Turn and face the strain.
While I'd like to think David Bowie was thinking of The Oregon Wine Blog when he sang those iconic lyrics, he probably wasn't. Since it's launch on August 3, 2007, TOWB readers have been privy to 368 posts...11 different writers...2 site redesigns...1386 days of blogging awesomeness and a topical focus that has been bursting at the seams for many nears now. Let's be honest, we've covered more than just Oregon and more than just wine for quite a while now - it's time to be real, yo. Today I'm pleased to announce the launch of the future of The Oregon Wine Blog:
WestToast.com
Semi-pretentious enthusiasts of wine, beer, and spirits of the West Coast.
The West Coast is a special place - the connection between people, place, and the spirit of wine, beer, distilled beverages, and culinary excellence in the region tell a compelling story. From this story comes WestToast.com, a new online publication with a mission to make fine wine, craft brew, local spirits, and regional cuisine fun, sexy, and approachable for the next generation.
WestToast unifies the editorial vision and history of The Oregon Wine Blog and the [BW] Beer Blog, featuring good beer since 2006. With the same writing staff and conversational format of The Oregon Wine Blog, WestToast recognizes a broadened scope both geographically and topically by covering wine, beer, spirits and cuisine in California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
When we started nearly four years ago, we were a rag-tag group of hooligans in Corvallis, Oregon who wanted to chronicle our journeys in the Willamette Valley. We never anticipated some of the experiences that have made the Blog what it is. Wende taking us through the cave at Col Solare, Keith opening bottle after bottle after bottle at Terra Blanca, Frank bringing out one dish after another at Picazo 7Seventeen. Those experiences epitomize the relationships that make the Blog special to us and hopefully to you, the relationships and experiences we'll continue to feature on WestToast. Four years later, we represent a group of friends spread among Seattle, Portland, Salem, Corvallis, and Sonoma who will continue to share our passion, and hopefully you'll stick with us through this transition.
This is the last post on TheOregonWineBlog.com; look for new content on WestToast.com. Please redirect any links to the site, and you can find our hot asses on twitter @WestToast or facebook at facebook.com/westtoastblog.
Cheers!
Showing posts with label Whatever. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Whatever. Show all posts
Sake One: Definitely Not a Sakery
it is neither beer nor wine
sake is sake
While sake may share little with wine, Sake One's facility is technically a licensed winery. It's also a brewery, well, traditionally it's referred to as a "kura" (sake brewery). One thing for sure is that it is definitely not a "sakery." That's just a silly made up word (that Sake One made up and then erased).
I couldn't help but become fascinated with this Japanese beverage that just happens to be brewed only minutes from my house. The number of kuras in the US can be counted on one hand and I wasn't about to miss this opportunity. While my knowledge of sake was minimal at best, Josh was more or less a clean slate. Off to Sake One we went!
follow your spirit westward
its in Forest Grove
Upon entering the tasting room of Sake One, you immediately get familiar feelings of a traditional winery. That immediately changes when you belly up to the tasting bar. Josh and I were confronted with three different tasting flights and since we knew almost nothing about sake, we went for the one with the most options. I have a feeling we were a pretty typical customer for Sake One as everybody from their staff was incredibly nice about explaining what we were drinking. What Josh and I had originally perceived as sake, however, was quickly shattered as we entered our flight. one must sample what you can
commence the pouring
Up first we tried the same sake twice (Momokawa Silver), although one filtered and one unfiltered. Our initial pour was their unfiltered offering that is actually served from a keg in their tasting room. You can even take home growlers of it! Josh and I unanimously agreed that this was our favorite. As you can tell from the photo, this stuff is pretty dang cloudy. In terms of wine profiles, think of this as a a dry riesling with a thicker mouthfeel and more of a booze kick. That doesn't at all do this brew justice, but I'm doing my best here. The filtered version, while the same brew, tasted drastically different. This one was much sharper, less complex in flavor profile, and is much more aligned with what one would typically think a sake tastes like. Awesome introduction into the world of sake so far.
every flake is unique
some taste like soda
Once we thought we had a grasp on the flavor profiles of sake, things just got ridiculous. We tried a pretty damn sweet Organic Momokawa Nigori, their Moonstone Coconut Lemongrass infused sake (that tastes like a pina colada), and then something that would fool even the most expert of beverage connoisseurs. Follow me on this one, so first you start with sake. Then, towards the end of the brewing process, infuse it with plum. At this point you pretty much have their Moonstone Plum sake, but oh no, Sake One doesn't stop there. Sake One wants to completely destroy any preconceived notions you had of sake just to mess with your head. From here we take that plum sake, put it in a keg, and hook it up to some CO2! The end product? What I can only describe as a plum sake soda that kind of tastes like a popcicle. This stuff is delicious, goes down like water, is the perfect beverage for a hot day at one of their outdoor events, and is only available on tap in their tasting room.
So what did Josh and I learn? Not only did we know little about sake going into this endeavor, but we knew even less than we thought. Sake is very similar to beer in regards to the fact that the flexibility granted with its ingredients lends itself to some ridiculous flavor profiles. This isn't to say that wine doesn't have a wide flavor profile, but I don't see anybody hooking it up to CO2 tanks or infusing it with lemongrass.
At this point we know what sake tastes like, but how is it made? For this, we decided to take a tour of the facility.
the tradition lives on here
blue shoe covers too
As you walk towards the kura, one can't help but notice this giant mural on the outside of the building
Upon entering, one must don the traditional blue shoe cover. I actually have no clue if the blue shoe cover is traditional, but it's the first time I've ever worn them and it's harder than you think after pounding sake for an hour. As you can see from the following photo, I'm an idiot and put mine on backwards.
