Anne Amie Vineyards, Carlton Oregon

Vino Paradiso

Downtown Portland's new swanky wine bar Vino Paradiso is hosting Anne Amie Vineyards for dinner on Sunday September 9th. Chef Ian Duncan will pair a seasonally inspired five course menu with a variety of Anne Amie wines. Located in the Pearl District, Vino Paradiso is owned by Timothy Nishimoto of Pink Martini and Bill Less. Reviews for Vino Paradiso can be found on their website and Anne Amie is excited to say the least, to be a part of this event. Once the menu is finalized, we will update this post, so keep checking back for more information.
The cost is $ 70 per person, includes wines and reservations can be made by calling 530-295-9536.

Tim Brislin
 

5th Annual Wine and Land Benefit

Three Rivers Land Conservancy is having their 5th Annual Wine and Land Benefit and Anne Amie Vineyards is thrilled to be involved. The event is Sunday September 9th from 3:00 to 6:00 pm and is held at the riverfront home of Mike Erickson of Erickson Cellar Vineyards.
Anne Amie Vineyards will be represented by Winemaker Thomas Houseman and Pamplin Family Estates President Craig Camp. Participating wineries are paired with a local restaurant and our partner will be Serratto, a lively and elegant restaurant located on NW 21st and Kearney in Portland. Chef Josef Valoff will be pairing  a few dishes with his Anne Amie favorites.
Serratto is a long time favorite of my family, and the outside seating is a perfect place to enjoy the remaining summer evenings. Our Pinot Gris is featured on their winelist and is a great match for my favorite dish, the pan seared sea scallops.
For more information on the Wine and Land Benefit visit http://www.trlc.org/wineandlandfolder/
and please stop by our table to say hello.

-Tim Brislin

Head Viking

Recently we had the pleasure of hosting Portland State Viking Head Coach Jerry Glanville for an afternoon winery tour and some much needed R & R on our sunny patio. It was one of the final "off" days for Coach Glanville before training camp starts and he begins the quest to lead the Vikings to the Big Sky Conference championship.
Coach Glanville and his wife Brenda shared some stories about their experiences around the game of football which was especially thrilling for me. Growing up in 49er country at the peak of their dominance, I endured years of hazing as California's # 1 Houston Oiler fan. The Oilers weren't very good when Coach Glanville took over late in 1985, but the Oilers instantly became relevant and exciting as Coach instituted his "hit you hard" style of football. Portland State scored a touchdown hiring Jerry Glanville as their coach and the Vikings will undoubtedly be a force in Division 1AA football.

If you've never seen a game coached by Jerry Glanville and his "aerial attack" guru, Offensive Coordinator Mouse Davis, I'd recommend grabbing some tickets this fall and head out to PGE Park for great family entertainment. Tickets can be found here:  http://www.goviks.com/
Also I read Coach Glanville is looking to help keep his players strong and well fed this year and asks for donations to the "I Feed A Viking Club", a program designed to provide three planned meals a day for the ever training Viking players.  PSU lacks the budget of Oregon or Oregon State and donations would benefit these hard working student-athletes. Click here for more information and everyone at Anne Amie wishes Coach Glanville and Portland State football the best of luck in 2007.

-Tim Brislin

OPC, Steamboat, IPNC

Each summer, starting with the last weekend in June we dive headfirst into three important events that end on the last weekend of July leaving us exhausted and exhilarated. These three events cover every aspect and important consumer or producer of fine pinot noir.

First comes Oregon Pinot Camp (OPC) in late June. This is a invitation only trade event and just over 200 fine wine retailers and restaurateurs descend on the Willamette Valley for three days of in-depth education on what makes pinot noir from our valley so distinctive. It's a wining and dining whirlwind with some of the country's top wine professionals. For those who know the valley, it's got to be the biggest week of the year for Lumpy's Bar in Dundee.

Then comes Steamboat, that secretive pinot noir winemakers only conference in a lodge on a gorgeous trout stream in southern Oregon. Here some of the world's finest winemakers meet to analyze each others wines and share the their accumulated knowledge with each other. This is one of the most exciting and educational events any winemaker committed to pinot noir can attend. It's concentrated hard work during the day, but at dinner time all the best bottles come out. No press or trade is invited so the debate is wide open and dynamic.

The day after Steamboat ends we're into the International Pinot Noir Celebration (IPNC), the biggest event of all. About eight hundred pinot noir aficionados plop down over $800 each to attend a pinot noir orgy. For three days the northwest's best chefs create spectacular meals perfectly designed to match the offerings of great pinot noir estates from every important pinot noir region on the planet who are pouring their best wines. While it may sound expensive, IPNC has to be one of the best wine and food deals I have every seen. The cost of tasting the wines alone would far exceed the ticket price making all the exceptional food free for all practical purposes. This is also a huge weekend for McMinnville's personality filled Deluxe Tavern.

Thomas, Jason and I attended every day of these three great events and I think it's fair to say we have tasted more than our share of pinot noir over the last month. However, now it's time to gear up for harvest as August is  already upon us. In the cellar the 2006 pinot noir blends are being assembled and prepared for bottling and we are exceptionally excited about these wines as they are the best wines we have yet produced.

So, while there has been a lot of excitement here, there are even more exciting things to come.