How to find me

As some of you know, I have moved to an accounting position and am no longer at Troon Vineyard. This is good news, and the other great news is that I now have weekends and afternoons off, hooray! So please contact me and we can enjoy some wine together: 541-218-3359 or coreymctaggart@gmail.com

Find me on facebook & follow me on twitter as well.

In Full Bloom

One rose characteristic which most people expect is fragrance. Watch someone walk by roses in full bloom. First, there'll be an exclamation over color or beauty, but, inevitably, the head will bend in expectation of that special scent we've come to expect.

Many years ago Alice Morse Earle wrote, "The fragrance of the sweetest rose is beyond an other flower scent, it is irresistible, enthralling; you cannot leave it. I have never doubted the rose has some compelling quality not shared by other flowers. I do not know whether it comes from some inherent witchery of the plant, but it certainly exists."

Elusive, mysterious, the fragrance of roses and the romance surrounding it is legendary. For instance, Cleopatra supposedly entertained Marc Anthony in a room filled with 18 inches of rose petals, and the sails of her ship were soaked with rose water so that "the very winds were lovesick." In the 1300's, Queen Elizabeth of Hungary, whose beauty ritual included quantities of rose water, was, at the age of 72, able to successfully woo the King of Poland. At a seventeenth-century Persian royal wedding, rose petals were floated on garden canals filled with rose water. Such lavishness attests to both the literal and figurative power of rose fragrance.
Some of the mystery and illusion of rose fragrance may, in part, be due to the fact that there are actually over two dozen different sorts of rose scent, with some roses having a mixture of these various perfumes. The seven basic scents that are most often found in hybrid tea roses include rose, nasturtium, orris, violet, apple, lemon, and clover. Some of the other scents are fern or moss, hyacinth, orange, bay anise, lily-of-the-valley, linseed oil, hone, wine, marigold, quince, geranium, peppers, parsley, and raspberry.

In general, the most highly scented roses are ones that are either darker in color, have more petals to the flower, or have thick, velvety petals. Another correlation is that the red and pink roses are most likely to smell like a "rose," while white and yellow ones lean to orris, nasturtium, violet, or lemon. Orange-shaded roses will usually have scents of fruit, orris, nasturtium, violet, or clover.
Rose fragrance will be strongest on warm, sunny days when the soil is moist because that is when the production of the scent ingredients increases. Often, a rose that was fragrant in the morning is no longer so by late afternoon.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/publications/roses/fragrance.html


Come out to Troon Vineyard for a unique rose sensation experience!

Wildflower Hikes

Southern Oregon has been quite cool this spring, so wildflowers are still blooming-beautiful at this late date. Here are a few suggestions:

Hike the Britt Trails of Jacksonville. Follow the signs for Jacksonville Woodlands Park, cross the highway on a crosswalk and climb a set of stairs into the Britt Gardens. Stone walls here mark the site of the home of Peter Britt, a Swiss-born miner, painter, vintner, and photographer whose acclaimed pictures documented early Southern Oregon.
The Britt House burned in 1960. A walkway to the left leads to the amphitheater where the Britt Festival's open-air concerts are held on summer evenings. For the loop hike, however, turn right instead, following a pointer for the Sara Zigler Interpretive Trail. After just 150 feet you'll pass a 4-foot-diameter sequoia planted by Peter Britt in 1862 on the day his son Emil was born. Then the path enters a forest of Douglas fir, madrone, white oak, and ponderosa pine. After half a mile, turn right across a footbridge over Jackson Creek, continue upstream to a parking area, and turn left across another footbridge. Then follow signs for "Rich Gulch" and "Panoramic Viewpoint," taking two right turns and two lefts, to find a knolltop bench overlooking the town and Mt. McLoughlin.After admiring the view, continue 100 yards to a trail junction, turn right, and then keep left at all junctions to descend through Rich Gulch. Trailside signs describe the flumes and giant hydraulic hoses that washed gold from this valley, leaving cobble tailings. http://web.oregon.com/hiking/jacksonville.cfm

Hike the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) on Mt. Ashland in Southern Oregon. This stroll takes you through over six miles (roundtrip) of sub-alpine meadows, dotted with buds in yellows, greens, blues and reds. Put your mark on the iconic PCT trail without having to make its full 2,650-mile trek from Mexico through Washington. http://blog.traveloregon.com/2010/05/14/wildflowers/

Hike the Enchanted Forest. Just Come out to Troon Vineyard in the Applegate Valley and we will give you directions! It's very close by.

