Blog - From the Winery

We just love a good party!

One of the great things about being in the wine business is that there are so many opportunities to have parties – and we just love them, all shapes and sizes. From intimate winemaker dinners for 8 to Open Houses for a couple of hundred we love connecting with our friends and customers over wine and food – no surprise there!

Last Saturday was our annual Spring Open House, or the Thank You Event, as we like to call it. Lots of folks came by and a fine time was had by all.

One of the best parts of this event are the legendary lamb lollies we serve. Legendary is no understatement either. I think if we ever decided to serve something else, there would be a stampede.  Al Whitaker – insurance salesman by day and fanatical cook in his spare time – grills the lamb and does all the rest of the great food too, with tons of support from his fabulous wife Megan.

Of course the wine is not too bad either! Some of the comments I heard from folks included descriptors like luscious and outrageous. One friend said this to me “When I go into your beautiful Wine Bar and sit down with a glass of your wine, it makes me whole.” Wow – I was humbled and honored by his profound praise.

Hats off too, to the Rendezvous String Band.  They’re just such a fun and quirky  group and it was great to welcome them back to the winery. I have fond memories of them playing at Rob’s 50th birthday party with Trish sitting in.  Yeah, that was another great party.

So thanks again to all of our friends and customers – without you where would we be? And lest you forget, the party may be over, but the Thank You sale continues through May 31st. Just jump on over to the Wine Shop to check it out.

See you at the next party!

James Beard and Simple Food

My friend Anne reminded me that yesterday was James Beard’s birthday.  It brought to mind my very favorite Beard quote.

“Last week the New York Times ran an article on how to clean an eel. I trust everyone clipped it and saved it to his files.”

I first read this when I was just getting into the wine business – some 25 years ago – and simultaneously beginning my long affair with food and cooking. At the time I was lucky enough to be pointed in the direction (thanks Debbie Poulin) of some great food literature.  James Beard, MFK Fisher, Laurie Colwin.  Ultimately these voices shaped my philosophy about food  - and life.

This was Chicago in the late eighties and Americans were just on the upswing of the “more is more” attitude about food, wine and, well, just about everything (look at the clothes – shoulder pads?). California Cabernet and Merlot reigned supreme in the wine world. Restaurant chefs were challenging each other to make the tallest dishes and the longest menu descriptions.

I can still remember sitting in the window seat of my apartment – even then a glass of Oregon Pinot in hand – reading MFK’s writing on why food matters and realizing she was articulating my budding philosophy exactly.  How it’s just as important as politics, religion or war – because food is the thing that brings us together. To celebrate, to mourn, to nourish and nurture. We fall in love over food and we raise our children over dinner. Really, what could be more important?

And then there was Beard’s tongue in cheek comment which so clearly summed up his attitude about food. From Beard, and the others, I learned that food doesn’t have to be contrived, it just has to be good. Beautiful ingredients lovingly prepared are what make great food. The kind that brings people together. Simple, beautiful, delicious.

We Oregonians like to claim Beard as our own, as he was born and raised here. His mother ran a boarding house and cooked for lots and lots of people, which obviously influenced his life profoundly. Of course Beard ended up in New York, where he and Julia Child became our first celebrity chefs – TV shows and all.  His life became very glamourous and apparently he was quite flamboyant and more than a little eccentric. But for all of that he was in a way a pioneer of the localvore movement.  Beard championed American food and American ingredients. And did it with such grace and humor, that influenced not just me, but an entire nation.

Thanks Mr. Beard, for lighting the way.

P.S. A couple of years ago we were honored to be invited to do a dinner at the James Beard House in New York.  Our friends Carmen Pierano and Eric Ferguson the chefs of our local Nick’s Italian Cafe did the food, paired with our wines.  It was the first time Rob and I had been there, and I was surprised to see that “The House” is really and truly his house.  Its a brownstone in Greenwich Village, four stories tall, with a tiny little kitchen and tables for dining now packed into every  room.

This is the Beard House wait staff, in the library, listening to Rob talk about our wines before the dinner.  We went on to have a glorious meal in this incredible place. It looks like we’ll be back again in September too. This time our wines will be poured alongside the stellar food of Custom House Tavern one of Chicago’s new gems.

Stay Together! Yoga for Foodies with yoga, live music, dinner and wine.

Last fall my dear friend and yoga instructor Erin Bowman approached me with an idea. How about an evening yoga class in the winery, followed by dinner and wine.  Sounded perfect to me – combining a few of my favorite things into one wonderful evening.

As we tossed the idea around – was the winery really the right location? cement floors can be awfully hard on your knees – we started to read about other similar events taking place around the country. Chicago and New York, to be specific. All to great success.

Then Erin had the idea to take it one step further and bring in live music. Since she had just been to a workshop in San Diego where the practice was accompanied by Steve Gold and his lovely wife Anne-Emilie, she got on the phone. Would they come to McMinnville?  They would. On their way to Seattle.

