Thankfulness Abound in Wine Country

Here at The Oregon Wine Blog, we have a lot to be thankful for on this US holiday known as Thanksgiving.  Whether or not one agrees with the origins of the holiday, it provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on the things that are important to us.  As this is a wine blog, I'll stick to that realm.  As Managing Editor, I'd like to make note of the following that we've been thankful for in the past year:

• You, Our Readers:  Many of you have stuck with us through the thick and the thin, so to speak, with posting volume down as low as 0 some months but as of late we've been doing what I think is a pretty good job.  Apparently you think so, too, as site traffic is up 75% from a year ago.  Stay with us as we have a lot of amazing things to come. Do you have suggestions, comments, or other? Let me know.
• Our Staff:  In addition to regular contributors such as Micheal who has been with us from the start, this past year we've brought on Rick and Clive, who have filled some much needed niches in our staff.  Rick is the brains and the brawn behind the site redesign from this summer, and Clive has been doing an amazing job at covering the Washington part of the region.
• Our Winery Partners:  We've formed and nurtured some relationships with wineries and their staff that support the editorial mission of our blog.  These wineries -- think Willamette Valley Vineyards, Tyee, Belle Valle, Terra Blanca, Roxyann, and Ward Johnson among others -- exemplify the Northwest wine industry and have embraced social media and marketing. 
• The Future: An odd thing to be thankful for?  I don't think so!  We've got some awesome things lined up for the coming year including a number of wine reviews waiting to be written, some book reviews, a new and improved Le Tour de Vino, and a new focus on wine related events.  Whew.

So with that mushy stuff out of the way, if you are like me at all, tonight will hit and you'll be all family'd out and ready for something to do for the rest of the weekend.  Well friends, we're in luck.  No matter where in the Pacific Northwest Wine Country you are, you'll find an event to meet your needs this weekend.  Here goes:

• Willamette Valley Wine Country Thanksgiving:  Join us November 27-29 when we kick off the winter wine tasting season in the Willamette Valley at the 27th annual Wine Country Thanksgiving event. Enjoy this unique opportunity to see first-hand the valley’s small, family-owned wineries and meet the faces behind the wine.  Taste from the barrel with winemakers, sample new releases and older vintages, enjoy local, specialty food pairings and live music. Taste the region’s acclaimed Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and a wide range of other wines.  Wineries open 11 AM - 5 PM.
• Wine Yakima Valley Thanksgiving in Wine Country:  Enjoy Thanksgiving in Washington wine country - the Yakima Valley. Participating wineries are offering food and wine pairings in addition to new experiences during Thanksgiving in Wine Country, November 27-29. Purchase your Thanksgiving in Wine Country Premiere Pass and enjoy exclusive benefits available only during this event weekend.  Thanksgiving in Wine Country Pass holders will be able to experience a variety of specialty food and wine pairings, library tastings, and tours not available to the public.
• Walla Walla:  I'm not aware of an official event, however, I know that a number of wineries are having events including Northstar's Thanksgiving in Walla Walla Wine Country.
• Woodinville Wine Country:  Again, I don't think there is an official industry-wide event, but click on the link and you'll get an awesome list of wineries who are using this weekend as their fall release weekend, or simply have great tasting events going on.

So with that, I think we've given you a lot to think about and do this weekend.  Are you looking for some pairing suggestions for tonight?  I'll direct you to our 2008 Holiday Wine Pairing Feature.  As for me, I've got a bottle of Dobbes Family Estate 2006 Meyer Vineyard Pinot Noir just waiting for the turkey to be done.

What's going to be in your glass tonight?

On Our Table and in our Hearts

This Thanksgiving, the staff at The Oregon Wine Blog had many reasons to be thankful: great friends, family, health, and of course, excellent food and wine.  The holidays are always a time for reflection and in broad terms we're all pretty lucky.  We're thankful to you, our readers, for sticking with us for the past year.  We know that posting volume has decreased, but we are striving to maintain our quality and we'll kick things up a notch.  I'd also like to pay homage to Rick from the [BW] Beer Blog.  His influence helped inspire the creation of TOWB and we have learned many lessons from his expertise.  Rick recently retired from beer blogging and we tip our glasses to him.

On to Thanksgiving...this year a group of us decided for the first time to remain in Corvallis, OR

 for the holiday and forgo the stress of traveling through out the Pacific Northwest.  We all pitched in to cook a cornucopia of food including salad, rosemary garlic mashed potatoes with turkey gravy, green bean casserole, apple sausage dressing, cranberry amaretto sauce, rolls, turkey, and brownies for dessert.  The wine was excellent, from some of our favorite wineries, and paired well with the meal:

2003 Willamette Valley Vineyards Estate Chardonnay

This treat has been sitting in my wine cabinet for over a year waiting for the right moment.  I believe it was WVV's first estate chardonnay, or at least the first good one with the dijon clone grapes, and it sold out shortly after I purchased the bottle I had.  It rated a 90 with Wine Enthusiast.  It is just right for me, oaky but not too much, it has a nice fruit bouquet and is full-bodied.  We drank the chard as we were finishing up the cooking and getting ready to eat.  While there is no more '03 available, I think the winery has some '06 kicking around still.

2006 Willamette Valley Vineyards Estate Pinot Noir Clone Dijon 777

This was a small production estate wine put out initially for members of the Oregon Wine Guild, which is where my bottle came from.  The 2006 Estate Pinot rated a 90 in Wine Enthusiast, so I was very excited for this specific clone designate version of that wine.  I was not disappointed.  This clone reflects aromas of black tea, cocoa, and earth.  It was a well balanced wine that paired very well with the main course of our Thanksgiving dinner. At 93 cases of production, pick some up if you run across it.

2004 Kiona Red Mountain Chenin Blanc Ice Wine

A nectar of the gods.  Produced from grapes frozen on the vine in the Red Mountain area of Eastern Washington, this ice wine was rated platinum from Wine Press Northwest and comes in with a residual sugar of 18%.  Made from 100% estate grown chenin blanc grapes, this is a delicious, fruity match for any dessert.  We rated it back in December, loved it then, love it now.  They have a great tasting room and beautiful estate should you find yourself in Benton City.

So...there you have it.  Thanksgiving dinner and wine selections from the home of The Oregon Wine Blog.  Coming up will be a review of a recent visit to King Estate Winery as well as a 2005 Amavi Cabernet Sauvignon, recently rated number 43 on the top 100 wines of the world, which Rick kindly found for me in a coop in Moscow, ID.  

Until then, cheers!