Lots of Vineyard Activity

We're in the middle of bloom where flowers emerge and berries are set. The first picture shows a cluster that's almost finished and one that's just getting started. We're on about the same schedule as last year.

What's even more amazing is how fast the shoots growing. In the last 30 days, growth can be measured in multiple feet. If you look at the middle and last picture you can see the difference a month makes. Shoots have gone from 6-10 inches to 4-6+ feet. Pretty amazing. They grew at least and in many cases more than a foot last week.

Classic Cars in McMinnville

As part of the Turkey Rama celebration in McMinnville, they closed off 3rd Street and held a classic car contest. I've included some pictures. The candy apple red Camaro is a personal favorite. And what muscle car fan's heart doesn't speed up a bit when they see the SS 396 logo. The Corvette with the flip up doors was interesting. Saw them drive away with a giant trophy in the passenger seat. And the blue T-bird was gorgeous.

Facebook v. Blog v. Website: Overrun by Social Media

I have to apologize for the lack of activity on the blog. We got started with Facebook and have been neglecting adding all the same entries here. I haven't quite figured out how to keep everything in sync, but I'm going to start dividing time a little more equally. And don't get me started on Twitter :-)

Another Great McMinnville Retaurant - Thistle

Just had dinner tonight at Thistle after closing the tasting room. They are famous for using very local ingredients and also famous for their chalkboard menu of 6-8 starters and 4-5 main courses that changes every day. I had a savoy cabbage gratin starter followed by the beef cheeks with kale in a black chanterelle cream sauce. Both were excellent, the sauce with the cheeks was concentrated bundle of deep earthy flavor that made the dish for me. My wife had the cold dungeness crab salad and gnocchi with hedgehog mushrooms. We wound up basically splitting each othjer's dishes so I got to enjoy those too. Then I saw the petrale sole entree before I left and felt bad about not getting to try that. Eric and Emily know what they're doing and have created a must stop location for anyone visiting wine country. Check them out here.

Nick's Italian Cafe in McMinnville

Nick's is one of our favorite restaurants in the world. And this is a belated note. Since we opened our tasting room in McMinnville and they are about 150 feet up the street, we've been in there quite a bit this year.

If you want interesting food they have it - for example, Thursday's night's Fritto Misto included two types of fried oranges and a crispy beet chip that I would buy bags of if they made enough. And I've had lots of wonderful fritters with veggies and fish and bruschetta with octopus and other toppings. But I just love the execution on the basics - my meal last Thursday was a bowl of minestrone soup and a wood-fired sausage pizza paired with a glass of barbaresco. It simply doesn't get any better for me.

Twelve is in the 25th Anniversary IPNC

We will be a featured winery at the biggest and best pinot party in the world - the International Pinot Noir Celebration - in McMinnville in July. I've been there 3 or 4 times as a fan (before winery) and a couple of times since I got into the business. I seemed to remember we poured our 2004 Pinot at the 06 event, but my lack of specifics can be explained by anyone who has actually been to one of these.

You start at 9AM Friday morning with tasting seminars, a huge lunch with wine, afternoon activities with wine, a pre-dinner tasting of thirty of the best pinots in the world, a ridiculous multi-course grand dinner with more wine and then you wake up Saturday morning and do it all again except the grand dinner is replaced with an authentic NW salmon bake and even more wine. And finally you make your way into a sparkling wine breakfast on Sunday that has food from around the world. World-class chefs prepare all the food, the best sommeliers in the country pour all the wine and you just have to enjoy the party. This year's event will be special, because it's the 25th anniversary - I'd expect lots of well-aged, spectacular Pinot from Oregon, France and elsewhere to make an appearance. If you can't make the weekend, there's a Passport to Pinot tasting on Sunday afternoon where you can taste the 60 or so featured wines and grab some of that world-class food. More info at www.ipnc.org

More Scores

Spectator scored the 2008 Twelve Pinot Noir 144 (our reserve) 92 points. They gave the 2008 Twelve Pinot Noir Uh-Huh 89 points. Very interesting to us. The Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate agreed on the 2008 Estate (89 WA, 90 WS) and the 144 (91 WA, 92 WS) but seemed to have a difference of opinion on the Uh-Huh (92 WA, 89 WS). Stop by the tasting room and taste for yourself.