• PortlandOregonWine.com
• Monteaux Restaurant
• Cork Wineshop
• Ristretto Roasters
• NorthwestFoodandWineGuide.com
• Anne Amie Vineyards
• Storyteller Wine Company
• Tapalaya Restaurant
• Coppia Restaurant
• Boedecker Cellars

Twelve Oregon breweries have won awards at the 2012 World Beer Cup, held by the Craft Brewers Conference. In blind taste tests by judges from all over the world, beers from 799 breweries from 45 countries were tasted. Considering all the competition, Oregon did quite well, taking the following awards:

Category 1: American-Style Wheat Beer, 23 Entries
Gold: Wagon Box Wheat, Black Tooth Brewing Co., Sheridan, WY
Silver: 1919 choc beer, choc Beer Co., Krebs, OK
Bronze: DD Blonde, Hop Valley Brewing Co., Springfield, OR

Category 8: Coffee Beer, 56 Entries
Gold: Bacon and Eggs Breakfast Coffee Imperial Porter, Pizza Port Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA
Silver: Drunken Elf Stout, Columbia River Brewing Co., Portland, OR
Bronze: Coffee Stout, Rock Bottom Arlington, Arlington, VA

Category 15: Indigenous Beer, 26 Entries
Gold: Got Beer, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery – Tacoma, Huntington Beach, CA
Silver: Hqt, 21st-Amendment Brewery, San Francisco, CA
Bronze: Oyster Stout, Upright Brewing Co., Portland, OR

Category 18: American-Style Sour Ale, 14 Entries
Gold: Ching Ching, Bend Brewing Co., Bend, OR
Silver: Mattina Rossa, Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, ME
Bronze: Supplication, Russian River Brewing Co., Santa Rosa, CA

Category 19: American-Style Brett Ale, 28 Entries
Gold: Peche ‘n Brett, Logsdon Farmhouse Ales, Hood River, OR
Silver: Peche, AC Golden Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Bronze: Wild Wild Brett Rouge, Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project, Fort Collins, CO

Category 56: French- & Belgian-Style Saison, 44 Entries
Gold: Carnevale, The Lost Abbey, San Marcos, CA
Silver: Saison Station 55, Hopfenstark Brewery, L’Assomption, Canada
Bronze: Urban Farmhouse Ale, The Commons Brewery, Portland, OR

Category 66: English-Style Summer Ale, 32 Entries
Gold: Cross of Gold: Revolution Brewing, Chicago, IL
Silver: Stone & Wood Pacific Ale, Stone & Wood Brewing Co., Byron Bay, Australia
Bronze: Mother Lode Golden Ale, Laurelwood Brewing Co., Portland, OR

Category 67: Classic English-Style Pale Ale, 33 Entries
Gold: Annadel Pale Ale, Third Street Aleworks, Santa Rosa, CA
Silver: Summit Extra Pale Ale, Summit Brewing Co., St. Paul, MN
Bronze: Caldera Ashland Amber, Caldera Brewing Co., Ashland, OR

Category 71: Scottish-Style Ale, 26 Entries
Gold: MacPelican’s Scottish Style Ale, Pelican Pub & Brewery, Pacific City, OR
Silver: Redhawk Ale, Rockyard Brewing Co., Castle Rock, CO
Bronze: Beltaine Scottish Ale, Shoreline Brewery, Michigan City, IN

Category 77: Oatmeal Stout, 49 Entries
Gold: Naked Oat Stout, Rock Bottom College Park, Indianapolis, IN
Silver: Stumblers Stout, Columbia River Brewing Co., Portland, OR
Bronze: Alaskan Oatmeal Stout, Alaskan Brewing Co., Juneau, AK

Category 81: Barley Wine-Style Ale, 62 Entries
Gold: Stormwatcher’s Winterfest, Pelican Pub & Brewery, Pacific City, OR
Silver: Barley’s Wine, La Cumbre Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM
Bronze: AleSmith Old Numbskull, AleSmith Brewing Co., San Diego, CA

Category 83: Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout, 30 Entries
Gold: Blarney Sisters Dry Irish Stout, Third Street Aleworks, Santa Rosa, CA
Silver: Ring of Dingle, Sun King Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN
Bronze: Breakside Dry Stout, Breakside Brewery, Portland, OR

Congratulations to all the winners!

This original post is by Food Dude, and it came from Portland Oregon Food and Drink.

• PortlandOregonWine.com
• Monteaux Restaurant
• Cork Wineshop
• Ristretto Roasters
• NorthwestFoodandWineGuide.com
• Anne Amie Vineyards
• Storyteller Wine Company
• Tapalaya Restaurant
• Coppia Restaurant
• Boedecker Cellars

Yup, you heard it right. Ian Hutcheon, a British astronomer, has introduced a red wine that contains… a 4.5 billion-year-old meteorite.

The meteorite from an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, is introduced into the wine just after a 25 day maloactic fermentation, and then blended with Cabernet.

“The idea behind submerging it in wine was to give everybody the opportunity to touch something from space,” Hutchinson told The Drinks Business. “When you drink this wine, you are drinking elements from the birth of the solar system.”

Borrowed from an American collector, this particular meteorite crashed at the Atacama Desert about 6,000 years ago, according to Discovery News.

Anyone else think this is totally stupid? My favorite line -

Hutcheon believes the meteorite gives the wine a “livelier taste”.

Sigh. You can read the article from The Drinks Business.com here.

This original post is by Food Dude, and it came from Portland Oregon Food and Drink.

