I like to review wines the way most people taste them, with food. Many of the wine reviews you’ll see on this site are accompanied by a recipe. When we test recipes we usually open a few different wines of various styles that we think will work, then write about the best pairing. But often…
Oregon Wine
Grilled Romaine Caesar Salad (recipe and video)
A simple and delicious grilled romaine Caesar salad elevated with some smoky crispy pancetta (or bacon), grilled lemon, and grilled baguette slices to sub for croutons. This grilled romaine Caesar salad is the perfect side dish for your grilled meats or backyard BBQ and you’re gonna love it! I’m a huge fan of grilled salads….
Winter Reds — January 2018
I like to review wines the way most people taste them, with food. Many of the wine reviews you’ll see on this site are accompanied by a recipe. When we test recipes we usually open a few different wines of various styles that we think will work, then write about the best pairing. But often…
Smoked Meatballs in a Cranberry Pinot Noir Sauce (recipe and video)
Smoked meatballs braised in a sweet and savory cranberry Pinot Noir sauce is one of our all time favorite holiday appetizers. It’s always a hit at a party! Guess what? The mystery of the Cranberry Pinot Noir Meatballs has been solved!!! The first time I wrote about this recipe I told you about how we…
Oregon Sparkling Wines for the Holidays on KGW Portland Today
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. And by that I obviously mean it’s the season for bubbly! Wohoo! And speaking of bubbly, I got to talk about my absolute favorite wine topic on KGW Portland Today this week!!! Champagne and sparkling wine are certainly available year-round, and I drink bubbly weekly (usually on Fridays,…
¡Salud! — 25 years of Making a Difference in the Willamette Valley
Vineyard work can be dangerous. In fact it can be deadly. Every year around harvest time we hear about accidents either in the vineyard or winery. Some of them are freak accidents. Many of them are preventable. Some of them are health related. But what happens when the vineyard or winery employee has no healthcare?…
Smoked Pulled Pork Lettuce Wraps with Asian Dipping Sauce
Tired of traditional BBQ sauce? Try this sweet and savory Asian dipping sauce to jazz up your next batch of leftover smoked pulled pork! And since it’s Tuesday, skip the tortilla for Taco Tuesday and make some killer lettuce wraps instead. Boom. We’re total suckers for Taco Tuesday. I blame the Lego Movie. But seriously,…
Show me the heat!
Refreshing summer white wines It’s usually around this time of the year when you see articles about things to help you “beat the heat,” whether it’s drinks, cocktails, activities, you name it. We started the summer out on a hot note. In May and even early June we saw some high numbers here in Portland…
Smoked Salmon and Dungeness Crab Cakes with Oregon Chardonnay
When the dynamic duo of Dungeness crab and smoked salmon join forces with a killer Oregon Chardonnay you get… I have a bit of an obsession with Oregon Chardonnay, and this wine is among my favorites. You might remember that last year I paired the 2013 Knudsen Chardonnay with this delicious smoked whole chicken. So…
Weekend Wine Love – Wines of the Week
This was a pretty crappy week for music lovers, at least those with a soul! Prince made a huge impact on the world, and left us with a huge sad and vacant hole in our hearts. I had no idea how many people were such fans. I thought I was just a weird obsessive fan…
Weekend Wine Love – The first annual Willamette Valley Pinot Noir Barrel Auction
Earlier this month the Willamette Valley hosted the region’s first-ever trade auction – The Pinot Noir Barrel Auction – with 400 in attendance and sixty-six Pinot producers pouring one-of-a-kind lots. The event, held at the gorgeous Allison Inn and Spa, raised a whopping $476,000 for the Willamette Valley Wineries Association. This just in its first…
Judging at the 2016 Cascadia Wine Competition
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of being one of the judges at the Cascadia Wine Competition, held at the historic Columbia Gorge Hotel in Hood River, Oregon. I’m always excited to be part of events like this to taste new wines I may have otherwise overlooked. It’s also a great opportunity to…
Traveling to wine country with twins — Recent print article in Wine Enthusiast
I have some exciting news to share. I’ve been published in Wine Enthusiast Magazine! My piece, which can be found in the “Last Drop” section of the magazine, is about a topic I’m all too familiar with — Traveling to wine country with my 5-year old twin boys. Now, without giving too much away (stop…
8 Rosé Wines to Kick off Spring
‘Tis the season for rosé! Now let’s be honest, I love love love me some rosé year-round. I drink it while cuddled by the fire, alongside my Thanksgiving dinner, eating grilled steak, and even while shoveling the snow off my driveway. Just kidding, I live in Portland. It snows barely once a year here (but…
Portland Dining Month Kicks Off Today – Win a Gift Certificate!
