Oregon, here we come!!

As I mentioned before, in the past few years I have broadened my love of wine past the white zinfandels and merlots to other wonderful dry reds.  One of my favorite wines now is Pinot Noir.  Since we have ventured into California a few times, we thought it might be fun to head to Oregon and try some fabulous wines.  Beth and I and our husbands will be traveling next week to one of Oregon’s major AVA’s-Willamette Valley, near Portland.  With this in mind, I thought I’d read up a little and do some research about Oregon to be prepared.  According to Kevin Zraly who wrote “Windows on the World-Complete Wine Course “because of its climate, Oregon is becoming well known for Burgundian-style wines (referring to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir), the major grapes planted in Oregon.”  Since Willamette Valley is a major AVA in Oregon we have decided to focus our trip in that area.  Zraly has listed several good wineries to visit, so we have included some in our tours and ventures.  I also read that most wineries in Oregon are relatively small- producing on average just 5000 cases a year.  According to the Oregon Wine Country website “While you can increasingly find many Oregon wines online or in knowledgeable wine stores, there are many offerings that are only available in Oregon at the wineries' tasting rooms, which are sprinkled along country roads, tucked into the foothills of mountains and situated high above vineyards with breathtaking views of the landscape below.”  We are looking forward to finding those little jewels!

Below is a little “Wine History” I found on line also from the Oregon Wine Country: 

Modern winemaking in the Willamette Valley dates back 40 years with the genius of three UC Davis refugees who believed that Oregon was an ideal place to grow cool-climate varieties. Between 1965 and 1968, David Lett, Charles Coury, and Dick Erath separately forged their way to the north Willamette Valley despite negative rumblings from their Davis cohorts who told them it was impossible to grow wine grapes in Oregon. They were the first in Oregon to plant Pinot noir. They also planted small amounts of related varieties, including Pinot gris, Chardonnay, and Riesling. These wine pioneers whole-heartedly believed that Oregon would one day become an important wine-growing region. Other believers were not far behind. Within the next decade, David and Ginny Adelsheim, Ronald and Marjorie Vuylsteke, Richard and Nancy Ponzi, Joe and Pat Campbell, Susan and Bill Sokol Blosser and Myron Redford all planted vineyards in the Willamette Valley. These families worked in a collaborative spirit, sharing advice, humor and encouragement, as they began writing history by producing superior wines in Oregon. Though, it wasn't until David Lett entered his Oregon Pinot noir in the 1979 Gault-Millau French Wine Olympiades and won top Pinot noir honors against France's best labels, that the world started to take notice of Oregon as a serious winemaking region. The Willamette Valley became an official AVA in 1984. Today, it is recognized as one of the premier wine producing areas in the world. It is most widely known for its award winning Pinot noir, but consistently earns top honors for other such cool-climate varieties as Pinot gris, Dijon clone Chardonnay and Pinot blanc.

Now that we have a background, we’re ready to go!

                                                                ….to be continued…….

Las Vegas - The Finale

After another day at the Encore pool, I decided to have lunch at Society in the Encore. With my steak salad, I enjoyed a glass of Seghesio Zinfandel. It was a wonderful wine and paired well with my lunch. At the risk of getting sleepy before our dinner, I stopped by the lobby bar and grabbed a glass of Ponzi Pinot (Oregon). I have mentioned this wine in previous blog entries. It was as delicious as I remembered it from the day before! I savored that glass as I got ready for our final Vegas dinner at the famed SW Steakhouse in the Wynn. We were meeting a large group and they were leaving me in charge of wine! Before leaving for dinner, we again met at the lobby bar (we are all on a first name basis by now) where I decided to have a glass of 2009 Oberon Cab from Napa. It was delicious! From there, we played some pre-dinner Craps where I got on a hot roll and made several people what I perceive as a lot of money! (it must be the great wine I am drinking!) Finally, we headed to the SW steakhouse for dinner. While waiting for our dinner, who showed up--Steve Wynn himself! A member of our group had a mutual friend with Wynn and spoke to him for a while. I learned the lesson that Mr. Wynn's bodyguards do not take kindly to anyone attempting to take pictures. Dinner was nothing short of perfect. Many in our group had steaks, I enjoyed Alaskan king crab legs. Side dishes included truffle corn, potatoes au gratin, and macaroni and cheese. In deciding on the wine, I employed the services of the Sommelier James. He did not steer me wrong. We had three bottles-Shea Vineyards Homer, 2009 Pinot Noir, Buccella Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 (Napa) and Roy Estate Blend 2005 (Napa). All three were amazing and right on point as to what I was seeking. All were fruity, well balanced and simply delicious. Desserts included a well presented funnel cake, ice cream caked, chocolate cake and ice cream. It was a wonderful, relaxing trip and I was lucky to have enjoyed several new wines and amazing food. Until next year, Las Vegas! Cheers!!!

