09/01/2026
Itâs our wine of the week! We think the pioneerâs of fine wine production in the Willamette Valley such as Lett, Coury, Erath, and Adelsheim deserve to have their stories told and re-told. This week weâre moving up the timeline to focus on one of the stars of Oregonâs second wave, and not for his flagship bottlings, but a side venture that we love. Tony Soter is an Oregon native who moved to Napa in the 70âs to work at that great font of winemaking talent Stagâs Leap. By the 80âs he was consulting for numerous cult wineries like Araujo, and Dalla Valle, but he also began a project called Etude in â82. He owned no land and was mainly sourcing fruit from the newly established AVA of Carneros. One of his innovations was to not buy grapes by the ton, but rather contract for vineyard acreage, which gave him greater control of its management, and in turn allowed him to demand lower yields. âEtudeâ means âstudyâ in French, and while a lot of the usual Napa suspects were bottled under the label, at the heart of his creative scrutiny was Pinot Noir, the difficult grape he would go on to do wonders with back in his native state.
He returned in â97, starting with sparkling wine (never pass on Soterâs bubbles if you get the chance) and then Pinot the following year. High end, and in demand always, his Oregon efforts have been a fantastic commercial success. While not astronomical in price, they arenât cheap either. This has lead Tony toward a wonderful side project called Planet Oregon. Ecological mindedness is something thatâs been important to him as a winemaker, and something heâs helped to promote throughout the region. Sourcing from organic and sustainable vineyards, heâs proving that conscientious farming doesnât have to translate to $$$$ for the consumer. We tasted our wine of the week blind, and were stumped, for good reason, but knew it was great and wanted more of it. Itâs a crazy field blend âwhiteâ made of: Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc GrĂŒner Veltliner, GewĂŒrztraminer, Madeleine Angevine, Madeleine Sylvaner, and Siegerrebe. Donât ask about the percentages, just buy 2 bottles and thank us later. It can be yours on-premise for $42.- or 50% 0ff to-go!
