The Portland tasting room of Fullerton Wines made news recently with adding chef Rob Grisham to lead the food pairings with wine for dinners on Thursday nights. 
The menus may change often (weekly – you can get a preview seemingly on their webpage for reservations), so consider this only an example from their opening week. My dinner included a horizontal wine pairing flight that highlighted five pinot noirs (they actually offer seven pinots from 2017 and different vineyards, so your vertical wine flight may vary), each from a different AVA.
Fullerton Wines’ wine portfolio focuses on Burgandian varietals and the terroir of Willamette Valley wines with pinot noir, pinot noir rosé, pinot gris, and chardonnay. This family owned business includes their Five FACES line (a nod to the five members of their family), but also in particular a Single Vineyards series highlighting single vineyards and different AVAs, mostly with sedimentary and/or volcanic soil. That makes the food and wine pairing not only delicious, but educational as well. As each wine is poured, I enjoyed hearing the family vineyards that the winemaker Alex Fullerton, sources each wine from, and hearing stories about each wine and vineyard that really connect you locally.
First, we started with Mushroom Velouté Mushroom Ragout, Sherry Gastrique, paired with 2017 ArborBrook Vineyard Pinot Noir, Chehalem Mountains AVA. The creamy earthiness of the soup with a hint of brightness from the sherry went well with the umami of this ArborBrook pinot noir. in talking with the Tasting Room Manager, Casey Chamberlin, he explained how some people detect a funkiness with this pinot, so they knew that the mushrooms here in the dish were calling for this wine. From my discussions, it seems like they know their wine enough that chef Rob can focus on selecting the food flavors and textures that call to him, and they can adjust their wine to always find a complementary or contrasting match as winemaker Alex already has food in mind in selecting the wine profiles.
Second, Radicchio + Burrata Salad Shaved Fennel, Honeycrisp Apple, Sunflower Seeds, Basil Citronette, paired with 2017 Bjornson Vineyard Pinot Noir, Eola Amity Hills AVA. I was impressed with the pairing of a pinot noir with a salad, especially radicchio here. But it totally worked. This pinot noir was probably the lightest of the five tonight in terms of fruit forward, but enough complexity of character and slight sweetness that tamed the slight bitter of the salad while working with the creaminess of the burrata and crisp apple.
Third, Smoked Trout Rillettes with Beet & Mustard Seed Relish, Dill Crème Fraîche, Capers, Rye Crouton paired with 2017 Momtazi Vineyard Pinot Noir, McMinnville AVA. This fancily plated dish has a lot of flavors going on, and the slight smoky and earthy fruit of the Momtazi pinot held up its side and brought out a little bit more of the smoke in the trout but seemed to also overemphasize the flavors of the beet and relish.
Next was the main, Winter Squash Ravioli Roasted Delicata, Parmigiano Reggiano, Crushed Pistachio, paired with 2017 Bella Vida Vineyard Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills AVA. Chef Rob was known for his pastas at his previous stint in 2021 at the famous French Laundry in Napa Valley, and I’m confident that the pasta course of the dinner menu will always be incredible. I enjoyed the play of textures here of the smooth puree of squash inside the al dente ravioli and the cuts of roasted squash alongside this dish.
Dessert was Creamsicle Custard with Vanilla, Orange + Yuzu Jam, Ginger Crème Fraîche, paired with 2017 Lichtenwalter Vineyard Pinot Noir, Ribbon Ridge Ridge AVA. The dessert was a fun play of textures with the underlying tartness and vanilla emphasizing similar citrus and vanilla in the Lichentenwalter pinot noir. This was my favorite wine and food pairing of the evening. In fact I ended up purchasing two bottles of the Lichentenwalter becuase I found the flavor profiles to be so unique and wanted to have it again very soon.
Coming up in 2022 are a New Year’s Eve Party that supposedly includes “champagne, tapas, oysters, and a mighty fine time”, more wine pairing dinners, and wine courses. Fullerton Wines starting in March will also offer wine tours which include directly visiting the vineyards and trying the wines from that vineyard and the Fullerton Wines interpretation while they are still in progress – what a unique way to learn about wines and wine country.
Wine pairing dinners like above are only on Thursdays and reservations can be made indoors or their gazebo outside with tent covering and heaters. Cost is $95 per person for five course dinner and curated wine pairings to the dinner courses at $55 per person (15-25% off for club members depending on membership level). Alternatively they also have Signature flights ($25 per person) or AVA flights ($40 per person) or Reserve flight ($50 per person) where the flight of five wines can be waived with purchase of $150 of wine. Reservations required at least 48 hours in advance for dinner/cancelation fee if canceled less then 48 hours before reservation time.
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