Vegas continued...

Last evening's dinner at Aureole in Mandalay Bay was nothing short of amazing. I had a New York Strip and a side of garlic mashed potatoes. The view of the four story wine cellar with the "wine angel" was exquisite!

I chose our wine utilizing an iPad-like device which listed nearly 3,000 wines by the bottle! Overwhelming doesn't do it justice! I chose a Herman Story Nuts and Bolts Syrah and a favorite- Stags Leap Artemis Cabernet. Both wines complemented the meal splendidly!

I spent this morning at the glorious Wynn Encore pool and am now at Society in the Encore enjoying a glass of Seghesio Zinfandel 2010 and enjoying is tremendous! While I ordered a salad, it is a steak salad and will pair nicely with this delicious wine.

Tonight is dinner at SW Steakhouse in the Wynn with some wonderful friends. I can't wait to enjoy more delicious food, wine and great company!

Cheers!

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas (except for wine recommendations!)

A yearly trip to Las Vegas is usually enough for this Wino. This year is extra exciting, however, for a couple of reasons. First, I am not pregnant like I was during last year's trip. (A blessing-yes! But, Vegas is really not the place to visit when pregnant). Second, tonight a group of us will head to Mandalay Bay to Aureole for dinner.

If you aren't familiar with Aureole, it is billed as a fabulous restaurant. More importantly, though, it is known for its wine. Aureole has a four story, glass-encased wine cellar. There are "wine angels" supported by ropes who are responsible for plucking your selection from the tower of wine. I am simply giddy thinking about it. I will report back on my experience.

I have two recommendations from last evenings happy hour and dinner. Happy hour was a private event in a room overlooking the gorgeous pool at the Encore. At that time, I started with a Stratton Lumis Chardonnay. It was a perfect way to start the evening.

My next choice as we moved to dinner at Botero in the Encore was a Ponzi Pinot Noir. I have not stopped raving about this delicious Pinot since it touched my lips. Surprisingly, at 9:15 a.m. I cannot wait until later today when I can enjoy another glass of it. I highly recommend it. Details were sparse on the menu as to vintage, so I will gather that information for our SAH Winos followers.

Stay tuned for more updates from Sin City!

Cheers!

Our Beginning

            I thought it might be helpful if I told you how three neighborhood ladies began our wine journey together and how you and your friends can study at home too!

     A few years back I decided that I wanted to learn more about wines. I had enjoyed wines for years, especially red wines from California. After taking a few classes at our neighborhood wine store called Fezziwig’s, I started looking for books that might assist my wine journey. I found a great one called Great Wine Made Simple by Andrea Immer Robinson. Each chapter is set up perfectly for creating your own wine school. Some lessons can be done in one sitting. Others work better over multiple evenings (which, by the way, is a great excuse for getting together with your friends or neighbors). At the end of each chapter, the author lays out a tasting with step by step instructions. After reading the first chapter of her book, I decided I needed to have my own tasting. You can gain a lot of knowledge about wine by reading but you really have to taste the wine to get a better understanding of the concepts. My only problem was it wouldn’t be much fun to taste alone, so I asked my neighbor Lisa to join me. She had taken the wine classes with me at Fezziwig’s so I knew we had about the same knowledge going in. The first wine school class was so much fun we decided we should keep it up. Due to the amount of wine opened for a class, it really seemed like we needed more drinkers. So we asked another wine drinking neighbor, Mary Jo, to join us. School was in session.

