A Special Day with Friends.....

I left the chores of Saturday morning behind to take a drive into Oregon wine country as Cindy and I headed for the First Ever Owen Roe Barbeque and Wine Tasting at Agrivino, just outside of Carlton. We connected with some good friends and family to share in the bounty of the day.

My friends at Owen Roe were pouring new releases and pairing them with terrific grilled food and, of course, a spread of cheese and bread. Oh, the bleu cheese!! The 2007 Lady Rosa Syrah that blew the socks of the wine critics, continues to amaze. Perhaps a little spendy, but so worth it. Perfect for spicy barbeque. And the 2008 Abbot’s Table did not disappoint. Full flavored and full bodied sums it up!

I had the pleasure of meeting Eric, the head winemaker, at Owen Roe. Hailing from Detroit, Michigan with a “close to Canadian” accent, Eric has worked with the folks at Owen Roe since 2004 starting with plying his craft on white wines and working his way to being the head “dude” this past year. He is very busy working the two winery sites – the original in St. Paul, Oregon and more recent opening in Sunnyside, Washington. Of course, David O’Reilly still puts his final blessing on the wine but is turning more of his attention to marketing ~~ something he could teach a college course on!

We left the Owen Roe event mid-afternoon and headed to the small town of Carlton. What a sweet place to visit. I met a new friend lady at the Indie Wine Festival three years ago who was just starting a little bistro/wine bar in Carlton called The Horse Radish. The selection of cheese there rivals any I have found in Portland. And the wine bar had a nice selection of wine to taste – which, of course, we did! The 2005 Stevenson Pinot Noir was incredible, and I couldn’t leave without one of those! Michael Stevenson is the winemaker at Panther Creek, consulting with Mark Vlossak of St. Innocent, and like so many other winemakers with vision, has started his own wine label. Yum is the only word that described this 2005 entry into the Pinot Noir market ~~ keep your eye out for this label.

To finish the day, we headed over to Carlton Winemaker’s Studio for a little Meriwether bubbly. Unfortunately, Meriwether is no longer a resident winemaker at the Studio so we left there without the bubbles but, to my great pleasure, I reconnected with an attorney friend, Mike Wiswall with Hoffman Hart & Wagner, and his lovely fiancé. It was awesome! Interesting how sometimes you go somewhere with one intent in mind only to have your life intersect with someone else who was there at the exact same moment, and your original reason for going no longer exists. It was so nice to visit with him and get caught up. Friends ~~ can’t live without them!

Saturday was a great day ~~ eating yummy food, drinking delicious wine, but more importantly being with good friends. What a fabulous combination!