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Maysara Winery 2014 Autees Pinot Blanc
Keeping it all in the family
It was a game the three girls played with their dad. “Close your eyes. Smell this. Taste this. Guess what it is…” Moe Momtazi was determined to help his daughters heighten their senses and develop their palates.
It worked.
In 2007, just six years after Moe and his wife Flora founded Maysara Winery, daughter Tahmiene took over as winemaker. Despite a family winemaking tradition that goes back four generations to Persia, it wasn’t a foregone conclusion. In fact, she’d actively rejected the idea and was considering medical school. But an advisor at Linfield College encouraged her to spend a summer around the winery, applying her scientific mindset. And Tahmiene was hooked.
Today, dad runs the vineyard, mom handles the books, sister Naseem is the sales manager, and sister Hanna runs the events. And it all works beautifully.
The three sisters have even collaborated on a wine called Three Degrees — a project to produce an affordable and enjoyable Pinot Noir for their friends.
Cellar 503 Tasting Notes
Maysara Winery, McMinnville, Oregon
2014 Autees Pinot Blanc
This Pinot Blanc has a richer style than most, with notes of ripe apricot and lychee. The nose is lovely with floral notes, particularly honeysuckle. It has a great minerality, strong acidity, and a wonderfully clean and dry finish.
Tahmine argues that food and wine together are like art – paint on a canvas – and is committed to making wines that pair beautifully. So, try this wine with hard cheeses, fresh ripe fruit, and seafood – it’s wonderful!
The name Autees honors the ancient Persian Goddess that protects all of the earth’s plants and trees (and, presumably, grape vines!) And sure enough, the vineyard is managed biodynamically, the winery built to utilize gravity flow (no pumps to move wine around), and the wines use only native, wild yeast.
A Cellar 503 selection in May 2016, Women Winemakers McMinnville | Pinot Blanc
