Saturday January 30th - 1:00-5:00pm  We’re featuring several wines from Domaine Taupenot-Merme in a special Burgundy tasting all afternoon in our tasting room. (And that night, Scott teaches our first Burgundy Seminar of the year).

Guest Blog

This was one of the best dishes (see recipe) I have ever had and the first one I have made on my own. I knew my dish was very good because no one at the table was talking unless they were saying my dish was amazing. Making the dish was really fun but eating it was more fun. I sautéed for the first time in in my life. I really liked using shrimp instead of using crawfish. I used our old bay spice instead of creole magic and it gave the dish great flavor. First dish big success. By Pirrie Wright

Martha's note: Oh, Gmama would be so proud of her granddaughter, shopping, making her first all-by-herself dinner from a family recipe and serving (I can't even bring 3 plates to table at once). Scott did the dishes. House rules!

This recipe comes from my mother Betsy White in New Orleans.  It’s just the sort of thing that restaurants dish up in heaping portions at charity events and festivals.  You can modify it or reduce the amount of butter or cream.  Dare I say it, my belly has gotten wimpy after too much time away from New Orleans.

Serves 4

1 lb linguini or fettucini

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

3/4 c chopped green onion

1 T Cajun Magic *

1 clove garlic, minced

1 pint half and half

1 lb crawfish tails (these usually come cooked, in a bag), or cooked shrimp

Cook pasta and drain.  Melt butter in saucepan and sauté onions 2-3 minutes.  Add Cajun Magic, garlic and crawfish or shrimp.  Sauté one minute and add half and half.  Cook 5-10 minutes over medium heat until sauce thickens.  Add pasta and toss well and serve immediately.

*we used Old Bay because the other option in the cupboard was Emeril’s Essence and that didn’t smell like the dish of my childhood.  Old Bay smelled exactly right as it cooked, but we’d probably use a little less than a tablespoon next time.

I am thrilled to announce a stellar lineup of world-class talent coming to Oregon to join us this summer for the annual IPNC festivities. The International Pinot Noir Celebration is now in its 24th year, bringing together top Pinot Noir producers, top chefs, and wine & food lovers from around the planet to McMinnville, Oregon every summer for three days of tantalizing tastings, meals, seminars, and full-on Pinotphilia! It all happens on the idyllic campus of Linfield College July 23rd-25th.

Journalist Jordan Mackay with vigneron Thièbault Huber at IPNC

We have just learned that Scott Paul Wines has been chosen as a Featured Winery for this year’s events, and that Burgundy stars Alain & Sophie Meunier of Domaine J-J Confuron will be coming in to join us this year! They will also be a Featured Winery at the events, and Alain & Sophie will be our guests of honor at our annual pre-IPNC dinner at the winery, held this year on Thursday July 22nd.

Cooking our dinner that night will be James Beard Award-winning “Best Chef Northwest” Vitaly Paley of Portland’s legendary Paley’s Place. And to top it off, Food & Wine Magazine’s wine editor Ray Isle, Jr. (this year’s master of ceremonies at IPNC) will also be our special guest at dinner. I could not imagine a more start-studded lineup - it will truly be like Christmas in July here in beautiful downtown Carlton. More details on all this soon…

Thanks to everyone who joined us in Wilsonville last night for a great tasting at WineXing - it was a pleasure to meet you, and I look forward to seeing you here at the winery one day soon. If you’re in Portland, don’t forget to drop by Storyteller Wines in John’s Landing a week from Friday (Feb. 5th) - I’ll be pouring from 6-8pm (and wearing my Arsenal gear, of course!)

Huge thanks to Seattle wine blogger Thad Westhusing, for his fabulous review and write-up of our 2007 La Paulée Pinot Noir on his Behind The Bottle blog - which you can check out here. Amazing that with our new 20%-off case discount - this yummy 90-pointer is only 24 bucks a bottle. And they say there’s no value in top Oregon Pinot!

Wednesday January 27th - 5:00-7:00pm, Scott will be pouring a great selection of Burgs & Pinots at Wine-Xing in Wilsonville.

Congrats to Caryn Urata of Portland, who has won the two seats for our Burgundy 101 Seminar on Saturday night. Thanks to each of you for your entries (and every entry got the answer correct, btw.) More interactive fun & games to come, so watch this space and our Facebook & Twitter pages…

My world-tour ‘10 continues this week with a stop at WineXing in WIlsonville, OR tomorrow (weds) night from 5-7. I’ll be pouring the Huber-Verdereau Crémant, Mâcon-Prissé from Domaine Thibert, Chambolle-Musigny from J-J Confuron, Pommard Epenots from Aleth Girardin, and our ‘06 La Paulée Pinot - should be a great night, and I look forward to seeing you there.

I’m also fired up for our first Burg seminar of the year on Saturday night - I really enjoy teaching, and there is nothing in the world I’d rather do than talk about Burgundy for a couple of hours! We may still have a seat or two open, so contact Kelly Karr at 503-319-5827 if you’d like to join us.

Romain & Jean Taupenot

I’ll be in our tasting room in Carlton 1-5 on Saturday for a very special tasting of the wines from Domaine Taupenot-Merme, one of the true rising stars of the Côte de Nuits. I’ll be pouring their ‘07 Gevrey-Chambertin, ‘06 Gevrey-Chambertin Bel-Air 1er Cru, ‘06 Morey-St. Denis la Riotte 1er Cru, ‘06 Nuits-St. Georges les Pruliers 1er Cru, and the ‘06 Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru - quite a stellar lineup of goodies that are not rarely open for tasting. And all Taupenot-Merme wines will be on special at 25% off Saturday only - a great chance to grab some treasures for the cellar. Join us if you can!

