What wine and music have in common?
When we visited this winery, we found out that "everything" is the right answer!
Making Wine and Music
Hood Crest Winery is a family owned and operated winery. It is located in the picturesque Valley of Hood River of Oregon and belongs to Columbia Gorge AVA.
The blues recording artists Tess and Patrik Barr are the owners and winemakers of Hood Crest. They have been making music and wine together since the ’80s.
In 2003 family moved to Hood River where they purchased vacant farmland and planted grapes. At first, it was sort of "secret winery" for the family, friends and by appointment only.
Now it's a thriving winery producing award-winning wines from their own fruit and other quality Columbia Gorge and Columbia Valley AVA's growers.
Hood Crest Winery Tasting Room and Pizza
The diverse wine selection makes it for slam-dunk wineswinging visit to Hood Crest because everyone will find a wine they would like to taste. Moreover, a recently renovated tasting room has a full kitchen. You can pair the wine with charcuterie meats, thin-crust traditional Italian pizza or Northwestern take on Mediterranian, Spanish or French style pizzas.
As a typical New Yorkers and New York "pizza snobs," we were skeptical about their pizza. It turned out to be delicious. Moreover, wine and pizza greatly complimented each other. We like it so much that we ordered another one and enjoyed it with 2013 Sangiovese because we felt it was the best match with meat pizza. Let's talk wine now.
Wine
On the red side, their main focus is on producing single varietal and blends from Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Malbec, Sangiovese, and some Pinot Noir. Their white and wines primarily made from Chardonnay, Riesling, and Gewurtztraminer. They also produce white and rosé sparkling wines, and unique red sparkling made from Pinot Noir, Mourvedre, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Malbec.
2013 Sangiovese
We had a chance to taste their extensive wine line up during our wineswinging visit, and one of our favorites was 2013 Sangiovese.
The seductive aromas of chocolate and coffee jump out of a glass. They invite you to smell the wine and get it all in. Intertwined ripe cherry and raspberry, and dried hibiscus flower make aromas irresistible.