Because I'm sure everybody asks how sake is made right up front, Sake One was smart enough to put up the following diagram.
You probably can't read every detail on that, so let me break it down for you. In short, brown rice is milled to a specific consistency and then cooked in a giant rice cooker. From there, yest and koji (mold) are gradually added to the steamed rice until you have the consistency of sake you desire. The facility looks almost identical to many beer breweries, except for one instrument that I have definitely never seen at a beer brewery:
If I remember correctly, this is an incredibly humid room where steamed rice is laid out and given the opportunity to ferment more rapidly. The entire room is made of cedar and is essentially a more technologically advanced version of what would be used in traditional sake brewing. The rice is hand raked as prescribed by the brewer and then transferred to another container when deemed ready.
I am out of ideas
this post must now end
All in all, our trip to Sake One was absolutely incredible. Not only did we gain exponentially more knowledge about sake, but the people are incredibly warm and inviting. If you're ever out in Forest Grove, do yourself a favor and stop by. I guarantee there will be something you'll like and you'll learn way more than you ever thought possible about sake.
This is the Story of a Post
So tonight, I was going to make a post. A real, legitimate post, all about wine and stuff. You see, I have three different posts swirling around in my head that just need to come out in prose for your enjoyment...one on Le Tour de Pinot, Stage 3; one on the Pre-WBC Yamhill-Carlton Tour; and one on a RoxyAnn Claret that is delicious. Alas, I have failed, and all you get tonight is me rambling about why I haven't written a real post in like 2 weeks. In the time it is taking me to write this, I could have completed one of the aforementioned stories, but I figured this would be more entertaining and take less mental acuity. So there it is.
So let me start out by saying that my life is currently packed away in boxes. My wine collection is strewn among two locations, the wine rack currently empty. That's right, I'm moving. Rick is moving as well, this means two things. First off, the headquarters of The Oregon Wine Blog is being relocated to a different location in Corvallis (my place), and, we now have a writer working out of Portland (Rick). With writers in Salem, Corvallis, and Portland, we now will provide more comprehensive coverage of the Willamette Valley, in addition to our coverage out of Seattle, Spokane, and Sonoma. Word. What other wine blog gives you that type of variety?
All day, I was making plans for what my evening would look like. Dinner, some errands, the gym, packing, and then making a wine blog post. I really needed to get a post up, or my fellow wine blog staffers would be upset (even though I started the blog). I got home...cooked dinner...ran some errands...went to the gym...opened a bottle of wine...and did some packing. Well, right around the 7th box of personal effects and 3rd glass of wine, all ability to coherently and intelligently post about a topic of value went out the window, or down the drain, or in a box, depending on your perspective. So, you're stuck with my rambling.
All this to say, look foward to some awesome content in the next couple of weeks. We've got the three posts mentioned above, the International Pinot Noir Celebration, some other enterprise articles, and I sent a bottle of Pend d'Orielle for review to Portland with Rick so now he has an excuse to crack that open.
Now, back to your scheduled programming.
So let me start out by saying that my life is currently packed away in boxes. My wine collection is strewn among two locations, the wine rack currently empty. That's right, I'm moving. Rick is moving as well, this means two things. First off, the headquarters of The Oregon Wine Blog is being relocated to a different location in Corvallis (my place), and, we now have a writer working out of Portland (Rick). With writers in Salem, Corvallis, and Portland, we now will provide more comprehensive coverage of the Willamette Valley, in addition to our coverage out of Seattle, Spokane, and Sonoma. Word. What other wine blog gives you that type of variety?
All day, I was making plans for what my evening would look like. Dinner, some errands, the gym, packing, and then making a wine blog post. I really needed to get a post up, or my fellow wine blog staffers would be upset (even though I started the blog). I got home...cooked dinner...ran some errands...went to the gym...opened a bottle of wine...and did some packing. Well, right around the 7th box of personal effects and 3rd glass of wine, all ability to coherently and intelligently post about a topic of value went out the window, or down the drain, or in a box, depending on your perspective. So, you're stuck with my rambling.
All this to say, look foward to some awesome content in the next couple of weeks. We've got the three posts mentioned above, the International Pinot Noir Celebration, some other enterprise articles, and I sent a bottle of Pend d'Orielle for review to Portland with Rick so now he has an excuse to crack that open.
Now, back to your scheduled programming.
[yellow tail] The Reserve 2008 Shiraz
Every winemaker since the dawn of winemaking has strived to achieve what rarely is obtained; to make that wine. A wine so magnificent, so gregarious, so translucent that when sipped one doesn't even remember their mama's name for a good 45 minutes. I know this will only happen once in my lifetime and after a grueling search all over the greater Corvallis area to eight different stores (seriously, we went to eight stores and it ended up being at the Fred Meyer down the street), that wine will now be reviewed on what is now being renamed the Oregon [yellow tail] Blog.
How does one know when they find that wine without tasting it first? Easy! [yellow tail] was kind enough to put Australia's national animal on the label. Clearly the Americans have never accomplished that wine as I've never seen a bald eagle on a wine label.
Once our [yellow tail] The Reserve Shiraz (which is Australian for "good") was purchased on sale for $8.99, we brought it home and immediately began the process of double decanting. You may not have heard of it, but double decanting is the process of decanting a wine, pouring it back in the bottle, and then decanting it again. Fine Australian winemakers have been doing this for centuries and we felt obliged to follow their practice.
Upon tasting the wine, one's palate is enveloped in a fruit-forward robustness rivaled only by its purpleness. Its single dimensionessisity is refined to a level equatable to that of pure gold, but made of grapes and you eat it. The jamminess of the fruit is especially highlighted by the double decanting process mentioned before.