“For readers who not be familiar with the style, it’s one of elegance and balance. The wines are built on a base of finesse rather than power, and are both tranparent and very Pinot. I like the wines, as they are understated and never tiring to drink. They offer excellent values, and each of them have their distinct personalities.” Allen Meadows, BURGHOUND

What an intense nail-biter of a game!  The Saints deserved the win tonight over the Vikings, and so did the people of my hometown of New Orleans.  Then again, maybe there was a bit of voodoo involved.  Or maybe it was the Touchdown Chili that did it!  Modified from a recipe from Sunset Magazine, this meaty chili wins everyone over.  I suggest you try this on Superbowl Sunday and help the Saints beat the Colts in Miami!!  This is what we ate tonight, and it worked like a lucky charm!

As hinted at previously - we have two seats to give away (a $90 value) for our upcoming Burgundy 101 seminar, which will be held here at the winery in Carlton on Saturday January 30th - 6-8pm. The class is a great way to get a really solid grounding in the basics of the complex wine region that is Burgundy. We explore the history, geography, geology, appellation system, viticulture and winemaking, as well as take a look at each of the major winemaking villages up and down the Côte d’Or - while tasting six examples of wines from the region along with some nice cheeses and charcuterie. It’s a comprehensive introduction to Burgundy, and you will leave with more Burgundy knowledge than 99% of your friends!

For a chance to win - simply send your answer to our Burgundy trivia question to: info@scottpaul.com - and we’ll draw a winner from all correct responses on Tuesday morning the 26th. (Winner is responsible for getting themselves to Carlton for the class - airfare and/or ground transportation are not included!)

So, we’ll make it pretty easy to give as many people as possible a shot to get in for the drawing. Without any further adieu, the question:

All of the wines from the village of Pommard are made from which grape varietal?

Email your answers to info@scottpaul.com - putting “Contest” on the subject line, and we’ll draw the winner Tuesday morning at 11am Pacific, and notify you by email.

We still have a couple of seats available for sale too, if you’d like to secure your places rather than take your chance in the drawing. Call Kelly Karr at 503-319-5827 to reserve yours now.

Good luck, and I look forward to seeing you here in class on the 30th!

I am writing this while hugely inspired by Arsenal’s amazing come from behind 4-2 victory over Bolton tonight in London. My Gunners now sit at the top of the English Premier League, at least for a few days. It’s been an amazing turn-around since dropping 11 points off the pace just a few weeks ago…

Their gutsy performance has inspired me to go public with my intention of running the Wine Country Half-Marathon this September 4th. You should know, first of all, that I’ve never run more than three or four miles at one time in my life. 13.1 miles at this point seems about as reachable as running to Seattle. I am determined, however, to give it my best shot.

Thiébault Huber - my Burgundian running partner

There’s a half-marathon through the vineyards in Burgundy that takes place every November while I’m over there. This past November Thiébault Huber (Domaine Huber-Verdereau in Volnay) and his wife Marielle and I made a pledge to each other that next year, we would all run it. We said that, of course, after feeling especially sluggish from a week of non-stop foie gras, potatoes in goose fat, duck confit, and copious amounts of great old Burgundies. I don’t know if we all took each other seriously or not, but Thièbault - I’m calling you out, mon ami - we’ve got to go for it.

Lord knows I need to lose a pound or 40. I’ve been alternately lean & hard and round & soft throughout my adult life, and dearly want to get lean & hard again while I still have the chance of enjoying something resembling a youthful middle-age. So, I am now in my 3rd week of training - with the intention of working up to a 10K, and then kicking it up to the half-marathon level by September. Assuming I survive that, I’ll gun for the run through Pommard, Volnay & Meursault in November as well. I am taking some solace in the fact that the courses for both events appear to be relatively flat, so there may be hope yet. And, the finish line for the Oregon event in September is literally a few paces from our tasting room door in Carlton - so I can crawl into the cellar on my lips if necessary… Wish me luck!

On other more vinous matters, it’s time to start making plans for Valentine’s Day weekend. This year we’ve got two special events happening on Saturday Feb 13th. From Noon ’til Five that day we’ll be pouring two special flights in the tasting room. Our regular $10 tasting fee will get you some of the killer Marc Chauvet Champagne, as well as an assortment of Burgs and our elegant Pinots. Additionally, we’re doing a very rare tasting of the coveted 1er & Grand Cru Burgundies from Lucien Le Moine - the high-scoring cult superstar of Burgundy. These wines are generally never available for tasting anywhere - so if you’d like to taste for yourself and see what they’re all about, plunk down your 25 bucks and we’ll have at least five major bottles open for your dining and dancing pleasure. (Tasting fee is refundable with any six-bottle purchase.) If you want the best for your Valentine (or yourself, of course), this is the stuff.  I am really looking forward to this one! NOTE: we will be closed on Sunday, Valentine’s Day, so we can spend it with our honeys!

In the cellar with Mounir at Lucien Le Moine

Then that evening I’ll be teaching a Burgundy seminar on the village of Chambolle-Musigny, which as of this writing is one or two seats away from being sold-out. Email kellykarr@scottpaul.com to book your seats or to get on the waiting list. We DO definitely still have a few seats for the Burgundy 101 class on January 30th - again just email Kelly to get yourself all set up. And we’ve decided to run a contest for our Blog, Facebook & Twitter followers - to give a way a couple of free seats at the Burg 101 class in January - watch this space for more details shortly…

Join winemaker/proprietor/importer Scott Paul Wright for a free tasting on Thursday, January 14th 6:30-7:30pm at the fabulous Allison Inn & Spa in Newberg. Scott will be pouring and talking Pinots & Burgs in our first tasting event of the new year - we look forward to seeing you there!