the Rizzo winery NOTEBOOK

At Rizzo, we want to help our valued customers learn about how many hands this bottle went through before reaching their glass - or why wine has been the chosen beverage for thousands of years throughout history. We wanted to share the tools that enable our wine lovers to feel confident about discussing the bottle of Rizzo they are drinking with friends.

We created the Notebook to help get you there and to pass on our wealth of knowledge to you.

Rizzo's Spotlight Mali Lubash Rizzo's Spotlight Mali Lubash

The Holiday Gift Guide Is Here!

Find the perfect gift for all the wine lovers in your life this holiday season! For the Trend Setter, The Extravagant One, Red Wine Lover, and White Wine Lover. Celebrate this holiday season with Rizzo Wines!

Tis the season for shopping for all the people you love! Lucky for you, we’ve got the gift guide you need to give the perfect gift set for all the wine lovers in your life.

For The Trendy One

The New Vintage Bundle

This gift set is perfect for the trend-setter in your life. We just released our 2018 Chardonnay, 2018 Pinot Noir and the fan favorite 2019 Rosé. The 2018 Chardonnay is tropical and bright, while the 2018 Pinot Noir is a classic example of how beautiful Willamette Valley Pinot Noir can truly be. Our 2019 Rosé is what we lovingly call our Winter Rosé, filled with a delicious holiday spice flavor profile that pairs perfectly with a warm fire.

For The White Wine Lover

The White Wine Bundle

Move aside everything you thought you knew about white wine. Each of these wines brings a unique flavor to the party. The 2018 Chardonnay isn’t like your classic oaky, butter bomb of chardonnay. This wine is fleshy, bright, and punchy with tropical fruits that settle into a flavor like a fruity cheesecake. Our 2015 Viognier is made from Viognier grown on our Estate. This wine is dry, but comforting with flavors of apricot, nectarine and some honeyed hazelnut. Even the 2015 Muscat Canelli isn’t what you expect. It’s off-dry, so it does have some subtle sweetness that lends itself to a honey flavor, lychee with white blossoms.

For The Extravagant One

The Luxury Bundle

This is an impressive gift for anyone who enjoys the finer things in life. Two of the most extravagant wines Rizzo Winery has ever made, both of these wines are rich with flavor, and texture. Though the name Cuvee means blend, this wine is made entirely from Cabernet Sauvignon, from two different vineyards. Flavors of coconut soufflé, light vanilla and a depth of blackberry. Our 2012 Petit Verdot is silky and sultry. Both of these wines are made from grapes grown out of ancient ash that settled in Oregon’s Columbia Valley from when Mt. Mazuma exploded and created Crater Lake.

For The Bold & Beautiful

The Bold Red Wine Bundle

All three of these wines are bold, spicy, sultry, and demand attention. Do you have someone in your life like that? If you do, these are the perfect wines for them! Our 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon has a beautiful combination of black cherry, black pepper, and mint that will make your mouth water in delight. It recently won a gold medal at Sip’s Best of Northwest awards. Another gold medal winner is our 2013 Tempranillo, a perfect wine for the Thanksgiving table, a wine with flavors similar to cranberry sauce in the most delicious way. To round off this perfect trio is our 2013 Syrah, a wine with subtle vanilla, spiced walnut and subtle sage.

We have so much more to offer in our Tasting Room! Come visit us every weekend 11-5 PM.

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Wine Profile Mali Lubash Wine Profile Mali Lubash

Muscat Canelli, Food's Best Friend

Muscat Canelli is a delicious white wine made in an off-dry style. Despite its slight sweetness, this wine is a very versatile wine to pair with many different types of food. From light desserts to salads, even to delicious take-out!

Muscat is often overlooked due to it’s off-dry nature. We’re here to tell you to forget what you’ve heard. This wine should be your go to for any dinner party, picnic at the park, charcuterie night, or take-out thai food.

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Muscat Canelli is perhaps one of the most delicious grapes to snack on in the entire Vitis Vinifera species. The only grape I’ve ever had that tastes exactly as the wine does, floral, and bursting with sweet perfume. This fun little grape is also very ancient, one of the grapes that most others can trace their lineage back to.

Muscat is a grape variety with many variants of itself as well. Muscat Canelli in particular is a grape named after the town of Canelli (Città di Canelli) in North-East Italy in the larger winemaking region of Piedmont. Rizzo Winery, of course, has Italian heritage, and this grape also can grow in a cooler region than some of the other Muscat variants, making it a no-brainer to be planted as 1 acre of our peaceful vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills.

A picture from the smoke filled vineyard during the growing season of 2020.

A picture from the smoke filled vineyard during the growing season of 2020.

Muscat In The Vineyard

We dry farm our vineyard, meaning we don’t use irrigation. We allow Mother Nature to shower our vineyard with the beautiful Oregon rain, and our soils soak and store the water throughout our growing season. We allow the grapes to grow with minimal intervention and harmful sprays. When we do spray we follow LIVE (Low Impact Viticulture & Enology) principles.

Muscat Canelli Picnic

Pair The Wine!

Muscat Canelli pairs incredibly well with picnics. Blue cheese is the first that comes to mind, a blue cheese walnut and pear salad on a warm summer day, or a fancy blue cheese on a baguette topped with a bit of honey, delicious.

Traditionally, off-dry wines pair incredibly well with both their similar flavor profile, something slightly sweet like a fruit tart, cheesecake, or olive oil cake. Also, will pair with complete opposite something spicy like wasabi on sushi, a mild/medium spiced pad thai, or a cashew coconut curry.

For dinner, a poached fish filet with a salsa verde, or a simple lemon pasta with olive oil and red chili flakes.

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Wine Pairings Guest User Wine Pairings Guest User

Celebrate The Seasonal Change

Soak up the last little bit of Summer with our Summer Bruschetta. This delicious treat is a wonderful pairing to our Muscat Canelli. We’ve also included some tasting notes, so you can bring this combo to a picnic and impress all your friends with your wine knowledge and expertise!

It’s still quite warm in Oregon, so we’re holding on to every last drop of summer we can. This recipe for Summer Bruschetta helps us deny that summer is coming to an end. Whip up a batch of our Summer Bruschetta, chill a bottle of our Muscat Canelli, and soak up some September sunshine!

Yum! We love enjoying fresh, local produce.

Yum! We love enjoying fresh, local produce.

Print these out, or read ahead of time to impress your friends with all your flavor profile knowledge!

Print these out, or read ahead of time to impress your friends with all your flavor profile knowledge!

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