Portland Dining Month begins today, with more than 120 restaurants offering three-course dinners for $29 throughout the entire month of March. And I’m giving away 2 gift certificates so you can get in on the action! This is an incredible deal and an excellent opportunity to explore some of the restaurants on your Portland dining…
Oregon Wine Industry Leaders Receive Recognition
Today is a bit of a sway from recipes and food and wine pairing. I wanted to share some exciting Oregon wine industry news. I’m not typically one to share press releases, but knowing many of the people mentioned below I thought this was important news to share! This week, during the Oregon Wine Symposium,…
Friday Favorites — Arizona Edition
A weekly roundup of the “best of” the week in wine, food, and travel. The votes are in. Friday Favorites stays… for now anyways. According to my reader survey survey, a majority of the votes wanted FFs to stay. So I will continue to post them when it seems appropriate. And it seemed an appropriate…
Smoked Lamb Chops, Roasted Acorn Squash Salad, and Wine Pairing
Most wine pairings start with the food. We’re having X for dinner, what wine would pair best? But what if you have a fantastic wine and you want to create the perfect meal specifically to highlight that very wine? I’ve been haunted by one such wine for over a month now. I had a chance…
Grilled Sriracha Sweet Chili Chicken
What do you do when you have a craving for something savory, sweet, spicy, and perfectly grilled? You throw together a savory marinade for chicken, grill it, then finish it with a combination of sriracha and sweet Thai chili sauce, and you get this… Remember earlier this week, when we demonstrated how to light a…
Five Oregon Wineries with Restaurants
Winemakers will often tell you that their wines are meant to be enjoyed with food. But how often does a winery have a chance to prove it to their guests? In my latest article for Palate Press I continue an exploration of epicurean experiences at wineries, this time focusing on five Oregon wineries that have gone beyond…
IPNC 2015 — Photo Preview
IPNC, the International Pinot Noir Celebration, has been on my bucket list since I moved to Oregon in 2006. I finally got to attend this year! This three-day event, held every year in July on the campus of Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon, lived up to its hype. The event is described as a “mecca…
Oregon AVA Spotlight – The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater
Geology freaks get excited. There’s a new-ish wine region in Oregon, and it’s not what you think. Though the region is technically 100% located in Oregon, you won’t find your typical Oregon wines here. Meaning no Pinot Noir or Pinot Gris. Instead, you’ll find bold reds, like Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, among a few others….
Traeger Roasted Whole Chicken and Knudsen Vineyards Chardonnay
“Dad taught me about passion. I want to keep that alive and spread that passion that he had.” Passionate is how Page Knudsen Cowles, Partner and Managing Director of Knudsen Vineyards, describes her late father, Cal Knudsen, founder of Knudsen Vineyards — one of the Willamette Valley’s most known and treasured vineyards. Cal Knudsen was…
2015 Passport to Sip Giveaway!
Any wine loving Pacific Northwest residents in the house? Anybody planning to visit the PNW to do some wine tasting anytime between now and the end of the year? If you answered yes to either question I have a fun giveaway for you today. In lieu of a Friday Favorite post I want to give…