• PortlandOregonWine.com
• Monteaux Restaurant
• Cork Wineshop
• Ristretto Roasters
• NorthwestFoodandWineGuide.com
• Anne Amie Vineyards
• Storyteller Wine Company
• Tapalaya Restaurant
• Coppia Restaurant
• Boedecker Cellars

Teardrop Lounge

Food & Wine Magazine likes to post lists. Not only do they get people excited (and subscribing) in each city that wins, but they also generate tons of clicks as we click slog our way through never-ending slide-shows to find out who is on the list. This time the focus is “One of the 50 Best Bars in America”. Portland scores two:

Clyde Common: Jeffrey Morgenthaler oversees the rotating cocktail list at this airy “tavern” adjacent to the Ace Hotel. One to try: the Cranky Lass with Scotch, amaro, apple cider, lemon, allspice liqueur. 1014 SW Stark St.; 503-228-3333; clydecommon.com.

Teardrop Lounge: The bartenders at Teardrop’s circular bar make their own tonic water and specialty liqueurs for drinks like the Devil You Know (green Chartreuse, Amaro Nonino, Dolin Blanc vermouth and lime juice shaken with an egg white). 1015 NW Everett St.; 503-445-8109; teardroplounge.com.

Congratulations to both winners!

This original post is by Food Dude, and it came from Portland Oregon Food and Drink.

• PortlandOregonWine.com
• Monteaux Restaurant
• Cork Wineshop
• Ristretto Roasters
• NorthwestFoodandWineGuide.com
• Anne Amie Vineyards
• Storyteller Wine Company
• Tapalaya Restaurant
• Coppia Restaurant
• Boedecker Cellars

Bargemonne

I first sipped rosé in the South of France, so there was no choice but to fall immediately and deeply in love. I studied in Paris; during our late-summer break some friends and I vacationed in a small beach town near Béziers, on the Mediterranean coast. Immediately after ditching our backpacks at the budget hotel, my friends and I plopped ourselves down at a table in a sweltering beachfront café and ordered a bottle of red wine. The waiter looked at us incredulously, and gave us the stereotypical snobby waiter routine.

“Mademoiselles,” he said with a sniff. “We do not serve red wine in this heat.”

It took us a while to be convinced that real live French people would actually touch pink wine. The alternative the waiter would offer was skunky French beer mixed with orange juice (which I’m still convinced was just a game they play on tourists), so rosé it was. When I put the glass to my lips…magic. It was an explosion of pie cherries, tangerines, fresh herbs and a sprinkling of mineral that swept over me like a cool Mediterranean breeze. OK – I didn’t use descriptors like that in my college days, but it was delicious and refreshing all the same and not at all what I had expected from a pink wine.

It wasn’t long ago that I would beg my customers to just taste a rosé. Most had never tasted a pink wine that wasn’t sticky sweet; importers brought in very few traditional European dry rosés. What did come was often shipped without the benefit of temperature-controlled shipping containers, arrived in the fall and languished in the distributor’s warehouse until someone thought to take it out the following spring. So many of the wines would be off-condition or simply tired.

Thankfully, through the combined passion of so many stewards and sommeliers in Portland, a lot of our customers have been similarly swept away. I’d venture to say that rosé is even popular. We have more choices than ever before, with rosé styles being developed in nearly all wine regions to meet that demand. And thankfully, refrigerated containers have become the norm for our importers partners. Seasonally appropriate ordering now gets the new vintages here faster than you can say “nouveau.” All that selection can get a bit confusing to navigate due to the diversity of styles and the vague and lacking description offered on the label.

One way to determine whether a rosé might be sweet or dry is to use the grape varietal and growing region as your guide. Grapes picked at higher ripeness tend to have some sugar remaining once the desired alcohol level is achieved. In contrast, wines from cooler regions and lighter-bodied grapes usually have higher acidity, which will balance out some sweetness. Wines made from Syrah, Malbec or Zinfandel may finish with some sweetness, where as Sangiovese or Pinot Noir will most likely be dry. Hot climates will produce an intensely fruity, slightly sweet rosé unless the winemaker uses steps to counterbalance it. You’ll find this style dominant in regions like Jumilla, Spain, and the Columbia Valley.

The textbook dry French rosés come from Provence, where the wines are pale salmon in color. These wines are crisp, with tangy acidity and leaner flavors that show best when paired with food. A perennial favorite of this genre is the Commanderie de la Bargemone Coteaux d’Aix en Provence Rosé. It has an understated pale salmon color. The nose gives a generous amount of red fruit combined with fennel. It’s a leaner style, so the acidity strikes you with the first sip, but soon tangerine, red cherry and fresh herb spread across the palate. It’s made from estate-grown, sustainably farmed Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault. The 2010 vintage just hit town, but don’t hesitate to pick up the 2009. Because it’s intended to be lean, the flavor profile doesn’t change much over a year in the bottle, as long as it was stored properly (away from heat, out of the light). The Knights Templar once owned this property, then a count, and finally the Rozan family bought it in 1968. Since then they have invested heavily in the vineyards, with these old vines producing wonderfully textured, minerally wines. I love this style of wine with dishes that are a little salty or have lots of fresh herbs:  seafood, of course, but also dry-rubbed smoked chicken, prosciutto-wrapped melon or grilled vegetables topped with tapenade. Commanderie de la Bargemone is distributed by Bacchus and sells for about $16.

