Explore Oregon Wines: Wineries | Varietals | AVAs | Cellar 503 Selections
Roots Wine Company 2013 Melon de Bourgogne
The roots run deep for wine & family
For Chris Berg, winemaking is really all about family.
Growing up in Wisconsin, he didn’t really know what he wanted to be when he grew up. But when his parents moved to Oregon to run a manufacturing plant, he followed and helped them with their other dream – making wine.
Together they found a piece of land in Yamhill-Carlton and planted seven acres of Pinot Noir on their twenty-acre property. And Roots Wine Company was born.
Fast forward to today, Chris and his wife Hilary and their son live on the vineyard. They opened a small but gorgeous tasting room last year and are set to open a full winery on the site this fall.
Chris’s mom still helps out and can be found in the Roots tasting room most days, graciously welcoming guests, dogs, and kids who are enthralled by the old school Pac-Man machine in the corner (no quarters required!)
Cellar 503 Tasting Notes
Roots Wine Company, Yamhill, Oregon
2013 Melon de Bourgogne
Melon de Bourgogne is grown primarily in the Loire Valley region of France and is the primary grape in the French wines known as Muscadet.
It’s very rare on this side of the Atlantic (where those in the know just call it “Melon”) – grown here in Oregon, up on Bainbridge Island, and in Ontario. In Oregon, it has a bit of a fascinating history. In the 1980s, quite a bit of Melon was planted here – but it was all mislabeled as Pinot Blanc. Once discovered, much of it was torn out and replanted with true Pinot Blanc.
Nonetheless, what little is left has quite a cult following here in Oregon. Perhaps because the French consider Melon to be the best wine on the planet to pair with seafood.
Grown in the Yamhill-Carlton region at the Deux Verts Vineyard, this 2013 Melon de Bourgogne will deliver soft citrus, peaches and nectarines, and its creaminess and minerality give it the strength to stand up to grilled shrimp, fresh oysters, or carpaccio.
A Cellar 503 selection in September 2015, Unusual Varietals Yamhill-Carlton | Melon de Bourgogne
