Wine Tasting at R. Stuart & Co.

Last week I shared our afternoon at the new McMinnville Wine Walk and over the next couple of weeks I want to share a few fun tasting rooms in downtown McMinnville – and thought I’d kick things off with R. Stuart & Co.

About R. Stuart & Co.

R. Stuart & Co. was created 15 years ago by Rob Stuart. It’s a family business, as Rob Stuart is the wine maker and his wife Maria Stuart handles public relations and direct sales.  R. Stuart & Co. doesn’t own any vineyard acre land, rather they carefully choose which grapes they are going to use from other vineyards.

They have a winery in the Granary District in Mcminnville and a wine bar on 3rd street. They focus their wine making on Pinot Noir, but also have many other amazing wines to try.

Visiting their wine bar is a very enjoyable experience. You can sit up at the bar or relax at one of the nearby tables. The house rules are prominently displayed on the wall – and my favorite rule is number 7:

About The Wine:

R. Stuart & Co. is probably best known for their “Big Fire” label – which was named as a whimsical reflection for the company’s passion for wine. Big Fire wines are great wines that you can enjoy throughout the week with friends and family. Since I was familiar with those wines, we opted to sample several wines from their “Love, Oregon” label.

If you like a good story, this wine has an amazing one behind the name.  Apparently there used to be a settlement down in Southern Oregon in Josephine County called Love, Oregon. I actually grew up in Josephine County and had no idea about this history! R. Stuart & Co. found an old almanac while sifting through a box of cards and pictures, inviting settlers to come to Oregon – the land of opportunity -and inside the almanac was a place called Love, Oregon.

They began dreaming of this little known place where people lived, and fascinated with the old photos and history – so they decided to fashion some wines and dream on a little more.

I definitely recommend tasting their Love, Oregon flight if you’ve never tried it before. Their 2014 Love, Oregon White Sky is an amazing wine and one of my personal favorites, and is actually created with grapes from Southern Oregon.

Next time you are in McMinnville definitely stop by R. Stuart & Co. for some wine tasting. I think that you too will find yourself lost in the ambiance and charming stories.

~Melissa