Drinking Now: Black Magnolia

You may be intrigued by the name—I was. Black Magnolia wine, as the winemaker and owner, Anthony Van Nice states, describes what is in the bottle.  “Magnolias are beautiful and fragrant, and they have a velvety texture.  There really is no such thing as a Black Magnolia, so this is something new and perhaps intriguing and unexpected.”

This isn’t the only reason I was interested in trying this wine. It also had to do with the person behind the wine. Anthony Van Nice collaborated with well-known and respected Laurent Montalieu of Soléna Estate to create this wine, along with another soon-to-be-released wine, a rosé, called Shallow Seas. These wines will be housed under Van Nice’s winery Real Nice Winemakers.  Nice play on names, Anthony!

Anthony has been in the wine industry for over 20 years and got his start as a cellar rat working at Archery Summit under another famous winemaker, Gary Andrus. After this, he went on to work in Burgundy, France; Australia,: and New Zealand, and he eventually made it back to Oregon. He was the first employee of a start-up winery called The Four Graces and quickly became their GM and later President until it was sold to the Foley Wine Group.

After having spent the last few years helping others build their own wineries, he thought it was finally time that he started his own. And so Real Nice Winemakers, along with his Black Magnolia wine, was born.

Black Magnolia Pinot Noir is sourced from three well-known and respected vineyards, Hyland Vineyard (Hyland Estates), Olsen Vineyard, and Domaine Loubejac Vineyard.  This blend of vineyards creates a uniquely balanced wine with the right amount of acid and fruit that will delight you from the first course to the last course of dinner.

Interestingly enough this wine is not your traditional $40-$50-dollar bottle of Pinot Noir .  Rather, at a very reasonable $22, it’s a wine that can still be representative of the famous Willamette Valley and delivers on quality over price. Do try it!

To learn more about Black Magnolia, visit blackmagnoliawine.com.  Cheers!