Eugenia Keegan

I should be apologizing repeatedly for not posting for ages, but something keeps me from getting this done (the posting, not the apologizing!). Not sure why. I am always pleased after I have chronicled what I am doing. But then there is this nagging sense that my days have no significance and this is egotistical bullcrap. Either way, I do enjoy it once I put my focus heretois*.

After working on the pruning videos I realized that the two styles of pruning shown were very useful and applied to many situations, but were not specific to the so-called premise of this exercise, Old Vine Grenache. The older bush pruned or spur pruned vines are fundamentally handled the same, but the look is very different. I asked my good friend (with whom I am having dinner this very evening….might be just the kick in the tuchus that I needed to post), if he would kindly help me demonstrate pruning for the style of growing common to most old vines (not just grenache).

Here is Jean-Marc Espinasse of Domaine Rouge-Bleu (http://rouge-bleu.com) with a demonstration of head/spur pruning in his outrageous Old Vine Grenache vineyard, Lunatique (the sound is a bit rough but the images are lovely; listen carefully for a first class pruning lesson):

*hertois: some knockoff of the legalese heretofore, heretowith, etc. But here, is is is.

For the past three years I have wanted to attend some part of the Oregon Truffle Festival.  It happens that Oregon is a super place to grow truffles and indeed there is an Oregon truffle (actually more than one).  Jack Czarnecki, who owns the Joel Palmer House (wonderful restaurant in Dayton, OR)  is a full blown nut when it comes to Oregon truffles.  Jack has been cooking with them and serving them in his restaurant for years.  He also makes a white truffle oil that is fabulous.  Now Dr. Charles Lefevre, who has his Ph.D is Forest Mycology, has started to inoculate trees (specifically hazelnut and oak) with spores from Tuber melanosporum which is the famed black Périgord truffle from France.  I’m sure that you can see where this is going.  I think that having a small (1/2 acre?) plot of French truffles would be absolutely awesome.  Not sure about training the dog or the pig, but one thing at a time.  Depending on the tree host it takes anywhere from three to nine years for a harvest (yes, this demands even more patience than grapes….although the time from harvest to tummy is muuuuuuuuch shorter!).

This year we made it to the festival.  My appetite is more whetted than before!

New World Truffieres Booth sans Dr. Charles Lefevre

Oregon Whites Used by Jack Czarnecki for his Truffle Oil

Jack's Booth

The Man Himself, Jack Czarnecki

Oregon Black Truffle

Oregon White Truffle

Truffles Are Becoming Big Business

Hmmm, More than Truffles

Maria Ponzi Pouring for Her Family Winery

Barbara Gross, Copper Mountain with her Biodynamic Balsamic Vinegar

Carole Stevens, Folin Cellars, with her KILLER Grenache from SoOregon

And Home to the Stock Pot for Sunday Supper

And Happy New Year.  Yes, a little late as it is now the end of January, but the appropriate opening none the less (as long as I sneak this in BEFORE February…otherwise it is just plain tacky!).  Hopefully it sets a tone for the upcoming twelve (oppps eleven) months.

The goodies under that lovely little tree turned into the mess you see below.  I am still working my way through the much appreciated music, books, candies, etc.  There were so many presents under the tree (and some big gifts that did not even fit under the tree….new electronic keyboard!) that I can only surmise that Santa stayed long enough to enjoy that glass of Old Vine Grenache I left for him (no cookies, just crackers and cheese) and unload several heavy items that were weighing down the sleigh.  Thanks Santa!!! Next year I will leave the whole bottle!

And These Were the Presents Unwrapped by the Adults!

My "Personal" Gift Station

"Santa" at the New Keyboard

Ummmm, What's For Xmas Dinner?

What Should We Drink With That??

I added a couple of other holiday shots.  Again, I am not accustomed to carrying the camera so my pix can be a bit hit or miss.

The new year however has taken an interesting turn of events (and my excuse for being continually behind on blogging), at least for the short run.

Just before the Xmas holiday I received a call from the Associate Dean of the Natural Resources Department at Chemeketa Community College who asked if I would step in and teach one of the wine marketing classes.  CCC has put together a super enology/viticulture program.  A new campus was built to accommodate a small working vineyard and winery.  They teach a great intro to wine marketing, but have struggled to put together the upper division marketing program.  The primary issue seems to be an instructor (s) to teach the three classes offered.  For whatever reasons they come and go.  SO for now you can call me Professor Keegan!

I am teaching “Understanding the Market Place” and it is a perfect set up for me to unleash all that I have gathered in six years of running a wine distribution company.  BUT, it has also sucked up all of my time.  The good news is that I know the material so I don’t have to be learning that as well.  But we use a book and I had to read that, and then I read it again chapter by chapter as we go through those chapters in class. Since I have never done this before I had to learn to write up a class syllabus, and now make up quizzes, and class projects, and field trips…..and you get the idea.  LOTS of WORK, but TONS of  FUN.

Now you know that I have stayed OUT of trouble for the past few weeks and why.

When not preparing my class work I have been working/thinking about this blog going forward (and a couple of other items on the big board of course) and have LOTS of ideas.  Stay tuned, videos on the way!!

It has been an event filled ten days.  Dominique my dear French host was in Portland for her fall tour starting in PDX and ending in NYC.  I picked her up at the airport earlier on the 4th and after dropping her off at the home of mutual friends (the ones who introduced us) I beetled chez nous to quickly change for our dress-up evening with the Oregon Historical Society.

