[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][dipi_image_gallery main_autoplay=”on” autoplay_delay=”3500″ main_navigation=”on” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][dipi_image_gallery_child item_image=”https:\/\/www.sasswinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/7ZRS3J2IFVF25KJ4TXG6I455NU.jpeg” main_bg_placement=”top center” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipi_image_gallery_child][dipi_image_gallery_child item_image=”https:\/\/www.sasswinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/NACMTQKCPRFJLI6AIM5P3JNUE4.jpeg” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipi_image_gallery_child][dipi_image_gallery_child item_image=”https:\/\/www.sasswinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/EN5SNIB4XZCBJDVISNW4M7XWXI.jpeg” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipi_image_gallery_child][dipi_image_gallery_child item_image=”https:\/\/www.sasswinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/NPY7SSDTNJCG5CTUEY3VQRKZRM.jpeg” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipi_image_gallery_child][dipi_image_gallery_child item_image=”https:\/\/www.sasswinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/RJEGJRXW4NGI3EHKAJ5MMMEN3E.jpeg” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipi_image_gallery_child][dipi_image_gallery_child item_image=”https:\/\/www.sasswinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/2TKEXIY3UZCXJFFCLKACNKLALQ.jpeg” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipi_image_gallery_child][dipi_image_gallery_child item_image=”https:\/\/www.sasswinery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/YWK5L4UOAZHVTB3LHK3TXRCD4A.jpeg” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dipi_image_gallery_child][\/dipi_image_gallery][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Jerry Sass makes beautiful wines within yodeling distance of the Enchanted Forest.<\/p>\n
The former newspaper editor believes in organic practices in the vineyard and \u201chands off\u201d practices in the cellar. The combination of organic farming without irrigation and mostly staying out of nature\u2019s way in the winery produces some of the best wines that too many Oregonians have yet to discover.<\/p>\n
If you only visit one winery tasting room before harvest begins in a few weeks, make it Sass Winery in Salem.<\/p>\n
Sass Winery is best known for:<\/b> offbeat whites, according to Sass.<\/p>\n
Sass makes a pair of blends that are both refreshing and reasonably priced at $24. The 2020 Sass \u201cAnnie C\u201d is a marsanne-roussanne blend made with fruit from the Applegate Valley in southern Oregon. The \u201cCatharina\u201d is a blend of pinot blanc, gew\u00fcrztraminer and riesling that tips its Tyrolean cap to the wines of Germany and France\u2019s Alsace region. These blends clock in at a modest 12.4% and 13.2 % alcohol by volume.<\/p>\n
Sass also makes\u00a0award-winning pinot noirs<\/a>, so the \u201coffbeat whites\u201d answer was puzzling. Sass had a simple explanation.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the past two years, people haven\u2019t wanted to go indoors much to taste wine. It has also been hot as hell outside, so people visiting our tasting room drifted toward our cooler and more refreshing whites,\u201d Sass said.<\/p>\n \u201cMust try\u201d current release:<\/b> The 2020 \u201cCatharina\u201d is the winemaker\u2019s recommendation. \u201cIt\u2019s tasting great right now, and it is showy, with great aromatics,\u201d Sass said.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll nominate the Sass Winery ros\u00e9 ($22) made with gamay noir grapes from\u00a0Walnut Ridge Vineyard\u00a0<\/a>in the\u00a0Lower Long Tom<\/a> American Viticultural Area. Every year it is a tart and tangy treat, with aromas and flavors of red hibiscus tea, dried cranberries and a strawberry granita.<\/p>\n History:<\/b> Sass was exposed to wine culture when he was a teenager growing up in Rochester, New York. That\u2019s where his father, an avid wine buff, would bring home European wines to share at the family dinner table.<\/p>\n Sass\u2019s journalism career brought Sass to Oregon in the mid-1980s. However, his job as the news editor for the Statesman Journal in Salem did not keep him from thinking about wine. In addition to picking the brains of local winemakers in his spare time, Sass wrote the Statesman Journal\u2019s wine column.<\/p>\n What was the worst thing about writing a wine column? \u201cLet\u2019s just say my vision for the column was way different than my editor\u2019s,\u201d Sass said.<\/p>\n Sass purchased a grass seed farm in the South Salem Hills in 1989 as the site for his future estate vineyard and winery. \u201cPeople starting wineries today are usually well-financed, and they jump in with both feet,\u201d Sass said. \u201cThey\u2019d likely blanch and run for cover if they knew how we started. We\u2019d put in a few thousand dollars at a time of our own money and do the work ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Much of Sass\u2019 early backbreaking vineyard work took place while working as a copy editor, then copy desk chief, for The Oregonian from 1991-2004.<\/p>\n Sass Winery launched with the release of 48 cases of pinot noir and 25 cases of pinot gris from the 1994 vintage. Today Sass, along with his wife Susan Gage, rides herd over the production of approximately 4,500 cases annually.<\/p>\n What we don\u2019t know:<\/b> \u201cSweetie, our winery cat really runs the place, and we have nothing to do with it,\u201d Sass said.<\/p>\n Last book read:<\/b>\u00a0\u201cThis Old Man: All in Pieces\u201d by\u00a0Roger Angell<\/a>.<\/p>\n Biggest inspiration:<\/b> Sass credits his father with standing behind him and supporting his efforts through the years.<\/p>\n In an\u00a0interview conducted for Kansas City Magazine<\/a> in 2020, Sass told me there was a point early on where he worried that making wine wasn\u2019t an important endeavor. \u201cBut my dad used to make wine in the garage, and he told me wine has a sacred quality because it goes with food, family and fellowship,\u201d Sass said.<\/p>\n Sass also named Mark Vlossak at St. Innocent Winery and the late\u00a0Russ Rainey<\/a> of Evesham Wood for giving him \u201cendless access to their time and brains\u201d when he was still a newspaper editor daydreaming about making wine.<\/p>\n Where to buy:<\/b>\u00a0Great Wine Buys<\/a>\u00a0in Portland and\u00a0Santiam Wine & Bistro<\/a> in Salem. But how could you pass up driving to the Sass Winery tasting room to meet Sweetie?<\/p>\n 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday, 9092 Jackson Hill Rd S.E.,Salem,\u00a0<\/i>sasswinery.com<\/i><\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/i>info@sasswinery.com<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n — Michael Alberty writes about wine for The Oregonian\/OregonLive. He can be reached at\u00a0<\/i>malberty0@gmail.com<\/i><\/a>. To read more of his coverage, go to<\/i>\u00a0oregonlive.com\/wine<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you only visit one winery tasting room before harvest begins in a few weeks, make it Sass Winery in Salem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1898,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"dipi_cpt_category":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sasswinery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1887"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sasswinery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sasswinery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sasswinery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sasswinery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1887"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.sasswinery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1918,"href":"https:\/\/www.sasswinery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1887\/revisions\/1918"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sasswinery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sasswinery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sasswinery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sasswinery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1887"},{"taxonomy":"dipi_cpt_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sasswinery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dipi_cpt_category?post=1887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}