SO excited about 2008 Zinfandel!

On a recent trip to Napa, I tasted and brought home some lovely zins. Okay, not ALL of them made it home. ;)

One tasting room server was completely incredulous when I mentioned I hail from the home of the "Best Zinfandel in the World": Troon Vineyard. (The 2002 zin won this award at the Jerry D. Mead New World International Wine Competition.) I encouraged all of them to visit our picturesque spot in the Applegate Valley... maybe I also asked them to come up in the fall when the 2008 Reserve Zinfandel is first released - no agenda there. Upon returning home from my Napacation, I opened a precious bottle of 2006 Troon Vineyard Reserve Zinfandel and oh, my, goodness. It completely blew everything I had tasted on my trip absolutely out of the glass! Beauty, balance and complexity just can't be much more wonderful.

2002 Troon Vineyard Reserve Zinfandel: Best New World Zinfandel - Jerry D. Mead New World International Wine Competition. Gold Medal, Best of Class, Best of Varietal, Best of Show - Jerry D. Mead New World International Wine Competition. Gold Medal, Dallas Morning News Wine Competition. Gold Medal, Northwest Wine Summit. Silver Medal, San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.

2004 Troon Vineyard Reserve Zinfandel: Silver Medal, San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.

2006 Troon Vineyard Reserve Zinfandel: Gold Medal, San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Gold Medal, Northwest Wine Summit. Gold Medal, Jerry D. Mead International Wine Competition. "Outstanding" Oregon Wine Awards.

Breaking News!

2008 Kubli Zinfandel: Gold Medal, Oregon Wine Awards.

2008 Reserve Zinfandel: Double Gold, Oregon Wine Awards.

What NOT to Name Your Dog

Before adopting your next puppy or dog at a shelter, you may want to take a moment to review a few handles that should be avoided. Over the course of his or her life, you'll end up using your dog's name over 35,000 times. The list can usually be applied to naming children or other pets as well.

1. Lucky. Come on, that's just tempting fate.

2. Zeus. You can be certain that your dog will never take orders from you, a mere human.

3. Beau. Or anything else that rhymes with "no", "sit", "stay" etc.

4. Sarah. If your aunt's name is also Sarah.

5. Tip. If your other dog's name is Flip. Dogs respond to the vowel sound in their name.

6. Foofers. Or any other name you don't want to yell out the back door 10,000 times.

7. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Dogs prefer a simple one or two-syllable name.

8. Shark. Unless you want to create widespread panic at the beach as you call your dog to you.

9. ****. Because the grandparents will be offended, you'll be embarrassed, and the kids will get in trouble if they mention the dog at school.

10. Stinky. No one will want to pet him!

McCafe Morning

So, early this morning I was efficiently at the bank drive through and on my way to the vineyard. Suddenly I realized I did NOT want to wait 45 minutes to make it to the winery restroom on Kubli Road in the Applegate Valley. A quick assessment of surroundings revealed the local McDonald's across the street. Although I pride myself in avoiding fast food establishments, (I view myself as a veggie-pescatarian-locavore-granola when possible) it seemed to be my best option, so I zoomed across traffic and pulled into the first parking spot. McDonald's is obviously the senior hangout on Monday mornings, so I made my way past a large crowd of elderly McMuffin loving patrons. I didn't need anything, but feeling like I should pay for the use of water, soap and a paper towel, I made my way up to the counter. As usual I was cash-less and a dollar menu coffee didn't seem like the right amount to put on a credit card. Less than a minute later I was walking out the door with a full meal deal, including something that looked and tasted like a giant tater-tot. And I ate the whole thing! Including the ham, which is not on the "Corey eats" list. I had to truly admire McDonald's for freaky-fast tastiness and of course the anti-Starbucks McLatte is nothing short of brilliant. I even made it to work on time!

Stealing Pens

"It's too petty to ask for a pen back, but this was a brand new, special pen, that I wanted to keep." He loaned it to a "friend" of his (for just a moment), who "didn't remember" to give the pen back. To be viewed as so cheap that you would ask for just a pen to be returned!