Sunday, June 22, 2008

Day One of Pinot Camp

Interestingly enough the most exciting part of my day so far has been about aviation. We had breakfast in the museum that houses the Spruce Goose of Howard Hughes fame....its huge... and gray. located in the city of McMinnville where I am staying.

Our first seminar was a basic history of Oregon winemaking and what makes Oregon special for Pinot Noir.

Second Seminar was a vintage tasting with 5 wineries in particular...at least what theylook for in wine..fruit..is it bright or jammy tannin...light or heavy..acidity..tart or not and balance... then we tasted through wines of vintage annd looked at forward vs ageable..acidity or lush...
the wineries represented at the panel were Raptor Ridge, Eyrie, Archery Summit, Panther Creek and Elk Cove. All represented in missouri except for Raptor.

The afternoon seminar was a walking and tasting seminar at Domaine Drouhin Oregon on the Dundee Hills...they had carved out a 6 foot crater to show the depth of soil and where it came from.

They also explained sustainablity practices of cover crops, canopy maintenance and soil maintenance.

The wines tried here were from Drouhin, Erath and Lange..All which are represented in Missouri.

So far the information has been general and not to specific. I think I can tell I am getting older by the crowd of people (none of whom I know) I seem to gravitate toward. There are several 20 somethings who I envy in a way because I would have loved to have their passion when I was that age, but a lot of them are just asking questions that they know the answer of or making statements so they can appear to be smart or intelligent. My mother always said be silent and thought a fool instead of speaking and removing all doubt.

Dinner tonite at DOmaine Serene, one of the more pricey wineries. 25 wineries will be represented tonight

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