Urban winemaking. It almost sounds like an oxymoron.

But it’s one of the best new trends in wine. Especially since it allows winemakers to work in collective or shared facilities – lowering the costs and barriers to entry, and giving them the freedom to experiment with varietals sourced all over the place. And that leads to a newness and freshness that these emerging winemakers thrive on.

This month, we’re happy to share four wines that have emerged from this exciting, new form of winemaking.

Our two reds this month come from urban winemakers in Portland’s Northeast quadrant. Both the Jan-Marc Wine Cellars 2012 Merlot and the Viola Wines 2012 Alberta Rosso are big, ripe juicy wines with incredible flavors whose grapes are coming from the Columbia Gorge.

As for whites, the William Rose 2012 Dry Riesling comes from an urban winemaker in Eugene whose new tasting room Oregon Wine LAB serves as a collaborative space for other small winemakers. The Merriman Wines 2012 Chenin Blanc is made at Carlton Winemakers Studio – Oregon’s first collective space.

I hope you’ll enjoy these wines as much as I do!