My son Ben and I had been trying for several years to do a boys weekend out without success. He has a busy IT business, and I have a law practice. Finally, instead of trying to find an event that fit in our schedules, we picked a weekend and looked for an event. As luck would have it, we picked the only weekend that had nothing going on in the Western United States. Nothing. Not even a monster truck rally. No Destruction Derby. Nothing. Nada. Zip.
After some deliberation, we decided to travel north to the wine country in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. I had tried some Willamette Pinot Noirs, and found them quite agreeable. Little did I suspect the pleasures that were in store when I set this up.
We arrived in Portland on Thursday afternoon and stayed in a small hotel there that is one of my favorites. On Friday morning, we were picked up by a guy named Wayne who had 6 other passengers. A couple from Chicago who are music educators, a doctor from Arizona, a chemist from Portland and two young women from Calgary, Alberta. Wayne is as full of U-know as a Christmas goose, but is very knowledgeable about wine and the region. We visited seven wineries and had a fabulous lunch. We also got along famously with the others in the group. The scenery was glorious with the leaves of the trees and the vines turning yellow and red, AND we tasted some fabulous wine. And Wayne talked non-stop, about everything; the terrain, the climate, the grapes, the wine makers, and the little towns we passed through. We saw Newberg, Carleton, the Dundee Hills and other hot spots you have been yearning to go to for years, right?
Wayne even solved a mystery for me. Some years ago, I bought an Oregon Pinot Noir called Medici. Then I could not find it. Wayne took us to their tasting room which is run by another guy who also makes wine. It turns out that Hal Medici is a retired math professor who bought a hazelnut farm in the late 1960’s. There, he got to know another guy named Ponzi (I know the name is familiar, but there is no scheme here) who persuaded him to plant grapes. The rest, as they say is history.
Hal Medici is the archetypal grower so far as I could tell. He is very proud of his wine. He is open and friendly and as comfortable as an old shoe. He invited us to his vineyard, but then gave us directions that left us hopelessly confused, I think because he just assumed we knew a lot about local geography.
After a day with Wayne, we wandered around on our own for a day and a half. At one point, someone at a winery recommended a local deli that is in a converted gas station and called (what else) The Filling Station. As we were eating our really good and fresh sandwich, a guy pulled up in the biggest John Deer tractor I ever saw, parked it out in front and came in for lunch, leaving his “chick magnet” (a golden lab) in the cab to watch over things.
I could not help but reflect how things have changed. I went to College in Portland in the early 1960’s. At that time, the best restaurant around would serve red wine from their refrigerators that was so cold it had condensation on the bottle. Now they make wonderful wine, and a bunch of it. If you run across a Pinot Noir by any of the following, try it: Medici, Ponzi, Lemelson, Archery Summit, Lenne, Owen Roe, Raptor Ridge, Sharecropper’s, Four Graces, Canas Feast, Sineann, Andrew Rich, Ayoub, Brick House, or Erath. Trust me, there is not a clinker in the bunch.
A couple of years ago, I bought Pinot Noir from a winery called Argyle, and liked it very much. To my surprise, I learned on this trip that Argyle is best known for their Champagne style wines. Yummy. Just Yummy.
If you can imagine an area filled with wineries making really good wine, charming little towns, lovely scenery, delightful people and NO TRAFFIC, you have the Oregon Wine Country. Portland is on the north end of the valley and Eugene is on the south end. Go there. You will love it
Dugan Barr has practiced law in Redding since 1967. He has tried more than 200 civil jury cases to verdict. He is married and has five children. The offices of Barr and Mudford, LLP, are at 1824 Court St. in Redding and can be reached at 243-8008.
