Have you ever visited Southern Oregon?  I had my first opportunity recently as part of the 2021 Wine Media Conference.  As a bit of geographical backgrounding, the southwestern quadrant of the state is considered Southern Oregon and it encompasses five major regions.  Our travels were primarily in the Rogue Valley.  Water is abundant and hugely important in the area for…

The Cube Project was conceived in 2010 by winemaker Thomas Houseman of Anne Amie Vineyards in Carlton, Oregon, Andrew Brooks of Bouchaine in Napa’s Carneros region, and Leslie Mead Renaud from Lincourt Vineyards in Solvang, California. Each participant chose a single block of Pommard Pinot Noir (Pommard was chosen in order to help control variables between the sites) and sent the…

The centerpiece of Friday’s agenda was a summer wine pairing luncheon at one of my favorite Oregon wineries, Winderlea, that is in the heart of the Dundee area.  On the way out of Salem, we stopped at St. Innocent, a winery I have never visited that came highly recommended.  We enjoyed one of the wine flights offered and I particularly…

I had the pleasure of meeting Jerry Sass, owner and winemaker for Sass Winery, about two years ago here in Charleston at a wine pairing dinner. When plans for my trip West were firming up, I emailed Jerry and asked it if would be possible to stop by, as he isn’t open to the public and I wanted to be…

Back to beautiful Oregon for the third time in four years – it is starting to feel like coming home. My friend Carrie, who recently relocated to Portland, and I headed south on July 17 for two days in Willamette Valley. Our first stop was Willamette Valley Vineyards for a private tour and tasting. We loved the comments written in…

For the first couple of weeks after the trip to Italy, I tried to behave myself, conserving calories and dollars.  However, that can last just so long!  My daughter, Hilary, visited me in Charleston the last weekend of October and we had great fun, as always, eating and drinking our way around town.  Among the highlights were lunch at 39…

Last month I visited my home town of Cincinnati to visit friends and attend the Western and Southern Tennis Masters tournament. The culinary highlight of the trip was a wine tasting dinner at The Summit, a restaurant operated by the culinary arts program at  Cincinnati State.  The wines were presented by Vintage Point, a distributor with an eclectic collection of…