We have so much to celebrate this December!

This month officially marks Cellar 503’s first anniversary. What a wild ride this first year has been. I am so thrilled with the warm welcome we’ve received from the Oregon wine industry and the support that all our members have shown us. My dream of sharing unique, hand-crafted wines from small wineries all over the state has really become a reality.

It’s also the season of bright lights, big parties and holidays galore. Whether you’re celebrating Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, Festivus, or a bit of all four, we’ve got some great wines for you to share with friends and family. Our December wines were specially chosen to complement the foods and festivities of this special time, as well as to represent the breadth and depth of Oregon wines.

Our first red comes from the most northeastern winery in Oregon, mere feet from the state line in Milton-Freewater. A deep, dark, rich Cabernet Sauvignon (our first!) from the Spanish stylings of Castillo de Feliciana. Our second red, a Barbera, is from an old friend, Viola Wine Cellars, an urban winery in the heart of Portland.

Our whites are similarly diverse in location and style. The first is a Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc blend called Charlemagne from an urban winery in Roseburg – yes, you read that right: Roseburg. And our second white is a gloriously intense Pinot Gris from a “family” of three couples in the Willamette Valley’s Polk County.

I hope you’ll enjoy these wines as much as we do and share them and their amazing stories with your friends and family this holiday season.

Happy Holidays!