Fox Farm Vineyards Review

Address: 606 E First St. Newberg,Oregon 97115.
Phone Number: 503-538-8466
Tasting Hours: 12:00-8:00

Region: Willamette Valley AVA, Oregon
Reviewer: Rob Boss
Review Date: 9/14/2013
Reviewer: Rob Boss
Rating: 4

The Review

(Photos by Jai Soots)

Fox Farm Vineyards‘ tasting room is located in Newburg, Oregon‘s town center in a historic building. The exposed brick walls, dark wood, and huge common table in the middle of the room make it one of the nicest looking tasting rooms around. The acoustics were an added bonus, so live music is featured often. The genial proprietor, David Fish, offers knowledgeable, personable service to all who enter and serves as a competent and gracious concierge for anyone looking for a good restaurant or other activities on their visit to the Willamette Valley. Other Oregon wineries are featured in the tasting room as well, to make the most of the space, he says.

Joe Dobbes makes the wines for Mr. Fish, based on his blends. The 2012 Fox Farm Vineyards Pinot Gris was made from fruit sourced from Left Coast Cellars’ estate. Floral and fruity, he describes the wine as “flirty.” That’s pretty much on target, because the sweetness of the nose belies the tart fruit delivered to the palate. It’s a charming wine for a warm summer day.

Up next was a 2012 Rosé from guest producer Ghost Hill Cellars. It’s a straightforward wine, with easy going strawberry and raspberry flavors. The trend is drinking rosé year round (a good thing), but this will have you wishing for warm summer days so it reaches it’s full, quenching potential.

Next up was another guest, Main et Couer (“Heart and Hands”), who makes a lovely Viognier. The herbal nose showed an intense rosewater note that worked well with the residual sugar. Apricot, white peach and mint flavors rounded it out. It’s more food friendly, less a cocktail wine. No problem there.

Fox Farms’ 2011 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir was a good example of the vintage. It needed a little more time in the bottle on this tasting but it was close; we tasted a great deal of potential. There were dried cherry, raspberry and cranberry flavors, herbs and crushed fruit in the nose. The acid was very bright and tart but was already mellowing, so by Christmas 2013 it should be full of excellent holiday cheer.

This was followed by a very pretty 2010 Pinot Noir from the Ana Vineyard. This wine was made from 40 year old Pommard clone fruit and was full of the aromatics that accompany such a find. There was a mouthwatering cherry pie note in the nose. Although there was some volatile acidity on first nose, it blew off and revealed cherry pie. This was another good fooder, with tart, young fruit flavors of cherries and strawberries.

Last on the list was a 2010 Rogue Valley Syrah that showed dark, black plums and cocoa. After that was a mouthful of red and black plums, black berries and black cherries. After first taste, it’s easy to think of friends to share it with—unless you want to keep it for yourself.

Fox Farms’ tasting room is a great concept: music, friends, events, and really anything you could think of putting in the space. The tasting bar is on wheels, so it can be moved to accommodate virtually any party. Everything here was executed well, undoubtedly due to Dave Fish’s personal panache. If his wine wasn’t good, it would still be fun to visit. But Fox Farms’ wine is pretty good and he’s chosen his roommates well. This is a good place to go, and a fellow every Willamette Valley taster should meet on their visit.