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.

2008 Twelve Pinot Noir in the Wine Spectator

We finally submitted wines to the Spectator. The 2008 Pinot Noir scored 90 points. We don't know if they'll rate the 144 or Uh-Huh. They don't always taste wines that are made in really small quantities and both of those were only 100 case lots. They are also the best wines we've made to date so let us know if you want some.

Dinner with a LOT of wine

Our friends, John and Robin Spencer, had a gumbo night last Saturday. The gumbo was awesome and we went through a pretty serious array of wines. Keith Gover had the foresight to actually write down all their names which is the part I usually forget. The Montrose was outstanding (although still very young), I really liked the 2009 Harper-Voit from Drew Voit (whose day job is making wines at Shea Vineyards), and I thought the Riesling went best with the gumbo. I'll also put in a plug for the 2008 Twelve Uh-Huh - we just bottled that in July, but it is really starting to show at how good it will be.

Here's the list. I didn't get to try them all.

Whites & Sparkling:

1997 Soter Extended Tirage Pinot Noir Brut Rose - Yamhill-Carlton, OR

2007 Domaine Vrignaud "Fourchaume" - Chablis, France

2009 The Four Graces Pinot Gris - Dundee Hills, OR

2009 Olssens "Annieburn" Riesling - Central Otago, New Zealand

Pinot Noir:

2006 Carabella - Chehalem Mountains, OR RP86

2006 Gypsy Dancer "A & G Estate" - Dundee Hills, OR WS90

2006 Lemelson "Thea's Selection" - Willamette Valley, OR RP89 WS89

2006 Roots "Racine" - Yamhill-Carlton, OR

2006 Shea "Pommard Clone" - Willamette Valley, OR RP93 WS93

2007 Panther Creek "Shea" - Yamhill-Carlton, OR RP87 WS84

2008 Twelve "Uh-Huh" - Yamhill-Carlton, OR RP92

2009 Harper Voit "Strandline" - Willamette Valley, OR

Other Reds:

1997 Fontanabianca Barbaresco "Sori Burdin" - Piedmont, Italy RP89 WS90

1998 Clarendon Hills "Brookman" - McLaren Vale, Australia RP93 **corked**

2003 E. Guigal Chateau d'Ampuis Cote-Rotie - Northern Rhone, France RP96 WS94

2005 Chateau Montrose - Saint Estephe, France RP95 WS94

2007 Efeste "Ceidleigh" Syrah - Red Mountain, WA RP91+ WS93