To sip on its own, sometimes it’s fun to serve deeper-colored more fruit-focused styles with Jolly Rancher aromas and a juicy, but dry, finish. This style comes from warm-climate areas like Central Spain, the Southern Rhône Valley and Sicily. More recently Argentine winemakers have begun making raspberry-colored, heavily fragranced Malbec rosé that will cause your mouth to water with the first whiff. The Susana Balbo “Crios” Malbec Rosé is a knockout. This wine smells like watermelon and wild strawberries, but don’t be alarmed by the intensely fruity nose.  While the flavors are jam-packed with juicy, tangy fruit, the finish is dry and refreshing and lasts just long enough to persuade you to take another sip. Quite a few Malbec Rosés have cropped up in the past few years, but some lean toward an almost sweet style and others just lack depth. I love this juicy style with dry-rubbed smoked baby back ribs – the bold flavors stand up well to meat and fruitiness balances out the kick of spice. Paired with BBQ or grilled meat and with a good chill it’s far more refreshing than a red when the mercury rises. I’ve also found the combination of acidity and fruitiness as a great foil for spicy Thai noodles or Indian curries. Think of this as a year-round rosé for those kinds of dishes. Crios is distributed by Youngs/Columbia and sells for about $11.

Local wineries have struggled with creating a rosé style that suits the Northwest, but there are a handful each year that I love. Barnard Griffin’s Rosé of Sangiovese really stands out this year.  This local pink has a mouthful of watermelon and cherry fruit with some spice and pastry notes that are perfectly balanced by Sangiovese’s natural acidity. There seems to be a lightness to this wine, despite its concentration of flavor. Rob Griffin started making this wine when one of his growers begged him to buy some Sangiovese. Rob isn’t a fan of Washington Sangiovese, but thought it would make a nice rosé and gave it a shot. He has tinkered with picking times and crop levels over the years. Rob grows this wine to be rosé, unlike many other Northwest wineries that siphon off juice from their red wine production. He picks the grapes at a lower Brix, or ripeness level. That earlier picking assures that the grapes have plenty of crisp acidity to make a refreshing wine. The grapes also have less fermentable sugar, which results in a lower final alcohol level and more balanced wine. Over the years, Rob has edged up the tons per acre without affecting the quality, which has allowed him to keep the retail under $11. It’s distributed by Odom.

Now that you know what rosé to drink, would someone please ask the sun to come out? Oh nevermind. I’ll drink it anyway.

This original post is by Toni Ketrenos, and it came from Portland Oregon Food and Drink.

• PortlandOregonWine.com
• Monteaux Restaurant
• Cork Wineshop
• Ristretto Roasters
• NorthwestFoodandWineGuide.com
• Anne Amie Vineyards
• Storyteller Wine Company
• Tapalaya Restaurant
• Coppia Restaurant
• Boedecker Cellars

A few weeks ago I was pouring at a tasting where the lineup included a few rosés.  As I tried to pour the first pink wine into one gentleman’s glass he looked at me with that look of disappointment that told me we were about to have a conversation about rosé. It was the face you would see if you invited that favorite flannel maven in your life to a Pearl Jam show, only to show up and find out it was Eddie Vedder and his ukulele. The gentleman politely told me he really wasn’t in the habit of drinking rosé before Memorial Day. I wanted to grab him by the lapels and say “who are you, Kathleen Turner in Serial Mom?” It’s rosé, not white shoes and Labor Day!  Who has rules about rosé anyway? It turns out I do.

My first rule is I like to have something dry and pink in a bottle somewhere in my vicinity year round. I love the food friendly nature of rosé and in the dead of winter it will always conjure up images of backyards and beaches. Beyond that I live my life by what I call the McInerney Rosé Rules. And trust me, the only day-to-day guidance from author and wine columnist Jay McInerney I would ever abide by involves rosé.

Years ago, in one of Jay’s wine columns for the old House & Garden Magazine he proposed the following guidelines when dealing with rosés: “A good rosé should be drier than Kool-Aid and sweeter than Amstel Light. It should be enlivened by a thin wire of acidity, to zap the taste buds, and it should have a middle core of fruit that is just pronounced enough to suggest the grape varietal (or varietals) from which it was made.”  I believe there is a pink wine out there to satisfy everyone and armed with these principles, my life’s work is to convert all doubters, one palate at a time. These two wines make for a good start.

Chateau St. Martin de la Garrigue “Tradition”

2010 Chateau St. Martin de la Garrigue “Tradition” (approximately 13.00-16.00)

This rosé is for all the hedonists out there. It is made with Cinsault and Grenache grapes from southern France’s Languedoc region and that terroir is the perfect point of origin for this bottle. This wine is beach blankets, trashy paperbacks and the pursuit of the George Hamilton tan. If you are looking for a pink wine with a little flesh and a lot of flash, the Tradition will end your search!

The color of the Tradition is a pink somewhere between cotton candy and ripe watermelon. It’s definitely a sign of coming attractions. This wine is a carnival ride of fruit aromas, running the range from tart red cherries and tangy wild strawberries to a kind of orange and lemon peel citrus. If you couldn’t get enough Jolly Ranchers as a kid, you are going to flip for the aromatics of the Tradition. Swirling around all that fruit is a nice, clean saline note that will make you long for a batch of fresh oysters to go with the wine.

But as fun as the scents are, the real friskiness begins with the first sip. There is a rich, creaminess to the palate of this wine that will make you think more gelato than wine. There are the cherry and strawberry flavors you noticed when smelling the wine, but there is something else lurking here. At first I thought I was tasting a bit of white chocolate, but there was a flavor I couldn’t quite nail down. Then my wife looked at me and said “starfruit.” Dang if she wasn’t right. There was a bit of not-quite-ripe starfruit in there to strike a balance of sorts with all that creamy red red fruit. Also providing a little sass to the glass is the spiciness provided by the Cinsault grapes. It’s just enough spice to keep things interesting while you do your own thought experiments trying to figure out all the fruit flavors in this wine.