One feels as if they are riding on the back of a kangaroo on a warm summer day - sipping wine out of a flask while hunting wildebeest in the northern rain forests. This is clearly the finest that Australia has to send to us poor troglodytes drinking superiourly inferior wines of the Northwest. Even nine stores would have been worth just having a sip of what has become the most momentous night of The Oregon [yellow tail] Blog. How Wine Enthusiast missed this on their Top 100 Wines of the World list is lost on me.
Finally, let us leave you with the pinnacle of cinematic comercialography:
Godzilla knows what's up!
How does one know when they find that wine without tasting it first? Easy! [yellow tail] was kind enough to put Australia's national animal on the label. Clearly the Americans have never accomplished that wine as I've never seen a bald eagle on a wine label.
Once our [yellow tail] The Reserve Shiraz (which is Australian for "good") was purchased on sale for $8.99, we brought it home and immediately began the process of double decanting. You may not have heard of it, but double decanting is the process of decanting a wine, pouring it back in the bottle, and then decanting it again. Fine Australian winemakers have been doing this for centuries and we felt obliged to follow their practice. Upon tasting the wine, one's palate is enveloped in a fruit-forward robustness rivaled only by its purpleness. Its single dimensionessisity is refined to a level equatable to that of pure gold, but made of grapes and you eat it. The jamminess of the fruit is especially highlighted by the double decanting process mentioned before.
One feels as if they are riding on the back of a kangaroo on a warm summer day - sipping wine out of a flask while hunting wildebeest in the northern rain forests. This is clearly the finest that Australia has to send to us poor troglodytes drinking superiourly inferior wines of the Northwest. Even nine stores would have been worth just having a sip of what has become the most momentous night of The Oregon [yellow tail] Blog. How Wine Enthusiast missed this on their Top 100 Wines of the World list is lost on me.
Finally, let us leave you with the pinnacle of cinematic comercialography:
Godzilla knows what's up!
NEW LAYOUT!
Ladies and Gentlemen, Winos and Fools...to celebrate the 965 day anniversary of The Oregon Wine Blog, as well as #WAMerlot day on the twitter machine, we bring to you many gifts and salutations. More importantly, though, we have gone live with a brand-spanking new blog layout that should look familiar but refreshed at the same time. Even more notable, you'll find a variety of pleasurable content in our new pages features, accessed from the links under our header.
Yes, the gerbils (Rick) have been hard at work slaving away at code with very little wine in the glass to bring this to you, and we are proud to do so. Rick may now have a glass of wine and you may now enjoy our new blog layout.
Yes, the gerbils (Rick) have been hard at work slaving away at code with very little wine in the glass to bring this to you, and we are proud to do so. Rick may now have a glass of wine and you may now enjoy our new blog layout.
IntelliScanner's Wine Collector Mini Review
One area I've been wanting to write about is the ever increasing availability of wine-related consumer technology. It's no secret that I'm kind of a nerd, but you can't fool me either. The statistics we gather from Google Analytics shows that you as well, our readers, are not traditional users of technology. A significant portion of you are accessing our site from Macs, iPhones, and even using Linux. An even larger portion of you are using Firefox, Safari, and other non-Microsoft browsers. What this tells me is that many of you appreciate cutting-edge technology as much as I do and would appreciate knowing what's out there related to wine. If I'm right, then you're going to be intrigued with the following product.
The folks at IntelliScanner were nice enough to send us a review unit of their newest product: the Wine Collector Mini. In short, the Wine Collector Mini is a combination wireless barcode scanner and software package used to electronically catalog your wine collection.
How does it work? In theory, tracking your wine collection is easy as scanning your wine's barcode and uploading the data into your computer. Once it's uploaded, IntelliScanner's Wine application references your barcodes to its online database and retrieves any available data. Think of it the same as popping a CD into iTunes and having it automatically retrieve song name, artist, album art, etc.
Enough talk, let's see what's included when you purchase the Wine Scanner Mini:
The version shipped to us is the Wine Collector Special Edition, which includes:
- IntelliScanner mini 200 ultra-portable barcode reader
- Included wine management software (version 3.2)
- A custom wooden wine crate
- 1 roll of custom printed asset tags (500 tags)
- Velvet, drawstring carrying pouch for the IntelliScanner
- Additional archiving software for items like DVDs, CDs, comic books, home assets, and kitchen-related goods.
I have to admit that the presentation of the packaging is absolutely beautiful. It clearly conveys that this isn't just a scanner with some software, but a total package created just for your wine inventory. To highlight a few nice touches, one would be that the custom inventory tages were pre-printed with TheOregonWineBlog.com on them. That was a pleasant surprise as these tags are used for wines that do not have barcodes. Another thing I want to highlight is how small the scanner is. For some reason I expected something the size of a deck of cards, but this thing is the size of the fob for my car. Mini is no exaggeration.
Now to give this thing a test run. For my first go, I have decided to scan 13 bottles of wine we have in the same rack. This selection includes wines from various wineries around the Northwest and all have barcodes, so I won't need any custom inventory labels. How'd the results look after scanning each bottle as well as the detail codes supplied on supplemental sheets? Well...
Not so great. For the wines that barcodes were found, only two retrieved full and correct information. Five other bottles loaded partial information, but not enough to correctly identify what I actually scanned beyond who made it. The other six bottles? No wines were found in IntelliScanner's database, which means I have to enter them manually.
