Teutonic Winery
Portland, Oregon, USA
Olga and Barnaby Tuttle started out in the wine industry as German wine fans working in restaurants and bars in Portland, Oregon. The fell in love with the Mosel throughout their time in the hospitality business and eventually started making wines of their own, planting their first vines in 2005 and producing their first commercial vintage in 2008.
They search for sites that are as close to the Mosel climate as they can find. In Oregon this means cool growing conditions and high elevations which allow the fruit to hang longer on the vines, allowing the grapes to take more complex flavors from the soil. Almost all their wines are made from single vineyard sites and are often field blends of whatever the vineyard has to offer. Their sites are always dry farmed (no irrigation) so that the roots go deep into the earth and absorb as much Terroir as possible. In the vineyards you’ll find many different types of vegetation like mushrooms, flowers, wild garlic and carrots. No monoculture here.
Pick times are decided based on physiological ripeness by taste, not brix numbers from a lab. Their Willamette valley vineyard sites were planted in 2006 over a decommissioned gravel quarry, and one of the vineyards they source form, Laurel Vineyard, is the highest In Oregon at 1250 feet above sea level.
Their mission is to make single vineyard, Terroir expressive wines: Mosel style but with an Oregonian attitude. These wines are made for the table and in general are low in alcohol and high in acidity. White wines vary from .8 to 1.9% residual sugar. At Teutonic only neutral barrels are used, never new oak.
Olga and Barnaby also import great German wine into Oregon and visit the Mosel often. This allows them to taste with their mentors and offers them incredible learning opportunities. They make a bit of their own wine in the Mosel from the Himmelreich vineyard in the Middle Mosel Valley.
In general they follow these 3 ideas:
Old & Cold - they source our fruit from old vineyards (30 years or older) that are in cold growing areas so fruit won't over ripen or ripen too quickly
High & Dry - High elevation vineyards and that are always dry farmed
Wood & Wild - They ferment all their wine in neutral oak barrels (no stainless steel) and always use wild yeast from the vineyard.
Teutonic produces around 4500 cases per year
2015 Jazz Odyssey
A field blend of Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay from Wasson Vineyard in Willamette Valley. Zippy, refreshing and off-dry.
2015 Grace Hill Riesling
2015 Pinot Gris, Maresh Vineyard, Dundee Hills
From deep rooted vines in the Dundee Hills. Off dry and bright. tropical.
2015 Gewürztraminer, Crow Valley Vineyards, Willamette Valley
40 year old vines in the southern Willamette Valley.
2014 Pinot Noir, Crow Valley vineyards, Willamette Valley
35 year old self rooted vines on Bellpine Soil, southern Willamette Valley.
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