The Chateau St. Martin de la Garrigue “Tradition” clocks in at 12.5% alcohol and it’s just flat out fun to drink. It’s not a wine to think too seriously about (in fact, one of Jay McInerney’s corollaries to his rosé rules was that anybody discussing rosé in public in a serious fashion should be thrown in the nearest pool) and I look at it as the Owen Wilson of the pink wine world. The Tradition is part of the Kermit Lynch portfolio and is distributed in Portland by D’Vine Wine Distribution (1.800.650.WINE )

Matello Rosé

2010 Matello Wines Rosé of Pinot Noir (approximately 13.00-16.00)

If the Tradition is Owen Wilson, the Matello is Linus Pauling. Marcus Goodfellow’s Matello Rosé of Pinot Noir is a newcomer to the Willamette Valley pink sweepstakes but in a few short years it has become one of the best examples around. It’s a wine that will make you think way more than you should have to with a rosé. I also like the fact that this wine smells like Pinot Noir, tastes like Pinot Noir and manages to capture the elegance of the grape despite the pink window dressing.

The nose is downright subtle compared to the Chateau St. Martin Tradition. There are fleeting aromas of dried rose petals, bright red cherries, lemon zest and a tart fruit note that reminded me of quince. Just smelling this wine is enough to make even the most jaded olfactory system go into hyperdrive. After looking at the wine’s beautiful, washed out pink color in the bottle, these are exactly the kind of elegant aromas I was anticipating.

I do not, however, expect the rather exotic flavors I found in my first several sips. Sure, there were some nice, crisp cherry-berry fruit flavors here. Those usual suspects were surprisingly dominated by striking flavors like white grapefruit, tart watermelon rind and a note of something that I can only describe as fresh-brewed white tea. Marcus says he likes to make his rosé like a white wine and after I had consumed a glass or two I knew exactly what he was talking about. I was surprised to see the 13.8% alcohol on the label because this is such a lithe and graceful wine. Given the Tradition is doing the Shag on a pool table and the Matello is a waltz in a ballroom, I would have expected their alcohol percentages to be reversed. The Matello Wines Rosé of Pinot Noir is self-distributed in Portland and they may be reached at 503.939.1308.

The sun is finally out in Portland (at least while I’m typing this) and just about every bottle shop, grocery store and restaurant is filled to the brim with new releases of rosé wines from around the world. There are pink wines that run the gamut from big and loud to petite and reserved. There are pink wines for every palate and price point and I’m convinced there is the perfect pink wine out there for you. So get out there and drink pink, you have nothing to lose but your chilled white wine chains!

This original post is by Michael Alberty, and it came from Portland Oregon Food and Drink.

• PortlandOregonWine.com
• Monteaux Restaurant
• Cork Wineshop
• Ristretto Roasters
• NorthwestFoodandWineGuide.com
• Anne Amie Vineyards
• Storyteller Wine Company
• Tapalaya Restaurant
• Coppia Restaurant
• Boedecker Cellars

So what is it we want out of wine? That it tastes good, right? Oh, and if it doesn’t empty our wallets that is certainly a nice bonus. This is especially true for yours truly, since the “stock option” plan for VINO employees consists of drinking leftover wine from weekend tastings. Luckily, there has never been a better time to drink well on the cheap. Two good things have come from the global economic crisis: wine producers are very reluctant to raise prices, and there are oceans of unsold wine out there. Add to that, the ever-growing skill set of the world’s wine producers, and honestly, in twenty years of enabling wine consumption, I have never seen it better for the consumer. With the warm weather drinking season fast upon us, where the focus is on popping corks and keeping the crowd’s glasses full, price is of paramount importance. The following three reds will fulfill the needs of the most particular wine drinker, all at attractive prices so you can swill at will!

2009 E.A.R.L. Burle Cotes du Rhone: There is a new term that has surfaced in recent years that originated in France, and has unfortunately been brought here, about the “cool” new breed of young winemakers. They’re called “garagistes” because they supposedly make their must-have wines in their, well, garages. Now whether most of them do or not (for the most part they don’t), it always seemed to me way too precious a term – the thing that turns off most people to wine. However, there are still people scattered around France who actually do, and have for generations, make their wines in what could generously be called garages. Damien Burle, who runs his family’s winery just outside the town of Gigondas in France’s Rhone Valley, is the perfect example of the old school. When I pulled into his driveway a year ago he stuck his head out of a building that wouldn’t have surprised me had it had old Renault and Citroen engines lined up along the wall. It doesn’t, thankfully, instead it has rows of wine barrels filled with some of the world’s most character filled red wine. The Burle’s have always produced wines that have so much aromatic and flavor intensity to them, allied with the perfect dose of funky earthiness that I love. Their 2009 Cotes du Rhone, from what is being rightfully called one of the best vintages of the last ten years, is a luscious blend of syrah and grenache, bursting with mouth-filling blackberry, plum, black pepper, smoke, and earth infused fruit. I have sold Burle’s wines for the last ten years here at VINO, and this may be the best Cotes du Rhone I’ve had from them. It is a great juice that completely over-delivers for the money. Look for it around town at about $11.95 a pop.

2008 Behemoth Wine “Columbia Valley” Red: depending on your personal preferences, Behemoth is either

a)- A demon created on the third day who lived east of Eden and ate the forest and mountain creatures to sate his voracious appetite, b)- A Polish black metal band, or c)- A ridiculously good NW red wine blend. Assuming you’re reading this because of reason “c” – that’s what we’ll focus on. Winemaker Matt Berson, whose “Love and Squalor” wine label may be one of the best label designs (and the wine contained within is pretty damn tasty, too) has sourced some beautifully ripe fruit from eastern Washington’s soon to be official Ancient Lakes AVA. Despite the ferocity of the animal pictured on the label, this Behemoth is actually a user-friendly blend of 53% Merlot, 20% Cab Franc, 15% Cab Sauv, and 12% Syrah.

