A Rushed, Yet Pleasant Journey

Tuesday morning, after a 2 hour board meeting and three more hours of getting things put in place for the trip north, off I went. My first stop was Stoller Vineyards and Winery near Dayton. They are a real treat for both tasters and techies as the have a Gold LEED award for solar and energy management, also, they are very nice. I count that a lot in my travels gathering wine. Grace not only gave us a Stoller SV Pinot Noir Dundee Hills 2006, she also gave a copy of "Passion for Pinot" a very cool book about Pinot Noir.
Off to Archery Summit Winery and a meeting with Chris Nagy and a bottle of their 2006 Red Hills Estate Pinot Noir. Wow, what a wine! I tasted all four Pinots they had open: Premier Cuvee' 2006 was black cherry and spice in the nose with current and flowers on the front and minerals and dark cherry in the back. A very good wine by its self but I think spicy meats and tomato sauces are in order.
All the Pinots were very different in taste and complexity but the one she gave us was my favorite. The nose had big ripe cherries and spices with currents. The first sip was raisin and spice with sweet cherry and it kept opening up in to layer after layer of minerals and spices with soft fruit. I could have stayed there all day.
Down the road was Vista Hills Vineyard where Dave Peterson presented me with a 2006 Treehouse Pinot Noir. I was struck by the beauty of the area and by the stunning tasting room pictured here.
Wine Country Farm cellars was a very nice surprise. I have been trying to get up there for three weeks and always ran out of time. Meeting Joan was as pleasant as tasting the wines. She donated a2006 Estate Pinot Noir. She also has a B&B that Linda and I will be visiting soon.
Suzanne at De Ponte Cellars presented a bottle of 2007 DFB Estate Melon, a rich white with apples and pears, apricot and a light touch of vanilla.

Off to a nice meal at Bistro in Dundee and a glass of LANGE Pinot Noir 2007. I treated myself to a burger sans bun with trufled fries with hand made mayonnaise. For desert I had two types of bacon, yes, bacon and a soft cheese with green apple. SMILE!.
Off to the motel and thoughts of finding a nice wine bar and relaxing for the night...Shilo Inn , in and down for the count.
I woke up at 2:45 and watched some movie on showtime, then 8:00 came and I was up and out. Breakies at J's and off to Winderlea and a really nice hour with Bill Sweat. Great tasting room with a view of all the vineyards down the hill and off into the distance. Bill showed me around the new building and its chef designed kitchen. The building is equipped with a solar system and has glass garage doors and decks, and energy efficient design by Ernest R. Munch, Architect & Urban Planner, LLC. I was struck driving up how it "fit" in the side of the hill.
Bill handed me a bottle of 2006 Inaugural Reserve Pinot Noir in a box made by the Opportunity Foundation of Central Oregon
More in the morning...I am tired and am sipping the rose' bought at Pennar-Ash while giving them my paperwork and hoping they can give ONE BOTTLE. No word yet...