WINO 101

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Welcome to the Super-Special Wine Newsletter Thingy and Tasting Announcement Doohickey for Carpe Vinum’s Friday Flights! This week, the week of Friday the 23rd of February, we are going no further (or farther) than our own doorsteps. It’s a little thing called Oregon Pinot Noir! Ever heard of it? I’ve heard it’s the coolest thing around! As such a wonderful thing as it is, I think we should talk about it. Shall we talk? We shall.

Of course, not everyone on this list, or visitors to the website, are as lucky as we Oregon residents. We with such an ample supply of Pinot Noir as we have. I mean, I bet we’ve all heard stories from friends who have gone to Europe and remarked about the bountiful wine that people fill into big plastic jugs for just pennies (or Euros, rather . . . wait, what’s the breakdown of a Euro? Ah. Eurocent. Thanks Wiki.) All reports say this free-flowing juice is delicious and cheap. Well, we’ve got it better than that! We’ve got so much Pinot out here, that it’s piped into everyone’s houses. We’ve got the tap for Hot, the tap for Cold and the tap for Pinot. (And within the Portland city limits, also the tap for Espresso.) We don’t call a plumber, we call a sommelier!

Ah, perhaps someday. In actuality, at this time it seems there isn’t enough of the stuff to go around. Over the last decade or so the rest of the world has been discovering the wonders of Oregon Pinot noir, or because of some odd independent film, people are just discovering Pinot Noir in general. From our perspective here in the “brain” of wine country*** it seems that the streets are running red with the stuff, what with the number of wineries doubling every year. But all these wines also seem to be disappearing just as quickly. All this demand drives the prices up and it seems more and more difficult to find affordable Oregon Pinot. But, hey. That’s my job.

To me, “affordable” generally means a wine under $20. All the ATMs spit out $20s, so to drop one piece of paper on a bottle of wine still seems reasonable. And easy. Simply stated, then, the goal is to find Pinots under $20. The last Oregon Pinot Noir tasting I did here I featured 5 Pinots retailing under $20 and the two premiums under $30. And it was good. It’s amazing how quickly any halfway-decent Pinot Noir under $20 will sell out. But never fret! I’ve found 5 more of them! Plus, it’s all new wines we’re trying this time! Oh, happy day! But be sure to grab some now. all these are sure to sell out within a month or two, like all the wines before them.

And one final note, just for the interest of the screwcap-haters: One of the bottles in the lineup, Kudos Pinot Noir, features the NEW enclosure: the glass “cork”. This is the first one I’ve seen, so I’m definitely interested to see the next wave of wine enclosures. But then again, I’m a bit of a geek, and excited by that kind of thing.

So Friday, February 23rd, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Oregon Pinot Noir Under $20!!!
La Bete 2004 Pinot Noir, Selection du Cave, Oregon
A to Z 2005 Pinot Noir, Oregon
Spindrift 2004 Pinot Noir, Wilamette Valley
Kudos 2005 Pinot Noir, Oregon
Major Creek 2004 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley

Oregon Pinot Noir Under $30!
Roots 2005 Pinot Noir, Crosshairs Cuvee, Washington County
EIEIO 2001 Pinot Noir Cuvee I, Willamette Valley

A stellar deal at $10 for the First 5, $6 for the Extra 2 Premium Pours.
Hope to see you here!

Seize the Wine!

***I’ve always considered that if the Willamette Valley is the “heart” of wine country, then Portland would be around the “brain” area of wine country. But perhaps I think too much.

Next Friday tasting is California’s Rhone Rangers!

M