Abacela Winery  
 
This was one of the wineries I was really looking forward to visiting. This winery was not as easily found as the map makes it look.  
 
You can view Abacela Winery on our new touring guide:  
http://www.oregonwines.com/touringguide/regionzoom.php?RegionID=3&x=177&y=310  
 
After finally getting there and seeing a very nice and impressive building, the tasting room that day was not as clearly marked or as obvious as most tasting rooms. The tasting room itself is fairly small and I would guess could only handle about 12 people comfortably.  
 
I am not sure how much you know about Abacela, but all of their write-ups tout the wide range of red wines (Tempranillo, Grenache, Albarino, Malbec, Syrah, Merlot, Dolcetto and many others). I was somewhat disappointed when told they were only tasting four wines that day and they had about 10 listed on the board for wines they made.  
 
Wine: Merlot  
Year: 2000  
Price: $18  
Aroma: Strong cherry, plum and raspberry  
Taste: Strong cherry and hints of the plum and raspberry. Full body, long finish with a little tannin.  
Wine level/Wine Value: 8/8  
My Comments: This wine was excellent and could even take some cellar time if you wanted to reduce the tannins. I don’t think you really need to unless you like very little or light tannins.  
 
Wine: Syrah  
Year: 2000  
Price: $29  
Aroma: raspberry, cranberry  
Taste: black pepper, cherry, cranberry, long finish, medium body, tannins  
Wine level/Wine Value: 8/7  
My Comments: a very good wine, again could cellar to reduce tannins  
 
 
 
Wine: Vintners Blend (11 different grapes are in here)  
Year: 2000  
Price: $12  
Aroma: pepper, leather, earthy, cranberry  
Taste: smooth, licorice, plum, cranberry, light tannins, Long finish, medium body  
Wine level/Wine Value: 8/9  
My Comments: now this is a great blend, I was really hooked on this one and really recommend this wine to any Bordeaux-style drinker out there. The low price makes this almost a steal  
 
Wine: Sangiovese  
Year: 2000  
Price: $20  
Aroma: raspberry, Marionberry  
Taste: cherry, raspberry, cranberry, complex currants, tannins, Medium Body, Long finish  
Wine level/Wine Value: 8/8  
My Comments: This wine was not originally opened but since the group I was with were really looking for Sangiovese they were nice enough to open it up for us.  
 
All the wines were really good and the only downside to this stop was the fact you could not taste all the wines they made. I would recommend you call ahead and see what they have open before stopping by to make sure you will be able to taste what you are looking for.  
 
Wine Level and Wine Value rankings defined:  
 
The Wine Level/Wine Value numbers are on a ten point scale, 10 being the best possible score.  
 
Wine Level is the rank of wine with no regard to price.  
 
The Wine Value number is the ranking taking price into consideration. If the Wine Value is lower then Wine Level it usually means I feel the price is high, if the Wine Value is higher then I feel the wine is a great deal. If they are the same then it is priced where it should be.