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Wine wanderings

When travelling, I like to slow down and smell the vines. When not wandering down the road, I joined the local chapter of Slow Food and have tasted cheeses, sherry, wines and recently attended a Balsamic vinegar tasting. There are innumerous ways to tickle the palate. Here are some of my favorites from this years travels.

Okanogan Valley, British Columbia - Gehringer Vineyards. Their Optimum line of white wines is wonderful, though not distributed in the states. The whites are very aromatic in this region, but Gehringer did them best. Inniskillin is more available and their reserve Chardonnay deserves equal merit. Chardonnay is Susans only grape and this was her favorite Okanagan vintner.

Sonoma Valley, California - Arrowwood Vineyards. 1996 Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and white Riesling dessert wines will all tickle your nose. Cline Vineyards had a wonderful 1998 Viogner. While in Healdsburg, California, I met Perry Rankin and joined a wine club of his. Everything he has sent has been spectacular - I particularly enjoyed all his selections from Everret Ridge.

Napa Valley, California - Luna Vineyards - Wonderful Italian grapes, a Sangiovese and a Merlot blend as well as a Pinot Grigio. Lunatics all. The wild bottles would make excellent candle holders.

In an effort to convince Susan there is life after Chardonnay, I found a fabulous Chenin Blanc called Chard•No•Way at our local European store - Pasta-works. I spend way too much time and money there, but when all my time and money are gone, what would I have done with some of it, if not to tickle the senses of the noses and palates of those who come to dinner?

Despite all of these single varietal recommendations, I have come to enjoy white and red table wines most of all. I suspect Americas infatuation with single grape wines will evolve with time toward the European tendency for blends. If not, I’ll pursue them. I even found a few lovely wines on wine.com. Oh well, this is the 21st century.

I did make an effort to learn my own region of Oregon and I must say, the Pinot Noirs can be rather fickle. Occasionally, some stand out and I learned about Acme by J. Thomas. Inexpensive but tasty and it sells out of stores a few days after its release so you can’t buy it anymore. However, you can taste all of these wines if you come to Oregon for a visit. If that’s not tempting enough, we have snow in summer, flowers bloom 10 months of the year here, wilderness is a half hour drive, kite sailing will be the big thing next year in the Columbia Gorge…

Take a trip to the West!