This wine has amazing body and texture. Combine that with its intense dark berry, cocoa and cherry tinged flavors, and its smooth, voluptuous finish, and you have a wine that is begging to be served with something off the grill.

Right now I’m thinking about grilled leg of lamb that has been generously rubbed with garlic, rosemary, and olive oil. But it’s only 10am, and that could all change by noon. The bottom line is, it defines “crowd pleasing” and absolutely will not disappoint. This Behemoth can be captured around town for about $13.95 a bottle.

2009 Chateau Roc de Segur Bordeaux: The wines from Bordeaux have always been the Holy Grail for wine dorks. They’ll pontificate mind numbingly about which chateau produces the best wine, which vintage was the greatest, and worst of all, go all blowhard about that unbelievable wine they pulled out of their cellar until you want to put a gun to their head and yours. Now, if you’re the more balanced person who prefers to drink their wine and not talk about it, read on, though I suspect after you take a drink or two of this beauty you might have a thing or two to say. You’ll be hearing a ton about the 2009 vintage of Bordeaux in the weeks, months, and years ahead. It is already being called “The Vintage of the Century”. Of course so were the 2000 and 2005 vintages. And we’re only 11 years in at this point.

So taking the foot off the hyperbole gas pedal, let’s just call Bordeaux vintage 2009 a true classic year, where weather, grapes and winemakers all came together in one big love fest. I usually approach inexpensive Bordeaux with trepidation. Too often they are thin, uninteresting, or both. However, with the perfect ’09 weather being the tide that raises all boats, even humble village Bordeaux like this show well above the norm. When I first tasted this remarkably put together wine (mostly merlot with bits of cab sauvignon and cab franc) I was absolutely knocked out by how good it was for the money. It had all that classic Bordeaux-ness: layers of blackberry, cedar, plum, tobacco, violets, and swirls of smoke and sprinkling of spice coming in on the edges. The finish is what really sold me, lingering long and deliciously. This drinks wonderfully now, and is a perfect “dinner party go to”. But should you be the patient sort, I think you just might see a bit of improvement over the next three to five years. Although when a wine is already this good, I completely understand instant gratification! Grab yours for only $11.95 per bottle.

This original post is by Bruce Bauer, and it came from Portland Oregon Food and Drink.

• PortlandOregonWine.com
• Monteaux Restaurant
• Cork Wineshop
• Ristretto Roasters
• NorthwestFoodandWineGuide.com
• Anne Amie Vineyards
• Storyteller Wine Company
• Tapalaya Restaurant
• Coppia Restaurant
• Boedecker Cellars

It was late January 1997 and a particularly dark, wet and dreary winter’s day. We were on the back end of a 3 week trip driving all over the Italian peninsula, and beginning to get that type of weary that sets in when you’ve been away a long time and constantly on the move. That day we found ourselves in Tuscany, meandering on the long and winding road from Siena to Gaiole, navigating harrowing switchbacks one after another, and trying to see the road through the pouring rain as our wipers struggled to keep up. We turned off at a large stone entry building with a tiny sign that let us know we’d reached our destination.

Getting out of the car, we stood before a 1000 year-old abbey, the chill of the freezing temperature outside quickly seeping into our clothes. We ran through the rain to what we thought was the front door of the building. It turned out to be the entry to the attached church, and we retreated until finding a gate that took us into a private piazza surrounded by three structures, each built in a different century hundreds of years ago.

A voice greeted us and we made our way into the kitchen, where a pot sat bubbling over an open hearth. We were introduced to Emanuela Stucchi Prinetti, who runs the family’s winery – Badia a Coltibuono. At this point, my nerves were on high alert, as Emanuela wasn’t just another younger generation helping out at her parents’ winery, she was a descendant of nobility. Her mother, Lorenza, had made an impression on me during my young professional cooking career, as the author of a cookbook called Italy the Beautiful. In addition to its glorious pictures of the Italian countryside and its cuisine, the book was packed with simple, well-written, almost foolproof recipes of Italian classics that I had worked my way through in my journey to become a chef. I later discovered the master works of Marcella Hazan and studied baking with Carol Field, but Lorenza di Medici predated them all in my collection of English-language tomes on Italian Cooking. She was my Larousse, my Escoffier, and she also happens to come from the Medici family

Emanuela with Author and His Wife 1997

that had ruled the countryside outside of Florence for centuries. (Yes – that Medici). Now I was in her house, in her kitchen in fact, and her daughter was cooking me lunch! My memory of what we discussed that day escapes me, but emblazoned on my mind is the absolutely perfect bowl of Penne all’Arrabbiata that Emanuela served to us, and how it enhanced the experience of meeting her, tasting her wines and learning about this storied estate. The cold, wet and dreary day faded to the back of our minds and the warmth and hospitality lives on in our memory today.

I wanted to share this story because just as the impression of meeting Emanuela and tasting that Penne all’Arrabiata has stayed with me forever, so have my first tasting experiences with many wines. A bottle of 1978 Produttori Rio Sordo drunk when Aldo Vacca and I were both still young, a bottle of Montpeyroux from Domaine D’Aupilhac that inspired my first wine trip to France, the evolution in my glass of Huber-Verdereau Volnay that helped me realize the potential of Burgundy . . . the list goes on.

