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Diversion Project buyout: 364% of average assessed valuation

Billboard charts first-timers for tallies dated Aug. 12 include Dylan Gossett, Dennis Quaid, Flamy Grant and more. Get the details.

Four Under Flor By Michael Alberty If patience is a virtue, Viento Wines owner Rich Cushman must be a saint. The veteran winemaker just ended his decade-long wait to turn someone else’s wine into “Fino,” an Oregon take on the iconic Spanish aperitif.  In 2009, a friend of Cushman’s, we’ll call her “Sherry” for the purposes of this column, asked his help turning four barrels of a lightly fortified Sauvignon Blanc-Viognier blend into vermouth. Cushman describes her project as a “custom processing arrangement.” The barrels resided at Mt. Hood Winery in Hood River, where Cushma...

Parliament of Vowels By Michael Alberty Austriae est imperare orbi universo, Latin for “Austria is destined to rule the world,” is a House of Habsburg motto, which is abbreviated A.E.I.O.U.  A small winery in the Cascade Foothills takes those letters to heart with a new Austrian-inspired wine named “Failed Empires.” , hosted at Hanson Vineyards, a small family-owned winery in Woodburn, is located within audible distance of the bells of Mount Angel Abbey in the Cascade Foothills. The small winery promises some cool selections, if you’re willing to exit the path well-traveled. It’s...

Interstate Love Song By Michael Alberty How could anyone resist a sparkling wine named for a film that uses a child’s imagination, beehives and Frankenstein’s monster to critique fascism?  The wine takes its name from Victor Erice’s 1973 film about Spanish life under Generalissimo Francisco Franco, who is still dead. It’s also the only sparkling wine in America made with grapes from three different states: California, Oregon and Washington. The Spirit of the Beehive is an effervescent love letter to diverse valleys, long road trips and cooperation. The wine exists only because of kis...