This past weekend the heat was on! Temperatures were up in the 90’s and my allergies were causing me all sorts of trouble. So what do you do when it’s hot out, but you can’t be outside? Go wine tasting!

We first learned about The Carlton Winemakers Studio from Eric Hamacher at a special tasting event over Thanksgiving weekend, and we were happy to finally go check it out!

The tasting facility is stunning. Love the architecture and it was neat to learn about all the “green design features” that went into this building. I especially love that the tasting room was designed in a way that maximizes natural light and reduces energy usage.

Upon arriving we were instantly greeted by Jason, the Hospitality & Sales Manager, who got us started with our tasting. I chose to do the “Spring Flight” and The Renaissance Man did the “Diverse Flight.”

The tasting room wasn’t too full when we arrived, so Jason was kind enough to give us a tour of the facility. And let me tell you this place is cool! How many production facilities have a rock climbing wall?

Yep, you heard me right…a rock climbing wall right next to the barrels and tanks! Pretty darn cool!

The Carlton Winemakers Studio is a unique place that started out as a dream. Eric Hamacher and his wife Luisa Ponzi had the idea to create a collaborative work space for winemakers to get their start without the huge upfront investment. It’s a bit like a co-op where everyone shares the facility equipment and space, but then has the ability to sell their wine individually under their own label names.

The Carlton Winemakers Studio is currently home to the following wineries…Andrew Rich, Asilda, Bachelder, Dukes, Hamacher, Lazy River, Mad Violets, Merriman, Quintet Cellars, Retour, Utopia, Trout Lily, and Wahle. Each winemaker has their own goals and personal style when it comes to the wine, so it’s fun to do a wine tasting because you get a tremendous variety of wines.

It’s easy to understand why The Carlton Winemakers Studio has a waiting list for up and coming winemakers to become part of the collective.

And here is the loading dock, press, and bottling area. All under a nice roof that both maintains daylight and protects workers from inclement weather. Yes…Oregon has both its sunshine and liquid sunshine! ha!

As you can see in the picture below, several “levels” exist within the facility. The levels help to aid the gravity flow process where wine moves from the fermentation stage into the barrels with little to no effort. Isn’t gravity great!?

A new tidbit I learned about the winemaking process was about the kegs shown at the bottom of the picture below. The kegs are filled with the same respective wine that’s located in the barrels. Over time, the wine in the barrels will evaporate and so the wine in the kegs is used to “top off” the barrels. Topping off the barrels is important because you want to minimize the oxidation that happens, so filling the barrels with more wine minimizes the surface area of the of the wine exposed to air. Makes sense to me!

And this is where the magic happens come harvest time! Everyone gets a color and this white board serves as the road map for the Cellar Master when it comes to wine production. Quite the command center!

The truly fantastic part of the winemakers studio is the collaborative effort and the success of the wines. Jason told us that over the years each winemaker has picked up tips and tricks from others in the studio, and everyone continually gets better. The Winemakers Studio is a like a crowd-sourcing hive-mind where ideas are learned and shared among everyone. As the winemakers eventually venture off into their own winemaking facilities, lots of things you see in this facility get passed along. One of which is the hanging of the hoses, which is simple, but totally effective! You can see the “fingerprints” of The Carlton Winemakers Studio all across wine country.

And lets not forget about the wine, it was amazing! My favorite of the day was the Mad Violets 2011 Riesling, and The Renaissance Man’s best pick was the 2010 Andrew Rich Malbec.

Given the number of wine makers and individual wines, we didn’t get a chance to try everything, but we’ll certainly be back! The welcoming atmosphere and passion for wine is evident throughout the tasting room, and it was great to have such a personable experience with Jason as our guide. I highly recommend adding The Carlton Winemakers Studio to your list of places to visit when in wine country!

Cheers!