And it all came together last Friday. What a beautiful experience.  Fifty people ending their week with a beautiful yoga practice accompanied by the hauntingly spiritual music of Steve and Anne-Emilie. Then this same group of now relaxed and blissed out people gathered around the tables for a lovely and simple vegetarian dinner.

Eric and Carmen, chefs of our local, renowned Italian restaurant Nick’s made us a massive pot of Ribollita – the classic country Italian soup thick with white beans, farro and organic greens.  We served up the steaming bowlfuls, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with parmesean.

Bottles of Big Fire Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir were plunked down on the tables for the folks to help themselves. I tossed a huge green salad with some lemon-y, garlicky vinaigrette and passed that with baskets of crusty bread, and a cheese board.

At the very end, while everyone was still talking and sipping, without any thoughts of heading home, we passed what has become one of my favorite desserts to serve.  When the meal has been hearty and you can’t really imagine eating any more, but just a bite of something does sound good, and you still have half a glass of Pinot noir and you don’t want something too sweet to ruin it, this is just the cookie: Fleur de Sel Chocolate Cookies.  I adapted this recipe from one I found online.

Every time I serve them they have been so popular I thought I should share, so you can click over here and find the recipe.

As we were finally saying good night, Steve and Anne-Emilie  remarked several times about how they would be delighted to come back and play for us again. They really embraced the sense of community they felt here.  I love that. After all, isn’t that what it’s all about? Wine, food, friends – and as it happens yoga – all coming together to nurture community.

Crabbing on the Oregon Coast

Last weekend we had the supreme good fortune to get together with some dear friends and spend the day in what might just be the quintessential Oregon summer experience — crabbing.

Our friends are way more experienced at this than we, so whenever they invite us, we always jump at the chance.

We started out in Pacific City and headed down to the mouth of the Nestucca River.  Corey put the traps out and then built a great big beach fire.  While the crabs collected in the traps, the kids frolicked in the water and the grown ups chilled with some R. Stuart & Co. Big Fire Pinot Gris and Big Fire Dry Rosé.  Every 30 minutes or so, someone would take the boat out and check the traps.

All in all we got about a dozen crabs. Then a huge, well-worn stock pot was filled with sea water and put on the fire to boil.

In they went and a few minutes later voila! The most delicious, fresh, briny crab you’ve ever tasted!

The combination of the best Dungeness crab ever, with all it’s briny richness and the Big Fire Dry Rosé – absolutely outstanding!

A marvelous time was had by all.  We only wish you could have been there too!

Farewell Lunch at Thistle

I think that September must be the absolute best month of the year to eat!

Yesterday we took the crew to McMinnville’s newest entry into the culinary scene: Thistle. The occasion was a farewell lunch for our Assistant Winemaker Kevin Wiles, who is leaving us to discover new horizons. Since Thistle isn’t ordinarily open for lunch we asked owners Emily and Eric if they would make an exception for our little group. Happily they, agreed.

You can see the wonderful menu they created. At Thistle they make a new menu du jour, based on what the farmers have brought them. Having done a bit of traveling away from Western Oregon this summer, I am newly reminded how lucky we are to live in this mecca of fresh and organic foods of all kinds: produce, fish, meats, cheese, wine and even beer. The culinary philosophy of Thistle celebrates this bounty in a most delicious way!

Emily served us family style –our favorite. This was our first course: simple, but perfect field greens with beautiful roasted beets, crunchy fresh cucumbers and purple onion which I think had been marinated a bit. We then moved on the albacore tuna with homemade gnocchi. Sorry I didn’t get a picture of that dish — by then I had forgotten about the camera because I was having so much fun eating, drinking and talking. But I can assure you it was a stunning dish. The tuna was so perfectly cooked. It was cooked through, not rare, but meltingly tender and moist. This is no small feat as anyone who has cooked fresh tuna knows. Hats off to you Eric!

We started the meal with a glass of the lovely and fleeting Big Fire Dry Rosé. Then of course we opened a few bottles of Pinot noir for the occasion. We had two of R. Stuart & Co. single vineyards. The Temperance Hill and the Winderlea, both of the 2007 vintage, and both really coming into their own. We also opened a bottle of the 2002 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, which was the predecessor to what we now know as Autograph. If you’re lucky enough to still have some of that vintage in your cellar, you’ll be glad you held on to it. It’s tasting just marvelous now, and promises to continue to evolve for years to come.

For dessert we had a lovely blueberry clafouti that just hit the spot. All in all it was a perfectly scrumptious lunch and we can’t thank Emily and Eric enough for giving us such special treatment! Thistle is, as I said before, a wonderful addition to our culinary scene here in Oregon wine country. Not only is the food terrific, but check out this gorgeous wallpaper!

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