Wine is and should be a journey. How you get there is really up to you. What those of us who have chosen to make this our profession can do is share our own stories, experiences and, hopefully a discerning palate, to point you in directions both familiar and new in the hopes of satisfying you, educating you, perhaps inspiring you to seek out your own wine roads and life experiences that will make the enjoyment of wine an enriching part of your daily routine.

I didn’t want to focus on trying to sell anything in this post, as I already do that regularly in our cork newsletter, which you are welcome to sign up for on our website. Whether you follow the wines I am reviewing, those of Michael at Storyteller, Bruce at Vino or choose a wine off the shelf at New Seasons Market that Toni has helped select, I hope you’ll take some time to discover the stories behind the wines you enjoy, as it can truly enhance your experience.

It is because of my own experience and several more visits since that I enjoy selling the wines of Badia a Coltibuono. It is somehow reassuring to know the people behind the product you are drinking, and that might just make the drinking itself more pleasurable as well. You can seek out the wines from Badia at any local wine shop or grocery, or they can order them for you through Galaxy Distributing.

One particularly special bottle to hunt for is the 2004 Vin Santo – a Tuscan dessert wine, made from trebbiano and malvasia grapes that are dried on straw mats, which has a seductive caramel toffee flavor profile that reminds me of Mary Jane candies. It’s a wine that, when served with biscotti on the patio after a late summer’s meal, can transport your mind to a faraway place and time.

Instead of going on at length about Badia’s other wines, I leave you with my recipe for Penne all’Arrabbiata and wish you well on your own wine journey. Salute!

Penne all’Arrabbiata

3 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 T. olive oil
1 t. red chili flakes
28oz can whole peeled plum tomatoes (Muir Glen Fire-Roasted preferred)
1 t. sea salt (and adjust to taste as needed)
1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper
1 t. dried oregano
1/4 C. dry red wine
1 lb. quality dried Italian penne rigate (Martelli, Rustichella or similar)

To prepare tomato sauce: Sauté the garlic in the olive oil over medium heat. To really infuse the spicy bite of Arrabbiata sauce, add the red chili flakes to the oil just before you add the tomatoes, being careful not to burn them. Add the canned tomatoes and squeeze/crush each tomato to break apart. Add the other seasonings and stir to combine. Add the wine and turn heat to low and allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes until reduced to a sauce.To prepare the pasta: Add one pound of dried penne rigate to a pot of abundant, well-salted water. Cook until al dente (meaning it still has a little bite left to it). Drain and immediately toss with the pasta sauce. Serve piping hot with Parmeggiano-Reggiano to grate over the top. Perhaps with a glass of Badia a Coltibuono Chianti Classico.

This original post is by Darryl Joannides, and it came from Portland Oregon Food and Drink.

• PortlandOregonWine.com
• Monteaux Restaurant
• Cork Wineshop
• Ristretto Roasters
• NorthwestFoodandWineGuide.com
• Anne Amie Vineyards
• Storyteller Wine Company
• Tapalaya Restaurant
• Coppia Restaurant
• Boedecker Cellars

It frustrates me the way vintages are reduced to “good” and “bad”. It’s not that vintage doesn’t matter – it can matter tremendously for many wines. But it’s a lot more complex than black or white. Take 2008 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. The wines are gorgeous, but a little like me at the end of the work week – they’re wound up so tight it will take some time and coaxing before they will unwind. It made me a little sad to know so many people are pulling the corks immediately, when the wines are still hard-edged and stingy. Don’t take this wrong, they will be gorgeous, but most snotill need another year or five in the cellar before they reach their full potential.

The thunder of 2008 has overshadowed the release of 2009 wines coming to market now. Here’s the irony: many of those fleshy 2009s are already drinking better than the 2008s. This is a generous vintage, with lovely, rounded fruits. “Red and ready” winemaker Michael Lundeen, of Genius Loci, called it. These wines offer up enticing aromas and juicy, mouth-watering fruit with soft tannins, and typically have nice brightness as well. These aren’t blockbusters and many won’t improve greatly in the cellar, but these are Pinots that will coax you into sipping every last drop. Best yet, because 2009 produced high yields of fat clusters and big berries, there are really good wines available at affordable prices.

One perennial favorite that’s chock full of that juicy ‘09 fruit is the Ayres Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2009. It’s fragrant and forward, with enticing black raspberry fruits. There’s good acidity that makes it bright and lively, but the fruit has depth and length, which is rare in $20 Pinot. There’s also a warm earthiness, which is a common characteristic of the estate’s Ribbon Ridge fruit. (The rest of the blend comes from the Eola Hills.)

“Pinot on Ribbon Ridge only goes big”, winemaker Brad McLeroy said, “so I try to give a more feminine expression of that.”

Brad worked with Véronique Drouhin at Domaine Drouhin, where he clearly learned a thing or two about finesse. He loves to talk about making wines with soul. This wine conjures up the ghost of the vintage to tell its story. If you want a clearer picture, don’t hesitate to try his estate-bottled wines, Lewis Rogers (around $30 retail) and Pioneer (around $40 retail).

Ayres is owned by Brad and his wife Kathleen, as well as Don and Carol McClure, Kathleen’s parents. They farm their 14-acre property sustainably – it’s where they live and where their kids play. That care and attention to detail comes through in the wine. It just tastes like it’s been loved. Ayres wines are self-distributed in Multnomah and Yamhill Counties, and are distributed through Casa Bruno elsewhere in Oregon. They can also be purchased directly through the winery’s website.

