Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: Winemaker Joe Dobbes looks like a someone to be reckoned with as he is producing some pretty fine wines. TASTING NOTES: The 2015 Dobbes Family Estate Grenache Blanc shows expansive aromas and flavors that cover the New and Old World. The wine's hard candied, a dusting of chalk, and faint floral aromas and flavor should pair it well with baked cod in a black bean sauce. (Tasted: March 1, 2018, San Francisco, CA)
In 2002, founder Joe Dobbes embarked on the journey to create Dobbes Family Estate & Wine By Joe, a testament to his passion for crafting exceptional wines. Today, Dobbes Family Winery lives out the family ethos embedded in the name, encompassing everyone into their circle – from their founder to their cherished guests, vineyard partners, and team, to those who savor their wines all over the world.
They continue to work with Joe's trusted vineyard partners of 30+ years and have brought on a few of their own to showcase the very best of Oregon—windswept ridges and fertile valley floors, the terroir of Oregon is as varied as it is breathtaking.
The Dobbes wine portfolio is an invitation to taste the limitless possibilities of Oregon wine.
Producing full-bodied white wines, Grenache Blanc can be unctuous and soft or floral and fresh. Some of the finest examples are terroir-driven, age-worthy wines. It is a key ingredient in white Châteauneuf-du-Pape and many white blends across southern France and NE Spain. Somm Secret—Grenache Blanc plays a key role in the vins doux naturels of Rivesaltes and a subsidiary role in those of Banyuls and Maury.
As the the largest region in the greater Southern Oregon AVA, bordering California, the Rogue Valley AVA grows the most diverse array of grape varieties compared to any other Oregon appellation.
The Rogue Valley AVA is actually made up of three adjacent river valleys—not just one as its name suggests—Bear Creek, Applegate and Illinois. These valleys extend from the foothills of the Siskiyou Mountains, a coastal sub range of the Klamath Mountains. Most Rogue Valley vineyards are planted on hillsides at elevations of 1,200 to 2,000 feet where soils are metamorphic, sedimentary and volcanic.
On one end Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Tempranillo, Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc benefit from a warm and dry climate. To the west end of the Rogue Valley, cool-climate grapes like Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling, Muscat and Gewürztraminer do best. Dolcetto, Grenache and Zinfandel also grow in the Rogue Valley AVA.
Early European settlers first started growing grapes here in the 1840s, the most famous of whom was a pioneer named, Peter Britt. He also opened Oregon’s first official winery (which later closed in 1907). Today, besides its great wines, the region is known for the Britt Music & Arts festival, which inhabits Peter Britt’s former hillside estate, and the Ashland, Oregon Shakespeare Festival.