So, you ask, how did we set the curriculum for Wine School? In the beginning we basically followed ideas from Great Wine Made Simple. We also expanded our reference selection to include Wine Windows on the World Complete Wine Course by Kevin Zraly. This is another excellent resource that we find ourselves referring to often. He also has some tastings to try. When I was preparing for a trip to Italy, I added Italian Wine for Dummies which was informative and a great reference tool. Now we go online a lot to find information and expand on tasting ideas we have read about in the past. For example, we may compare California and Oregon Pinot Noir. Or sample wines from a specific region in Italy or France. There is no end to possibilities. To share the load of planning a lesson, we rotate hosting school with the host deciding on the topic of the evening. In the beginning we just did tastings but we soon started adding cheese pairings. Yum, yum!! Lately we started to add some other small nibbles that should pair well with the wines we are trying. If the wines are red, you can be sure there is some dark chocolate involved!

There is a basic format that we follow for our classes, but we remain flexible. Each class consists of three wines. If we are comparing the same style of wine from different regions we try to stay in the same general price range for our wine so the comparison is more accurate. Other times we may vary the degrees of price ranges. Sometimes it will surprise you…you may enjoy the more moderately price wine the most. The setup includes three glasses for each person and a white plate or napkin for viewing the wine. We have learned that it is best to taste and make notes on each wine by itself before we add any of the food pairings. That way you can really see how wine and food are meant to be together. For our note taking we found a tasting sheet that we find helpful at www.wine-tastings-guide.com . This tasting sheet allows you to have all three wines on the same sheet for side by side comparison. We start with the color/appearance. Next we move to the nose, which we find is the most difficult to put in words. We have grown in this area, but continue to look for ways to improve here. Last, the mouth, how does it feel in the mouth, the finish, etc? After we have tasted each one, we go back and try them again with the pairings. Many times our least favorite wine becomes a favorite with the correct pairings. A new twist we have added to a couple of our classes is the Winerd game. Mary Jo received it as a gift for Christmas and it is a lot of fun. It challenges us on terms and general wine knowledge, so you learn while you play!

When all is said and done, we have fun, enjoy each other’s company and get to try new wines. Over these last few years we have become more that just wine loving neighbors. Now we are wine loving friends! I count myself lucky to call Lisa and Mary Jo dear friends.

Cheers,

Beth

My Wine Journey

As you all know, we three are no experts in wine education.  We just have a love of enjoying it with dinner and friends and learning all about it. So the other day I was thinking back about my wine journey and how my taste has evolved through the years.  My kids say I am a wine snob now.  I disagree, I am just a little pickier because I know what I like J.

Growing up in a small south Texas farming community, the choice of beverage was usually Miller Light and Crown Royal.  Therefore, not much wine was consumed except for on Sunday’s for communion (and we know that was top notch).  As I grew older, we ventured into Boone’s Farm and then on to white zinfandels.  It wasn’t until I started dating my now husband that he steered me toward drier reds such as Merlot.  That was my wine of choice until about 10 years ago when we moved closer to the west coast and visited Napa and really expanded my love for all varietals of wine, both red and white (all dry, of course).

So this past holiday when we flew back to Texas to spend Christmas with my family, we thought we’d pick up some wine on the way “home” from the airport.  Getting out of the city my dad mentioned a liquor store we could stop by and pick up a couple of bottles.  It was off the direct path, but that was okay.  After an hour and a half drive, we stopped at Mary’s Liquor Store.  As we walked to the “wine section” I started to cringe.  “Where’s the good stuff” I thought to myself.  Yes the wine snob in me was rearing its ugly head.  So my husband and I found a couple of drinkable wines and set them down next to my dad’s Crown Royal which he sweetly paid for and we all headed to the house.

That evening I was ready for a glass, so my mom pulled out her Waterford crystal wine glasses.  Wow, were they small.  So if you fill the glass as you “should” which is only to the widest part of the glass (so you can swirl it and let it breathe) you only have about 2 ounces!  I think my mom would faint if she saw the size of our glasses in our home (and no they aren’t as big as Jules’s glass on Cougar Town).  The other annoyance was the cut crystal pattern-you couldn’t see the “legs” of the wine.  After a couple refills, she made the comment “how many glasses are you going to have?”  Well, I wanted to say in a slurred tone “seventy-two” as said by Richie Cunningham on an old episode of Happy Days, but I didn’t.  Really, at two ounces per fill, I refilled quite a few times.  (Note to self: give mom wine glasses for Christmas next year.)

So maybe I have become I wine snob, but we had a wonderful time with family and friends and you can’t take that away from me.  Cheers!