Winemaker makes artistic statements inside J.K. Carriere barn

Jim Prosser, the winemaker and proprietor of JK Carriere Winery, is one of the most captivating people you may ever have the good fortune to meet. I know what you all are thinking; he must be a hunk if the wine goddess is so smitten. Well, yes, he is one heck of a handsome man, but it is really the smoldering intelligence behind his piercing dark eyes, his seductive wit, and his sultry wine that enthralled me.

Photo / J.K. Carriere Wines This century-old barn is home to JK Carriere Winery near Newberg.

My experience began, before even a sip of wine passed our lips, with a tour of this grand old barn. As we began to ascend the stairs, Jim told me with great pride and a hint of reverence that the barn would turn 100 this coming year. The staircase deposited us in the old hay loft where a sculpture once featured on a Smithsonian Museum tour has found its final resting place.

It is a kinetic sculpture of a Norse soul boat, a ship that, legend has it, took expired Vikings on their journey to the afterlife. The artist, Larry Kirkland, enjoyed the idea of it here in this ancient barn, collecting dust, evoking the image of the baggage we all collect during our stay on this earth, the light through the barn windows playing off its swaying oars.

The barn in Newberg is not really a high traffic area, and now the Soul Boat receives only a twice yearly visit of JK Carriere fans on the Memorial Day and Thanksgiving weekends, the only open houses held by the winery. Tours and tastings can be scheduled at other times of the year through the winemaker, but I highly recommend making this a stop on your wine country jaunt during the holiday weekends.

As the J.K. Carriere label pays homage to Jim's grandfathers (J.K. Prosser and Paul Carriere), the wines are imbued with the strength of character, fortitude and honor that these men possessed. Jim would never put their good names on the line, so you can trust that the wine will be the best juice he can possibly put in the bottle.

There is something for everyone at JK Carriere: a rose of pinot noir that is delightfully crisp with spikes of mineral and fruit throughout, a value priced pinot called Provocateur that Jim claims is as if you were "to bite full-mouth into a perfectly ripened cherry … if it were the size of a peach," and several top-notch yet still reasonably priced luxury wines with extraordinary fruit, spice, and earth qualities that leave your mouth yearning for more.

For those more invested in art and architecture, you have a barn about to turn 100 that had to be rescued from its own weight and pulled back up to stand tall by miracles of modern engineering, or the stunning wood sculpture that inhabits the space. And if wine, art, and history don't get you, well there is always Jim to look at…or maybe that's just me.