Before I go any further, I'd like to point out what you're thinking and that's that 7/13 isn't a very good return. I agree. Where I think the problem lies is the size of their Wine application's user base. While my bottle of 2006 Shining Hill from Col Solare didn't show up when first scanned, it should now show up for everybody else now that I manually entered information for it. I can imagine IntelliScanner can only scan so many wines on their own without community involvement and, unfortunately, it appears I have different taste in wine than most users.
Once information is loaded into the program, retrieving information and sorting through your wine is almost identical to using iTunes. Because their software works on both Windows and Mac OSX, I think using a familiar interface is critical to making endusers comfortable right away. There really isn't much of a learning curve. This is what you can expect with information completely filled out:
So, would I recommend you go out and spend $279 on the Wine Collector Mini? That depends on what you're expecting. If you're looking for something that makes organizing and tracking your wine incredibly easy, IntelliScanner's Wine application makes it as easy as it gets. While the scanner itself may not record the majority of your wine at the moment, users (like myself) are adding more and more wine each day. If you're looking for something that will scan all of your wine and accurately retrieve every piece of information, I would suggest waiting for future reviews to see if newer users are having better luck.
Instead of leaving it at that, I would like to suggest a way to easily increase their database's accuracy and total number of wines: send Wine Scanner Minis out to wineries. As many as possible. With these in the hands of wineries, the wineries themselves can go through their entire libraries and get scanning. The additional benefit is I'm sure a lot of wineries would really dig the technology and gladly support selling these in their tasting rooms.
I've played with quite a few pieces of cellaring software and so far this is definitely my favorite. While I'm kind of disappointed by their database's ability to retrieve information on my wine, I'm very impressed on how easy it is to sort and track my wine. Once it's all scanned, you can even upload your library and keep track of it online!
You can purchase Wine Scanner Mini for $279 from IntelliScanner's website or the corded version of their scanner for $179.
More and bigger photos can be found on our Flickr Stream.
The folks at IntelliScanner were nice enough to send us a review unit of their newest product: the Wine Collector Mini. In short, the Wine Collector Mini is a combination wireless barcode scanner and software package used to electronically catalog your wine collection.
How does it work? In theory, tracking your wine collection is easy as scanning your wine's barcode and uploading the data into your computer. Once it's uploaded, IntelliScanner's Wine application references your barcodes to its online database and retrieves any available data. Think of it the same as popping a CD into iTunes and having it automatically retrieve song name, artist, album art, etc.
Enough talk, let's see what's included when you purchase the Wine Scanner Mini:
The version shipped to us is the Wine Collector Special Edition, which includes:
- IntelliScanner mini 200 ultra-portable barcode reader
- Included wine management software (version 3.2)
- A custom wooden wine crate
- 1 roll of custom printed asset tags (500 tags)
- Velvet, drawstring carrying pouch for the IntelliScanner
- Additional archiving software for items like DVDs, CDs, comic books, home assets, and kitchen-related goods.
I have to admit that the presentation of the packaging is absolutely beautiful. It clearly conveys that this isn't just a scanner with some software, but a total package created just for your wine inventory. To highlight a few nice touches, one would be that the custom inventory tages were pre-printed with TheOregonWineBlog.com on them. That was a pleasant surprise as these tags are used for wines that do not have barcodes. Another thing I want to highlight is how small the scanner is. For some reason I expected something the size of a deck of cards, but this thing is the size of the fob for my car. Mini is no exaggeration.
Now to give this thing a test run. For my first go, I have decided to scan 13 bottles of wine we have in the same rack. This selection includes wines from various wineries around the Northwest and all have barcodes, so I won't need any custom inventory labels. How'd the results look after scanning each bottle as well as the detail codes supplied on supplemental sheets? Well...
Not so great. For the wines that barcodes were found, only two retrieved full and correct information. Five other bottles loaded partial information, but not enough to correctly identify what I actually scanned beyond who made it. The other six bottles? No wines were found in IntelliScanner's database, which means I have to enter them manually.
Before I go any further, I'd like to point out what you're thinking and that's that 7/13 isn't a very good return. I agree. Where I think the problem lies is the size of their Wine application's user base. While my bottle of 2006 Shining Hill from Col Solare didn't show up when first scanned, it should now show up for everybody else now that I manually entered information for it. I can imagine IntelliScanner can only scan so many wines on their own without community involvement and, unfortunately, it appears I have different taste in wine than most users.
Once information is loaded into the program, retrieving information and sorting through your wine is almost identical to using iTunes. Because their software works on both Windows and Mac OSX, I think using a familiar interface is critical to making endusers comfortable right away. There really isn't much of a learning curve. This is what you can expect with information completely filled out:
So, would I recommend you go out and spend $279 on the Wine Collector Mini? That depends on what you're expecting. If you're looking for something that makes organizing and tracking your wine incredibly easy, IntelliScanner's Wine application makes it as easy as it gets. While the scanner itself may not record the majority of your wine at the moment, users (like myself) are adding more and more wine each day. If you're looking for something that will scan all of your wine and accurately retrieve every piece of information, I would suggest waiting for future reviews to see if newer users are having better luck.
Instead of leaving it at that, I would like to suggest a way to easily increase their database's accuracy and total number of wines: send Wine Scanner Minis out to wineries. As many as possible. With these in the hands of wineries, the wineries themselves can go through their entire libraries and get scanning. The additional benefit is I'm sure a lot of wineries would really dig the technology and gladly support selling these in their tasting rooms.
I've played with quite a few pieces of cellaring software and so far this is definitely my favorite. While I'm kind of disappointed by their database's ability to retrieve information on my wine, I'm very impressed on how easy it is to sort and track my wine. Once it's all scanned, you can even upload your library and keep track of it online!