Another Pinot that knocked me out with gorgeous fruit is the Witness Tree Vineyards “Chainsaw” Pinot Noir 2009 ($20 retail). It’s deceptively light in color but has amazing intensity to the palate. (I love Pinots that do that!).  There are notes of raspberry candy in the nose, with teasing hints of more. The palate keys in quickly to focused fresh red berries with a subtle undertone of earth. Soft tannins give it structure and length. This wine just explodes with the fruit in a way that just makes you want another sip. I started craving a burger with Rogue Blue after tasting this one before lunch. But the soft tannins will make it a strong contender for salmon as well.

Witness Tree is a 51-acre vineyard and winery just northwest of Salem, in the Eola Hills growing region. The moderate size allows winemaker Steven Westby to produce solely estate-bottled wines, and still handle each microclimate separately in the vineyard and the winery. The stately oak tree on the label stands in the vineyard. It once marked one corner of the original pioneer land claim in the 1854 survey. My guess is that the guy who drives the tractor came up with the designation “Chainsaw” for this cuvée. Witness Tree self-distributes its wine in the Portland area. The wines are also sold online via Northwest Wines To You, an online retailer which partners with a number of small Oregon wineries.

There’s lots of hype about 2009 Beaujolais as well, with prominent producers claiming that it’s the best vintage in decades. It was warmer than usual that year, so most of the wines have unusual weight and darker fruits. However, the grapes retained good acidity and reached an even ripeness, keeping the bright character that I love about Beaujolais. It’s the kind of year when winemakers say the wine just made itself.

Because the mainstream producers crop heavily, then use roter-fermenters and carbonic maceration (mechanical tricks that extract gobs of fruit and often give then wine a banana and bubble gum aroma), Beaujolais has been unfashionable for a while. The press around 2009 has encouraged more wine drinkers to experiment with these well-priced wines. The cru, or single-village, Beaujolais are just starting to arrive, but most of them seem to need a few more months to evolve. Don’t hesitate to stick a few bottles away in your cellar; they age incredibly well and develop Burgundy-like complexity.

There’s not so much as one stick of bubble gum in the Domaine Joel Rochette Beaujolais-Villages 2009 (about $15 retail). It’s all about the fruit, especially fresh-from-the-market Bing cherries with a handful of sweet summer blueberries mixed in. While at first sip you’ll be wowed with all that fruit, it’s worth a deeper look. A subtle spice weaves through the cherry/berry goodness, pulling in a note of minerally earth and a red-floral perfume. It has a silkiness intrinsic to Gamay, but it also shows some youthful grip. This is the kind of wine to drink just because it tastes good. It’s easy to drink, but it’s not without character and terroir. It’s nice to sit down with a red that doesn’t need a big steak (although a bistro-style steak frites would go well). Simple fresh pastas, chicken roasted with garlic and herbs, or a salad tossed with some pancetta or ham and just a bit of cheese would all pair perfectly with this lovely red. Domaine Rochette is distributed in Portland by   C & G Wines.

This original post is by Toni Ketrenos, and it came from Portland Oregon Food and Drink.

• PortlandOregonWine.com
• Monteaux Restaurant
• Cork Wineshop
• Ristretto Roasters
• NorthwestFoodandWineGuide.com
• Anne Amie Vineyards
• Storyteller Wine Company
• Tapalaya Restaurant
• Coppia Restaurant
• Boedecker Cellars

While many wine bars like Bar Avignon and Kir Wine Bar are gaining in popularity and exposure, wine shops often fly under the radar of the public.  Big retail stores like Fred Meyer’s, Zuppan’s, New Seasons and even Trader Joe’s carry the major international and domestic producers, but the small shops often have unique and rare, artisanal wines.  Portland’s wine shops also feature excellent Friday night tastings, perfect for date nights or trying new wines.

Downtown/Northwest

Liner and Elsen Wine Shop, 2222 NW Quimby Street – One of the older wine shops in Portland, L & E started in 1990 and features a large selection.  Service has improved recently, and you can special order bottles of older vintages, like the 1970 Bordeaux my wife gave me for my 40^th birthday.

Tastings: Every other Friday and all Saturdays, L & E often has importers and distributors pouring high quality offerings for $10-$15.

Best Feature: The free Saturday tastings from 12-5 pm of primarily international wines.

Vinopolis Wine Shop, 1025 SW Washington Street– Hands down the largest selection in town.  The downtown location is certainly not intimate as it resembles a warehouse, but usually has the best prices in the area when comparing similar bottles.  Customers are often left alone to peruse, and if you want recommendations make sure to find Kurt as he does a great job matching your palate with the right wine.  They also feature “internet only” specials for newsletter subscribers.

Tastings:  The staff usually has a few bottles open on Fridays and Saturdays, and they will occasionally hold a special event, last year they had a high-end champagne tasting for $40 which included Dom Perignon, Veuve Clicquot, Krug and others.

Best Feature:  Great choices with some of the best prices in town, and Kurt’s ability to find the “perfect” wine for you.

City Market/Pastaworks, 735 NW 21^st Avenue, (also in SE and N Portland) – The Italian focused bottle offerings are fairly extensive considering it’s located within a small grocery store.  No wine service to speak of, but a perfect neighborhood shop to get quality wine.  Prices can be somewhat higher than other shops, as you are paying for convenience.

Oregon Wine’s on Broadway, 515 SW Broadway Avenue – While more wine bar than shop, OWB features an extensive Oregon Pinot Noir collection along with irreverent bartenders, Madonna and Prince on iTunes, and a general good time.  Patrons generally work downtown, and the place is buzzing around 5 pm so get there early to grab a seat at the bar.  The recently added a “Dirt” tasting featuring wines with terroir, say “hi” to Oregon wine maven Erica Landon who is often the tasting host.

