It's the wine weekend of the year, right after Thanksgiving, and we'll be releasing the new 2007 Roads End and Cape Lookout Oregon Pinot Noirs — the first made right here in our own facility!

Come pop the cork with us and restock your cellar at our annual Thanksgiving Open House.

• when: Friday & Saturday, Nov. 28-29
                  11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• where: Carlton Cellars Winery
                  130 West Monroe Street, Carlton, Oregon (see map)
• tasting fee: $10 includes 4 winemakers
                  (free for Connoisseurs Club members)

Get the details on our Events page or call 503-852-7888.

The turn to autumn is the perfect time to be releasing our Pinots, which really bring out the best of those sumptuous holiday dinners. We love sharing these wines at gatherings with our nearest and dearest this time of year.

And don't forget the wine lovers on your gift list. A case of Roads End or Cape Lookout easily makes for six great gifts. (Sure, there are 12 bottles in a case, so we figure that's one for them, one for you, one for them, one for you... That's how we like to count around here.)

However you figure it, there's nothing like the bounty of summer sun in your glass when you're toasting the warmth of the holiday season around the hearth with your friends and family. (And if you do take home a case, you'll be member of our Connoisseurs Club.)

Want to pour the '07s on Turkey Day, before release? No problem. Simply become a Carlton Cellars Connoisseurs Club member and you too can join us for the exclusive Pre-Thanksgiving Preview on Saturday, Nov. 22, before Thanksgiving.

A single case purchase of Roads End or Cape Lookout — or a mixed case of the two — is all it takes for a year-long membership that gets you a lot of great perks, including:

• Exclusive Preview Events before Thanksgiving and Memorial Day, and other special events;
• tasting fees waived at all open-house events;
• priority access to new releases;
• exclusive offers, such as the V6-Pack, featuring rare vintages.

If you're not already a Connoisseurs Club member, but you'd like to take advantage of the exclusive Pre-Thanksgiving Preview next Saturday, contact us online or call 503-852-7888 to arrange a case purchase that you can pick up right at the event.

We're thrilled to report that Dr. Jay Miller, writing in October's Wine Advocate, gives our 2006 Roads End Oregon Pinot Noir 90 points, a score that identifies it as "An outstanding wine of exceptional complexity and character. In short, these are terrific wines." Dr. Miller writes:

"The 2006 Pinot Noir Roads End spent 10 months in French oak. Medium/dark ruby-colored, it reveals an attractive perfume of cedar, black cherry, and black raspberry. This leads to a layered, smooth-textured wine with plenty of sweet fruit, good balance, and a medium-long finish. Drink it over the next four years."

At the last minute our Houston distributor had to cancel an order for a pallet of Roads End 2006 — that's 36 cases — due to the unfortunate intervention of Ike, the third most destructive hurricane to ever hit the United States. Our hearts go out to the victims of the devastation, and it reminds us how fortunate we are to be safe and sound here in Oregon. We really do have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season.

And, rather than being down to our own cellar stash of the previous vintage, as we usually are this time of year, we can offer a last hurrah of the 2006 Roads End while that supply lasts. Which gives you the opportunity to enjoy your own mini vertical selection over the holidays.