You can purchase Wine Scanner Mini for $279 from IntelliScanner's website or the corded version of their scanner for $179.
More and bigger photos can be found on our Flickr Stream.
Warm Thoughts from the Caribbean
Greetings to all of those in the Pacifc NW and beyond who have and continue to follow TOWB. I have been vacationing in the Caribbean with my parents, and when I return to Oregon, as a treat to you all, the next posts you will see from me will be about 2 types of Caribbean "wine," as well as a review of Tony's Wine Bar, just down from the block.
I know it has been a bit chilly in the NW lately, so hopefully I will bring some warmer weather for those who are not as pleased with the cold as I will be to return to it.
I am also hoping to bring back a special surprise for one of the writers here at The Oregon Wine Blog. Don't worry, you will be kept in the know as to how that goes. Hopefully it will cause him to go back to his original blogging roots, just for a moment, and he will share a bit of that with us here. Have I been cryptic enough to have you all wanting more, good :-)
Until next time...
I know it has been a bit chilly in the NW lately, so hopefully I will bring some warmer weather for those who are not as pleased with the cold as I will be to return to it.
I am also hoping to bring back a special surprise for one of the writers here at The Oregon Wine Blog. Don't worry, you will be kept in the know as to how that goes. Hopefully it will cause him to go back to his original blogging roots, just for a moment, and he will share a bit of that with us here. Have I been cryptic enough to have you all wanting more, good :-)
Until next time...
Holiday Decorations, The Oregon Wine Blog Style
Hi Friends.
We wanted to do a quick interlude to our lineup of riveting, arm-gripping content to share with you a little bit of the holiday flair in The Oregon Wine Blog's home office.
Behold, our tree topper:
You can see more of our Festivus / Christmas / Chanukah / Non-Denominational Winter Holiday decorations on our flickr stream.
We wanted to do a quick interlude to our lineup of riveting, arm-gripping content to share with you a little bit of the holiday flair in The Oregon Wine Blog's home office.
Behold, our tree topper:
And, our style of ornaments:
You can see more of our Festivus / Christmas / Chanukah / Non-Denominational Winter Holiday decorations on our flickr stream.
Book Review: A History of Wine as Therapy
A History of Wine As Therapy is a book written by Dr. Salvatore P. Lucia that, as the title says, is a historical account of wine used as medicine. Why did I pick this book up and write a review about it? In short, I was interested to see if ancient civilizations saw wine as a panacea as I do. What can't wine cure? Well, aside from hangovers...and maybe head lice. Anyway, it cures a lot! This book also happened to be only $5 from my local used book store. The price probably had something to do with the fact that it was written in 1963. Anyway, onto the review!This book is chronologically ordered by dominant civilizations for that time period. While each civilization had its own spin on how to actually make wine, similar themes present themselves throughout this book that show how versatile wine is as medicine. Check out this exerpt about ancient Chinese use:
Not more than one pint [of wine] was taken as a cure for apoplexy, fistula, stomach or heart pain, colic, hemorrhoids, worm toxemia, flatulence and bleeding from the bowel, and miscellaneous other complaints. Another, employing a mixture of lizard's liver, skin of the cicada locust, and wine, was rubbed on the navel to produce abortion. Other mystical mixtures included donkey's placenta compounded in wine as a cure for alcoholism; the liver of a black cat, taken in wine at midnight, for tuberculosis; the flesh of the macaque monkey, pickled in wine, to prevent or cure malaria; and the excrement of the eatle, ashed and taken with wine, to dislodge bone obstructions in the throat. (p.32)
I should have pointed out that one caveat listed early in the book is that medical doctors as we know then didn't really exist. Instead, folks claiming mystical powers would concoct stuff like donkey placenta and wine to cure alcoholism in an order to make a quick buck. It's also important to point out that many of these mystical-sounding ingredients were picked solely out of their scarcity.
Here's a little something from the ancient Romans:
[Asclepiades (124-40 B.C.)]...gave wine to patients with fever and filled his insane patients with it to the point of drunkenness in order to produce sleep. In cases of lethargy, wine was prescribed to excite and awaken the senses. (p.47)
I don't know if I'd feel comfortable seeing Dr. Asclepiades, but I like his style.
Here's a final quote I'll leave you with from Avicenna of ancient Arabia:
Wine must not be allowed [to children]...because the injurious effect of wine readily influences the child. The advantage in wine is that it excites the secretion of urine,...and that it moistens the joints. Neither of these effects is necessary at this age...To give wine to youths is like adding fire to a fire already prepared with matchwood. (p.82)
In short, giving wine to a child will turn them into a pee machine.
I should point out again that this book goes over many ancient civilizations and references wine in countless ancient texts. While I've mostly gone over some of the more ridiculous examples, there are surprisingly a lot of very accurate observations of what wine can be used for (wound dressing, pain killer) and cannot (cure alcoholism). It's definitely the most unique account on wine I have ever read and would highly recommend picking up a copy if you're a nerd like me. It's pretty dry, but Dr. Rick would suggest three glasses of wine to cure dryness and boredom.
A menagerie of...well...nothing.
As Seinfeld put out 9 seasons of a show about nothing, this is a post about nothing. Well, not really nothing, more so a bunch of random things that we call "filler material" in the industry. Really what I'm trying to say is that we haven't made a post in a couple of days and probably won't within the next few days so I feel the need to post something so you don't think we're dead, drunk, or have quit blogging in protest of some unidentifiable event. You get the point.
First, I will be heading to the Yakima Valley tomorrow for non-wine related purposes...but like any good wine blogger will have some time on my hands to do a little tasting and take in the scene. Check back for a full report in a week or so, but in the meantime, does anybody have tasting and dinner recommendations (preferably in walking distance of the Red Lion Yakima Center)?