Other shops of note:  Zupan’s has a large selection (usually more expensive than the wine shops), and Trader Joe’s is always a crowd pleaser (see Food Dude’s 2011 survey) with some decent bargains and large production wines.  If you want a “secret” Oregon stash, ask the staff at Phil’s Meat Market to let you see the cellar downstairs.

Southwest Portland

Storyteller Wine

Storyteller Wine Co., 5511b SW Hood Avenue – Primarily an internet shop, Michael Alberty sells via his appropriately named newsletter (he writes great stories about each wine he sells).  This is a brick and mortar shop as well, and the Friday night tastings are the best in town (and are usually free).  If you enjoy wine writing and great wines, sign up for his weekly newsletter here.

Best Feature – Most of the Friday tastings are free, and are consistently filled with high quality wines with the wine makers present pouring the wines.

E & R Wine Shop, 6141 SW Macadam Boulevard – Next to Vinopolis, E & R has arguably the best choice in town, with spectacular special tastings.  Service is good once you “crack” the generally introverted staff, which assembles a comical and enjoyable newsletter as well.

Best Feature:  Phenomenal special event tastings, including an annual Kermit Lynch Import tasting (with Kermit attending at times), plus the three-day “Pinot-Oregon” tasting featuring the best of Willamette Valley.

Other Shops of note:  Sip D’Vine and Korkage feature weekly tastings, with live music at Korkage.

Northeast Portland

Cork Wineshop

Cork Wine Shop, 2901 NE Alberta Street– Until recently, Cork had another shop in NW Portland but they consolidated at their Alberta location.  Cork features a great choice of under $20 wines and champagne, plus classes and tastings.  Prices are good if you are a Club Member.

Best Feature:  Weekly tastings ($10-$15) and the best classes in town as owner Daryl Joannides travels extensively over the globe seeking out wines for the shop.

Great Wine Buys, 1515 NE Broadway Avenue – A nice selection of Pacific Northwest and European wines, GWB has very good prices and knowledgeable staff.

Best Feature:  Special tastings have included: “Cult” Washington wineries, Champagne, and Oregon Pinot Noir verticals, and they have varied weekly Friday night tastings ($10-$15) as well.

The Hop and Vine, 1914 N. Killingsworth Street – Featuring craft beers and wine, they have a diverse choice of international wines not seen at every shop.  Excellent prices, and the “Century Wine Club” has their wine tastings on select Thursdays.  NW Whites wine blogger Ryan Reichert will be teaching wine classes here this spring.

Other notable shops:  Everyday Wine, Gem Wine Shop, and even specialty shop Foster and Dobbs all have weekly Friday night tastings.

Southeast Portland

Mt. Tabor Fine Wines, 4316 SE Hawthorne Blvd. – A staple on SE Hawthorne for many years, this shop features quality Friday night tastings ($15) that usually include French or Oregon wines.

Best Feature:  Some tastings have relatively rare European selections that are hard to find.

Garrison’s Fine Wines, 1401 SE Morrison Street– Perfectly located a couple of doors down from Nostrana, the shop features Friday night flights ($12-$18) from all over the world.  Garrison’s also has a cellar of older sought after wines, a rarity in Portland.  James Beard nominee Cathy Whims from Nostrana has been seen at tastings here (she recommended a delicious $20 red).

Portland Wine Merchants, 1430 SE 35^th Avenue-  This shop always has an eclectic, changing stock on hand, so you often will not find the same bottle twice!  The owner Rory often brings in warehouse close-outs, and there are often great values that are not available anywhere else.  Some of these wines have not sold, usually due to poor marketing/labeling, etc., but can be very good and often under $10-$15.  Friday tastings ($15) are casual and are from 4:30 until about  7 pm.

Vino, 137 SE 28^th Avenue-  Bruce moved the shop from the popular Sellwood location to just across the street from Ken’s Artisan Pizza on SE 28^th, and the regulars did not miss a beat!  The loyal patrons of the Friday night tastings ($10-$15) pack the house for high quality offerings.  The shop has surprisingly good choice for the size.

Woodstock Wine and Deli, 4030 SE Woodstock Blvd.-  The best feature of the shop is the neighborhood feel with great $10 Friday night tastings.  They will often have a blind tasting or a “Best under $10” tasting where the wines are rated and published.

Other shops of note around town:  New Seasons has a good selection if you know what you are looking for (albeit 10%+ more expensive than most shops), and Fred Meyer’s has a surprisingly wide international choice with excellent prices.

[Note: I didn't have a chance to round-up pictures, but if any of the shops listed in this article would like a photo added, I'd love to do so. Feel free to send one to me via the contact page]

This original post is by Bernard Gehret and Eva Schmole, and it came from Portland Oregon Food and Drink.

• PortlandOregonWine.com
• Monteaux Restaurant
• Cork Wineshop
• Ristretto Roasters
• NorthwestFoodandWineGuide.com
• Anne Amie Vineyards
• Storyteller Wine Company
• Tapalaya Restaurant
• Coppia Restaurant
• Boedecker Cellars

I’m more of a fan of the hard stuff than I am beer, so didn’t vote on this one myself.

Out of 750 votes cast:

1. Horse Brass -13% of the vote. 4534 Southeast Belmont St., Portland, OR 97215 (503) 232-2202 Map
2. Saraveza – 11%. 1004 North Killingsworth St., Portland, OR 97217 (503) 206-4252 Map
3. Bailey’s Tap Room – 6%. 213 SW Broadway, Portland, OR (503) 295-1004 ‎Map

Honorable mention: a tie for 4th place between Spints and Hopworks Urban Brewery, two points behind Baily’s.

You can see all of the “Best of Portland” results here.

This original post is by Food Dude, and it came from Portland Oregon Food and Drink.