Tuesday found us back with our friends Neil and Diana who hosted Dominique, several  of the best wine accounts in Portland, their own family (who doubled as the sous chefs), and lucky us.  Diana and kids cooked a super dinner and of course the Cristia wines were delicious and well paired.

David, Diana, Dominique

Neil, Eugenia, Diana, Dominique

Thursday evening we celebrated the finish of harvest with Adelsheim Vineyard’s Vineyard Manager Chad Vargas, his wife Teneal, their two kids and the stellar vineyard staff.  This crew works year around, year after year tending the 190 acres that is owned and/or managed by the winery.  Their work is challenging enough but at harvest their life is exclusively devoted to the vineyard.  This harvest was up and down with times of relative leisure and then full court press.  In the final dash to pull all grapes into the barn prior to the rains the crew worked herculean hours to provide clean ripe fruit to the winery staff (who then spent the next three days up around the clock processing it!).  I have tasted over 25 different lots of AV Pinots from the 2010 vintage and they are juicy.  My overall impression of the vintage from this experience was that of ripe developed flavors tilted toward the red/blue fruits.  Plenty of acid, mature tannins.

The Vargas Family

The next day marked the beginning of Salud! the annual pinot noir barrel auction that raises money for farmworker medical/dental needs.  This is a splendid two day affair.  The venue for Day One is Domaine Drouhin Oregon in the Willamette Valley.  Autumn is particularly fond of this area and the fading brilliance of fall makes this an inviting location for an afternoon of nibbles and the best of the vintage from those wineries who have studiously honed their craft.  Spread throughout the three flights of their gravity feed winery DDO hosts 42 wineries showing a barrel sample of pinot noir blended or allocated exclusively for the winner of that auction item. Day Two is a black tie gala and auction at the Governor Hotel in Downtown Portland. There are winemaker dinners hosted on either side of these events that are often an auction item from the previous year.  It is a time of extreme generosity on the part of wineries, their owners, bidders, and the greater Portland community.  It is also a marvelous time to celebrate the end of harvest and the seasonal shift to winter and the holidays.

Sue & Neil Shay (Director of the Oregon Wine Research Institute)

Catherine (AV Dir of Communications) & Chad (Chehalem Vineyard Mgr.) Douglas

Jeanette Morgan (ED Oregon Wine Board) & David Adelsheim

Homage to Terry Castel and Family (Bethel Heights Winery) for Years of Generous Giving

The Magnificent Ballroom

By Monday morning the house guests had returned home, the gala garb was “reboxed” and put away, and it was back to work.  The afternoon was a blast.  As a guest of Domaine Selections I was asked to help lead a tasting of the incredible big gun (that means quality in this case) California wines that DS carries in their portfolio.  The lineup was as follows:

FLIGHT ONE – CHARDONNAY

Ramey Wine Cellars Chardonnay Sonoma Coast 2008
Kistler Vineyards Chardonnay “Les Noisetier” Sonoma Coast 2008
Shafer Vineyards Chardonnay Carneros District Red Shoulder Ranch  2008
Kongsgaard Wine Chardonnay Napa Valley 2008
Kongsgaard Wine Chardonnay Napa Valley The Judge 2008

INTERMEZZO

Corison Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2001

FLIGHT TWO – 2007 NAPA CABERNET SAUVIGNON

Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon One Point Five 2007
Diamond Creek Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Gravelly Meadow 2007
Diamond Creek Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Red Rock Terrace 2007
Ramey Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Annum 2007
Ramey Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Pedregal 2007

FLIGHT THREE – BOND AND HARLAN

Bond Estates Melbury 2006
Bond Estates Quella 2006
Harlan Estate 2006

David, Bonnie, & Thom (who put together this cool event)

Amos (Sales Manager) and Tim (super salesdude) from Domaine

Vero & Erika, Domaine Sales Force Hard at Work

Ron & Dan, Super PDX Wine Guys

Joseph, Tim, and Akhil with Post Tasting Smiles

Some of the Tasted Goodies

Some of the Super Stars

Monday dinner was out once again with an interesting pair of corporate buyers for  the chain that owns Olive Garden and a small handful of other keenly focused brands.  Tuesday NEEDED to be laundry day!

Winter arrived today with a less than subtle entrance.  It was around 1:00 PM and within minutes of languishing clouds, shadows, and sunbeams the sky went dark and the hail arrived.  The temperature dropped 17 or 18 degrees in minutes, the trees swayed with the winds, leaves falling fast and quickly exposing naked branches.  I woke to fall, I went to bed in winter.

What could therefore be more perfect than a harvest celebration on what may turn out to be the final night of autumn weather.  Bill Sweat and Donna Morris own Winderlea Winery.  They purchased an existing vineyard that carried serious Oregon pedigree, Goldschmidt Vineyard.  They immediately went to work updating the vineyard, hired an experienced winegrower from California, created a beautiful label, built an aesthetically lovely building and pursued their dream.  The wines are super, don’t miss them.  They continue to sell some grapes to AV who produce a single vineyard Winderlea Vineyard (don’t miss that either!).  We were invited to this joyous occasion hosted by Bill and Donna.  The kitchen was under the command of David Bergen from Tina’s who served a quintessential autumn meal.

It was a quiet evening of thanks.  Vintage 2010 was a challenge for all involved and it was important to revisit the relationships that make this business work even in the most difficult years.  It felt a bit like the end of the fall season and then I remembered that Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  My favorite holiday.

Winderlea Dining Room

Vineyard Guru Matt Novak and His Wife Stephanie

General Frivolity and Goodwill

The Back Deck with Loads of Hail

More Hail

Side Yard Pathway

Winter Arrives 11/8/10