After our excursion to the Hood River area, we attended the reception hosted by the Oregon Wine Board at our host hotel, Doubletree Portland.  The room was full of people pouring wine from vineyards across the state.  In fact, according to the Oregon Wine Board, there are around 450 wineries and 850 vineyards that contribute $2.7 billion to the state’s economy.  Suffice it to say, that although there weren’t 450 wineries at the reception there were still too many to taste in one evening.  Some of the best wines we tasted were from Argyle Winery, Big Table Farm, Chehalem, Cornerstone Cellars, Dobbes Family Estate, Domaine Droughin Oregon and our favorite Pinot Noir from Johan Vineyards.  After the reception we were invited to an after-hours party hosted by Jarvis Communications from California.  The party was a blast and we want to thank Elizabeth Glenn and Sam Dependahl for inviting us and sharing some of their luscious California Cabernets.  These events were just precursors to what was yet to come!

Cheers!

It’s been just a little over a week since we attended the 5^th Annual Wine Bloggers Conference in Portland, Oregon, and I have not had chance to post a BIG THANK YOU to all of the fabulous sponsors of this terrific conference.  Specifically, I would like to thank our main host, Zephyr Adventures.  Allan Wright and the other folks at Zephyr Adventures once again put together a dynamite conference.

Another HUGE THANK YOU goes out to the folks in the Gorge (as they call it) that made our trip wonderful.  We attended a pre-conference excursion that was hosted by the Hood River Chamber of Conference.  Their Executive Director, Kerry Cobb, and her staff, did an outstanding job with the details of the program and made our group feel welcome. We toured the area by way of our friendly bus driver, Martin of Martin’s Gorge Tours.  He took us to the Hood River Lavender Farm and the Foothills Alpaca Farm followed by a lovely lunch at the Columbia Gorge Center for the Arts sponsored by The Hood River Rotary Wine and Pear Fest Committee.

During our stay in the area, we were fortunate enough to taste wines from Mt. Hood Winery, Wy’East Vineyards, Naked Winery, Springhouse Cellar Winery, Marchesi Winery, Cathedral Ridge Winery, and wines at the tasting room of the Gorge White House.  On the final morning of the excursion we were treated to breakfast by the Columbia Cliff Gorge Hotel and speeches by local winemakers, Rich Cushman of Viento Wines and Lonnie Wright of The Pines Vineyard and Winery and AlanBusacca of Alma Terra Wines.  The winemakers were very impressive and so were their wines.

 The area is breathtaking and the outdoor activities are numerous.  I highly recommend this area as a vacation destination and would book a room at either The Columbia Cliff Villas or The Columbia Cliff Gorge Hotel for a relaxing view of the Hood River.   Be sure to spend some time visiting the local wineries, it is well worth your time.

Cheers!

With the time flying by - I will go straight to the chase.  The nose is peaches, spice, but, thankfully, not loaded with oak.  Good mouth feel, but a little more tropical than I like.  Nice weight and a long finish. At $12.99 a great buy for a Cali Chardonnay.

All Ara’s wines are biodynamically produced, this Riesling is 12% alcohol, 2.8 g/l of residual sugar and 7.8 g/L total acid.  This is my favorite Riesling I have dated so far.  I can see this as a great summer drinking wine or a nice shellfish dinner wine.

Amity Vineyards 2009 Estate Dry Riesling.  A big nose of petroleum and citrus - the citrus really comes through on the pallet. Less than 100 cases of this wine were made, so you will have to go to the vineyard to get this one to drink with your oyesters.

2008 Riesling from August Cellars ($14).  Petroleum, honey and fruit in the nose.  Medium bodied, lots of acid, and a long finish.

2010 Frascati from Fontana Candida.  This is another wine with a pale straw color.  Fermented and aged in stainless steel followed by four months on the lees adding a little complexity.  The two guys serving up the wine claim a great paring with the dreaded artichoke.  Let me know if like it with ‘chokes.

Here is how it goes, five minutes per winery

First, wine Duck Pond Pinot Gris from the 2011 vintage

Estate grown fruit from their 1,300 acres of vines.  The 2011 is a very pale straw color, with a nose of apples and light.  In the mouth  the wine is light and airy with relatively low acid.  A nice beach wine.

More wines to follow, the bell is about to sound.

Tomorrow we are on our way to Portland, Oregon to the 2012 North American Wine Bloggers Conference.  We were lucky enough to attend the first one in Sonoma in 2008, and it was a hoot, so we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to attend the one hosted in Oregon, home of some great Pinot Noirs.

Of course, we are getting a jump on the conference and attending one of the pre-excursions offered by Zephyr Adventures.  We are heading out to the Hood River area around 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday and should be returning to our host hotel Doubletree Portland (http://www.doubletreegreen.com) around 5:30 p.m. on Thursday just in time to get cleaned up for the Welcome Reception provided by the Oregon Wine Board.

Some of this year’s highlights include keynote speeches from Randall Grahm of Bonnie Doon Vineyards and Sideways author, Rex Pickett.  In addition to the wines produced in Oregon, we will taste wines from Argentina, Greece, Languedoc, France and other international wines poured by various sponsors from around the globe.  Some of the other conference events include trips to various vineyards on Friday, breakout sessions on Saturday and the Wine Blog Awards and Banquet dinner on Saturday evening.  To wrap up the conference there is a noon lunch hosted by the Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins du Languedoc.

Unfortunately, if you haven’t registered for this fantastic conference, you will miss out because it is a sell out this year with 350 folks registered.  We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new friends at this grand event.

 Salud!

In 2008, at the first North American Wine Blogger’s Conference, Alice Feiring gave a of the keynote.  She closed her talk with the advice to “drink more Gamay.  I am not sure that she is only reason that we have been drinking Gamay, but I know that we have been adding them to the shopping list for the last several vintages.  With the 2010’s coming on the market, we would like to pay homage to the ‘09s.  The wines from 2009 are a gateway for wine drinkers who have not enjoyed Beaujolais in the past.  The year was relatively warm but not blazing hot.  The wines produced by the almost-hot days and cool nights are medium to almost, but not quite full bodied.  They offer fruit, good mouth feel, the right amount of acid and a long finish.  Some of the Crú wines can even scratch that Burgundy itch.  The Morgon Côte du Py Crú Beaujolais wines from Potel-Aviron and Jean Marc Burgaud are good examples.  2009 wines from the villages of Fleurie and Moulin-à-Vent are also great to drink and easy to buy.  However, this is not a post about the year that was, but rather a notice that these wines are now available for less money.  The 2010 vintage is making its way to shelves around the country and wine stores have to empty their shelves of the ‘09s to make room.  Most vendors are reducing prices by about 25%, which means you can get these wines at bargain prices.  Even better, the ‘09s are drinking great right now and will continue to be exceptional for at least the next couple of years.  Look for wines from Robert Kacher, Jean-Paul Brun, Kermit Lynch, and Potel Aviron.

 Cheers!