Second, I'd like to direct your attention to a post on Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog, discussing a new Federal Trade Commission regulation requiring bloggers (of the wine variety) to disclose when wine sampled is provided free of charge to the blogger. Actually, the regulation is a bit broader than just wine and blogs, but the rub is that the same sort of disclosure is NOT required of traditional media. Interesting discrepancy highlighting the battle between new and old media. Check out the post, oh, and The Oregon Wine Blog does at times receive samples, discounts, and entrance into events gratis. We try our best to always disclose if this has been the case.
Finally, stick with us as we have a ton of exciting posts coming up. Still in the barrel are an overview of the state fair wine competition, a continuation of our series on non-traditional wines, some follow-up coverage to the recent Red Mountain / Walla Walla trip, and some book reviews!
Cheers.
Bucking Tradition...and All That Jazz
We've been salivating recently here at the world headquarters of The Oregon Wine Blog, and no, it isn't because of the box of day-old Albertson's donuts from sitting on the counter screaming "eat me, eat me". Hey, they were $2.99 - who can turn down that kind of deal? I digress.
The source of our yearning has actually come in a distinctly different format than donuts, although still in a box. We've been doing the prep work on a series for the Blog that excites the
heck out of me and as a result, wine samples have been coming in from wineries throughout the Northwest. What is that series, you might ask? It relates to the title of this post...oh fine, I'll stop being mysterious and just tell you: We're doing a profile of non-traditional varietals from the Pacific Northwest.
Think of those wines that have traditionally been blending wines, or done in other countries but not the US, or...the wild hair that grew up the ass of a ballsy winemaker. Yep, we're talking Barbera, Cabernet Franc, Dolcetto, Grenache, Lemberger, Malbec, and Petit Verdot. Hooray! The plan is to take one varietal every 7 - 10 days, do an overview of the wine, and then review the submissions we received. We were hoping to have the first of the series posted by now, but some hot weather in Eastern Washington delayed shipping. After all, reviewing cooked wine would be no fun.
We've also got a few other features in the hopper that will be interspersed with this series, such as a profile of Col Solare and a review of the Oregon State Fair wine competition. Until then, which varietal would you like to see first?
Book Review: Wine Trails of Oregon
Wine Trails of Oregon: A guide for uncorking your memorable wine tour
In what is hopefully the first of many to come, The Oregon Wine Blog presents its very first book review. I'd also like to note that, unfortunately, this review has been delayed entirely too long. While some would say we're lazy, I like to think that we simply let it age and mature. How'd it stand the test of time (3 months)? Let's find out!
To preface our review, Wine Trails of Oregon's author, Steve Roberts, contacted us personally and sent us an autographed copy of his latest book. After writing Wine Trails of Washington, it only made sense to write one about Oregon. Perhaps even more unique is his Idaho rendition coming out in Spring 2010. Anyway, onto the review now that that's out of the way.
Steve Roberts, in an effort that can only be described as monumental, set out with one goal; to visit every single winery in the state of Oregon and write about it. Daunting? Perhaps. Worth it? Totally!
Wine Trails of Oregon is essentially a comprehensive almanac of every winery in the state of Oregon. Each winery's information is displayed in a standard two-page format listing it's name, the story behind it, what's good, contact information, general demographic information, directions, and even a map of its general location in relation to what county it's in.
For example, let's say you're visiting some friends in Corvallis and want to see what wineries are around to go tasting. OWB staff happen to be out of town tasting elsewhere, so you must consult your trusty guide. Wine Trails of Oregon is so well organized that the table of contents would quickly guide you to "South Willamette Valley." This section would then break down 8 wineries in Benton County alone. Want to go a little further south? There are 11 more in Lane county as well. The possibilities are endless (or 19 if you're counting).
So what's the verdict? If you live in Oregon and like to go wine tasting, this is an absolute must buy. If you're out of state and want to learn more about the 200+ wineries listed in this book, I'd also recommend picking it up. This book is out now and is available for $24.95 from Powell's Books (our personal favorite book store).
BONUS THOUGHT: While this is an incredible book, the inner-nerd in me had another thought. One device almost all of us at the OWB have on hand is an iPhone and since this book uses a consistent template, this would make an AMAZING iPhone app. While I don't know the feasibility of that project, I can't imagine having a more convenient way of planning a wine tour than having all of that information in a gps-enabled application. Just a thought.
In what is hopefully the first of many to come, The Oregon Wine Blog presents its very first book review. I'd also like to note that, unfortunately, this review has been delayed entirely too long. While some would say we're lazy, I like to think that we simply let it age and mature. How'd it stand the test of time (3 months)? Let's find out!
To preface our review, Wine Trails of Oregon's author, Steve Roberts, contacted us personally and sent us an autographed copy of his latest book. After writing Wine Trails of Washington, it only made sense to write one about Oregon. Perhaps even more unique is his Idaho rendition coming out in Spring 2010. Anyway, onto the review now that that's out of the way.
Steve Roberts, in an effort that can only be described as monumental, set out with one goal; to visit every single winery in the state of Oregon and write about it. Daunting? Perhaps. Worth it? Totally!
Wine Trails of Oregon is essentially a comprehensive almanac of every winery in the state of Oregon. Each winery's information is displayed in a standard two-page format listing it's name, the story behind it, what's good, contact information, general demographic information, directions, and even a map of its general location in relation to what county it's in.
