note and we could hook that up.

If you’re looking for something entirely different, you can always browse through the past FEATURES for ideas from recent weeks. And just a reminder that our order deadline for Friday delivery is Wednesday at noon. So if you’re interested in anything shoot me an email or reach out on the contact page and we’ll get you taken care of!