And we’re off…
So much for Xmas vacation (which was wonderful, but already seems so 2009…) I was blessed with a lot of great family time, way too much good food, and an exceptional run of good wines - especially the 2001 & 2004 Romanée-St.Vivant from J-J Confuron and the ‘99 Marc Chauvet Special Club, world-class juice all around.
I was also blessed with Guitar Hero and Beatles Rock Band, which I’m sure Martha will regret gifting me (but Pirrie and I are enjoying our nightly guitar duels immensely!) I am also crazy about my new SodaStream - which allows you to make your own excellent sparkling water just using regular tap water. No more bottles to recycle - yay!
I was not so blessed on the afternoon of December 30th - when a freak snowstorm hit Portland and Pirrie and I took 4 and a half hours to go 9 miles - abandoning the car and walking the last 1.7 miles home after the ice had cars piled up on the roads like some apocalypse movie!
So, now two days back into action, and I’ve already discovered that I’m booked pretty much until next Xmas! No complaints, believe me - I just find it amazing how quickly the calendar starts to fill up. To kick off the new year - four excellent tastings coming up in the next few weeks:
- Thursday, January 14th - 6:30-7:30pm I’ll be pouring at the Allison Inn & Spa in Newberg, and our wines will be featured on their tasting menu in the Jory restaurant that night…
- Wednesday January 27th - 5:00-7:00pm I’ll be pouring a great selection of Burgs & Pinots at Wine-Xing in Wilsonville…
- 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 is our first Burgundy Seminar of the year.)
- Friday February 5th - 6:00-8:00pm I’ll be pouring at Storyteller Wines in Portland (be sure to wear your Arsenal gear to this one!)
I recycled a bunch of books at Powell’s over the holidays, and used some of the credit to pick up Randall Grahm’s fascinating “Been Doon So Long” - an anthology of his wonderful wine writing over the past 15-20 years. As excellent he is as a winemaker and wine marketer, he just may be the best wine writer we’ve got going. It is inspirational, insightful, dead-on brilliant, and at times side-splittingly funny as well. I can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s one of those books that just might change the course of your life (or mine!)
And an announcement before I check out for the day - we have a great 2,200 Sq. Ft. Live-Work space in the heart of NW Portland available for lease. 20′ ceilings, full kitchen and bath, loft bedroom, and tons of wide open space for just about whatever you need - offices, art studios, living space, etc. Tremendous location - walk to everything, and great neighbors (us!) Email martha@scottpaul.com for more info…