For example, let's say you're visiting some friends in Corvallis and want to see what wineries are around to go tasting. OWB staff happen to be out of town tasting elsewhere, so you must consult your trusty guide. Wine Trails of Oregon is so well organized that the table of contents would quickly guide you to "South Willamette Valley." This section would then break down 8 wineries in Benton County alone. Want to go a little further south? There are 11 more in Lane county as well. The possibilities are endless (or 19 if you're counting).
So what's the verdict? If you live in Oregon and like to go wine tasting, this is an absolute must buy. If you're out of state and want to learn more about the 200+ wineries listed in this book, I'd also recommend picking it up. This book is out now and is available for $24.95 from Powell's Books (our personal favorite book store).
BONUS THOUGHT: While this is an incredible book, the inner-nerd in me had another thought. One device almost all of us at the OWB have on hand is an iPhone and since this book uses a consistent template, this would make an AMAZING iPhone app. While I don't know the feasibility of that project, I can't imagine having a more convenient way of planning a wine tour than having all of that information in a gps-enabled application. Just a thought.
Oh, and we're planning some features on Washington in the upcoming months and I think we might pick up a copy of Wine Trails of Washington to assist.
Winery Websites
One of my favorite aspects of working with the Oregon Wine Blog is that I also get to maintain the actual website. I've been doing web and graphic design for about 13 or so years now and it's something I love to do for fun. Many of you have sent kind remarks about our recent redesign and I'm glad you all like it.
I mention this because while writing for a wine blog, I also visit a lot of winery websites. Almost every winery out there has a website and I've discovered an odd trend; there is an inverse relation to the quality of a winery and the quality of its website..
Granted this doesn't hold for every winery, but let's try a little experiment. Think of your absolute favorite winery, open a new tab, take a look at its website, and come right back here. It's OK. I can wait.
Welcome back! If your favorite wineries are anything like mine, here are a few things you probably just noticed:
-The website you just looked at looks like it was designed in 1998. If their wine is really good, you probably even noticed they used tables!
-It probably has some useless Flash animation. For some reason, certain designers seem to think that Flash somehow makes up for having a crappy website. Don't have any real content to post? Make a wine bottle fly across the screen!
-Any sort of News section is out of date or scarcely updated. With so many websites using simple content management systems to update information, not having timely updates is just lazy. You could even just use a Twitter feed if you felt like it.
-It looks like garbage on a mobile browser. Sure, accessing websites from something like an iPhone is a newer trend, but it's a good idea to have your site work on mobile devices if your business is one where people will be traveling to visit you.
Alternatively, Sutter Home's site is great! Look at those delicious recipes and how much fun their cycling team is having! Also, Yellow Tail's website is very web 2.0. There are all sorts of useful information posted, like what functions to drink what wine with. Backyard temperature chardonnay? Sign me up!
Now that I've been largely negative, let me preface that I completely understand that small, family-owned wineries make significantly less profit than large conglomo-wineries. The larger point I want to make is that if you make world-class wine and have websites that get very little attention, some may think the same kind of attention is given to your wine. Those of us in the industry know that's not the case, but it's not at all difficult to have a decent, modern looking website. Services like Wordpress, Blogger, and even iWeb make websites incredibly easy. What's even better is many of these services are free. The Internet is a powerful tool and using it to your advantage can do great service to your business.
I'd also like to fully acknowledge that this is by no means the best designed website on the planet. We have a list of things we'd like to change and will get to them when we can. I also fully understand that like wine, everybody has different taste.
Own a winery and want some suggestions on how to improve your site with little effort? Drop me a line and I'd love to share some thoughts.
I mention this because while writing for a wine blog, I also visit a lot of winery websites. Almost every winery out there has a website and I've discovered an odd trend; there is an inverse relation to the quality of a winery and the quality of its website..
Granted this doesn't hold for every winery, but let's try a little experiment. Think of your absolute favorite winery, open a new tab, take a look at its website, and come right back here. It's OK. I can wait.
Welcome back! If your favorite wineries are anything like mine, here are a few things you probably just noticed:
-The website you just looked at looks like it was designed in 1998. If their wine is really good, you probably even noticed they used tables!
-It probably has some useless Flash animation. For some reason, certain designers seem to think that Flash somehow makes up for having a crappy website. Don't have any real content to post? Make a wine bottle fly across the screen!
-Any sort of News section is out of date or scarcely updated. With so many websites using simple content management systems to update information, not having timely updates is just lazy. You could even just use a Twitter feed if you felt like it.
-It looks like garbage on a mobile browser. Sure, accessing websites from something like an iPhone is a newer trend, but it's a good idea to have your site work on mobile devices if your business is one where people will be traveling to visit you.
Alternatively, Sutter Home's site is great! Look at those delicious recipes and how much fun their cycling team is having! Also, Yellow Tail's website is very web 2.0. There are all sorts of useful information posted, like what functions to drink what wine with. Backyard temperature chardonnay? Sign me up!
Now that I've been largely negative, let me preface that I completely understand that small, family-owned wineries make significantly less profit than large conglomo-wineries. The larger point I want to make is that if you make world-class wine and have websites that get very little attention, some may think the same kind of attention is given to your wine. Those of us in the industry know that's not the case, but it's not at all difficult to have a decent, modern looking website. Services like Wordpress, Blogger, and even iWeb make websites incredibly easy. What's even better is many of these services are free. The Internet is a powerful tool and using it to your advantage can do great service to your business.
I'd also like to fully acknowledge that this is by no means the best designed website on the planet. We have a list of things we'd like to change and will get to them when we can. I also fully understand that like wine, everybody has different taste.
Own a winery and want some suggestions on how to improve your site with little effort? Drop me a line and I'd love to share some thoughts.
Beware of Wine Bloggers?
Not often do I feel compelled enough to solely repost material from another blog or outlet, but I ran across a post on another wine blog via Wine Press Northwest's twitter feed that I think all blog aficionados should read.
There has long been a sense from traditional wine writers and media outlets that blogs are not legitimate in the world of journalism. Some of this, in my opinion, is a fear of new media, some is offense taken at the new angle that blogs bring, and some is plain old job protection.
Amy and Joe do a great job of breaking down the issue and responding to a critic in the post, Beware of Wine Bloggers!
Hot hot hot...like my new wine rack!
You may recall one year and ten days ago I made a post detailing my exhaustive search for the perfect wine rack: not too big, not too little, not too expensive, and attractive all at the same time. Well, I didn't find exactly what I was looking for but I did find a nice alternative! Wine Blog readers, meet the Williams and Sonoma Modular Australian Pine Wine Rack:
Featuring 12 cross bars and 12 ends, this 72-bottle rack is made from plantation-grown australian pine and has an attractive mahogany finish. After a somewhat grueling assembly process, it was quite the to joy sort and organize my wine in a more efficient mechanism than wine case boxes sitting on the floor of the dining room. It looks nice, too.
While I still haven't given up on my quest to find the "perfect rack," the one graced by my wine right now will hold me over until then. I definitely recommend this product as it is well-received both in function and form.
How are you all storing your wine?
An Introduction
Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Rick Goranflo and I am the newest contributor to the Oregon Wine Blog. You see, this day has been quite some time in the making. I've been learning more and more about wine since meeting Josh and have been keeping up with the OWB since its inception.
Before contributing to this blog, I gained a marginal amount of internet stardom as Bob Woodshed; the creator of the [BW] Beer Blog. I absolutely love great beer and blogging about it was a blast, but I found over time my interests started leaning towards wine. Specifically, my time in both the Willamette Valley and the Palouse drew me to big reds. To give you a good idea as to where my preferences lie, Willamette Valley Vineyard's 2005 Griffin Creek Cab Franc is one of my all time favorites.
Today I almost solely dedicate my effort to wine. The [BW] Beer Blog has ceased updating and I guess you could say I am exclusively writing for the OWB. I find this especially fitting as I like to think my suggestion to Josh is what started this blog in the first place =)
In short, it's an honor to be contributing and I look forward to getting to know all of this blog's readers. I also hope to add a little of my blogging expertise to add some new fun things to the site. Feel free to leave a comment and say hi or give any suggestions.
Cheers!
Before contributing to this blog, I gained a marginal amount of internet stardom as Bob Woodshed; the creator of the [BW] Beer Blog. I absolutely love great beer and blogging about it was a blast, but I found over time my interests started leaning towards wine. Specifically, my time in both the Willamette Valley and the Palouse drew me to big reds. To give you a good idea as to where my preferences lie, Willamette Valley Vineyard's 2005 Griffin Creek Cab Franc is one of my all time favorites.
Today I almost solely dedicate my effort to wine. The [BW] Beer Blog has ceased updating and I guess you could say I am exclusively writing for the OWB. I find this especially fitting as I like to think my suggestion to Josh is what started this blog in the first place =)
In short, it's an honor to be contributing and I look forward to getting to know all of this blog's readers. I also hope to add a little of my blogging expertise to add some new fun things to the site. Feel free to leave a comment and say hi or give any suggestions.
Cheers!
Brief Hiatus
So it's been a very very busy time here in Corvallis, and I sit here on the eve of another business trip which will take me out of the country for the next week. Point is, there hasn't been a lot of time to post lately. I have some good stuff brewing though including a review of Gathering Together Farms recent wine dinner as well as an amazing bottle of 2005 Col Solaire Red Wine. Look for these to come out in about a week and a half, and until then, drink well!
Follow us on Twitter!
After much resistance (well, not really that much), The Oregon Wine Blog is making a foray into the world of social media. You can follow our "up to the minute" updates on Twitter by following OR_Wine_Blog or checking out the updates in the right hand sidebar. We'll post quick updates, fun snippets, relevant links, or whatever we are eating, drinking, or enjoying at a given time.
Enjoy!
That Perfect Wine Rack
Have you found it? I sure haven't. For the past two years I've been on a mission to find the perfect wine rack / cabinet to hold the delicious nectar, to minimal success. It has to be just right. Not too big, not too small...classy enough...and not too expensive. You'd think I was asking for a miracle. There seems to be a void of 72 - 120 bottle offerings that aren't either really cheap or really expensive. In a tragic turn of events, some friends in Pullman found exactly what I was looking for in Spokane at Pier 1, so I dutifully went down to the Pier 1 in Eugene only to find that cabinet had been permanently discontinued and wasn't in stock in any store in Oregon. The search continues. In the meantime, my wine will stay in the hodge-podge of storing devices that it has been since I moved here.
It's been quite a while since I've posted -- sorry -- I've been in California for the past 11 days and was on vacation for a week before that. No excuse, I know. The readers of The Oregon Wine Blog will be happy to know that we drank some delicious wine in both venues, and have some great features in the works for the next few months. Notably, we are working on a trip to Eastern Washington which will feature wines from Walla Walla, Red Mountain, and Columbia Valley.
It's been quite a while since I've posted -- sorry -- I've been in California for the past 11 days and was on vacation for a week before that. No excuse, I know. The readers of The Oregon Wine Blog will be happy to know that we drank some delicious wine in both venues, and have some great features in the works for the next few months. Notably, we are working on a trip to Eastern Washington which will feature wines from Walla Walla, Red Mountain, and Columbia Valley.
