The Blessing of Wine in Our Community

Wednesday Wines was pouring wine at the local fundraiser for the high school music program last Saturday. This was our chance to come out of the closet for sure! There we were, a former San Francisco policeman, a science teacher, a preacher and our leader, Kathy Campbell. It was a beautiful event. I was struck by how many local wineries had made a contribution to the effort. I've been reading, "At Home in the Vineyard" by Susan Sokol Blosser. I consumed the book in two days. I was so thrilled to read her experiences of starting a vineyard in the Willamette Valley in the 1970's. I was saddened to read about the opposition to her efforts by the conservative Christians around her. How can vineyards, and winemakers be evil, and do so much good in our communities. Sokol Blosser comments in the book that they were (and probably still are) inundated with requests for free wine for fundraising events. I can't believe how generous the wineries in our area are when it comes to supporting local concerns.

Helping the arts and local charities is at the heart of what we are trying to do with our little wine shop. We give away 10% of our profits each month to a rotating group of charities. We host a number of classes and arts events and love to do so. I'm so glad that I serve a congregation that sees wine as a blessing and not as a curse. I want to do as much good as I humanly can with this gift that God has given to me, to us. I feel blessed to have partners in this business who desire to bless other people by their efforts. I also feel blessed to have a church that feels the same way, that we are created to bless those around us.

It was especially fun to bring some blessing to the musicians at McMinnville High School last weekend. What a talented group. They do amazing things with limited resources. Thanks to all of the parents who worked so hard to bring together that fundraiser, and to all the people who made it such a great success.

Inaugurational Winemaker's Dinner

We had our first ever winemakers dinner at the shop last night. (www.wednesdaywines.com) It was a wonderful event. We could not have picked a better winemaker for our first dinner than Joe Dobbes. Joe, the owner and winemaker at Dobbes Family Estate, is a highly accomplished winemaker, but knows that not everyone can afford $50 for a bottle of wine. That's why he makes his no-nonsense "Wines by Joe." We sampled his Pinot Blanc, Joevino Pinot Noir, Dobbes' Family Estate Syrah, and a wonderful Late Harvest Viognier for dessert! We have always liked Joe's wines in our shop because they are great values for the money. I was not as familiar with Joe's upper end offerings. The Syrah made from grapes sourced from Southern Oregon was particularly good. The event was a lot of fun and very informative. Joe explained that because of the way it is made with additional contact between yeast and wine that his Pinot Blanc would age well. I asked him what to look for in a wine that we would want to age, what are the characteristics of wines that will age well. Among the answers were how the wine was made. Find a winemaker you like and buy their wines. Also making a difference can be the age of the vines from which the grapes were harvested. "Older vines have more character, and make more complex wines which are more likely to age well over time."

We were also blessed to have Dave Erickson, the head chef and owner of Orchards Bistro preparing our food. And what amazing food it was! We started with a cheese plate from our own in house cheese counter called Abbie & Oliver's. Then Dave kicked into gear. He started with a beautiful salad in which he deconstructed a pear. The skin was deep fried and added to the top as croutons, the flesh was cooked in a Pinot Noir reduction all set on a field of baby greens. Just a beautiful combination with Joe's Pinot Blanc. The we had the plate you see Dave assembling in the photo above. The star was a breast of duck cooked to perfection with three sauces. A molded risotto accompanied the dish. Joe served both his Jovino Pinot Noir and his Dobbes Estate Syrah with the dish and let us decide which we thought best matched the dish. I preferred the Syrah, most of the crowd went for the Pinot Noir. (Go figure!)

Apparently Joe is not a died in the wool Democrat by nature, so it must have been a little tough to have us so openly land enthusiastically celebrating a new president (and not too subtly celebrating the end of the last regime.) Joe was a great sport. He was also very gracious in answering my non stop questions about wine and wine production. I just love to learn about wine, and the more I learn, the more there is to know. I'm impressed with the wines that Joe makes, and with his pedigree. He did internships with prestigious winemakers in Germany and France before working with some of Oregon's best wineries. Joe has been a winemaker (or in training to be a winemaker) all his life. In Oregon that makes him a bit unique. Most winemakers here (like most pastors) come to this calling after doing something else and in the case of winemakers, something else where they hopefully made a LOT of money! Joe is wonderfully down to earth and personable. Both Dave and Joe share an outlook with our shop--that you should be able to enjoy good quality at a reasonable price. Joe is particularly well suited to weather this economic storm, I feel because of his having both exclusive and entry level wines. I wish more Oregon wineries were able to do this. Joe said that September was the best month of sales they have ever had. Not many businesses are saying that! Dave's Orchards Bistro is a great combination of comfort food served up in new ways. Their tomato soup is particular favorite of mine. If you'd like to dine out without breaking the bank go see Dave. If you'd like to enjoy a Pinot Noir that has wonderful value for the money, go see Joe (or stop into our shop.) I learned a great deal listening to Joe last night, and I felt superbly blessed to be able to share in some of the fruit of his labor and calling as a winemaker. Thanks Joe! Thanks, Dave!

Radical Thinning

Grape vines are related to ivy. They will grow about as wild and woolly if they are not trimmed. I was driving down to see my brother in Dallas, Oregon today and saw some vines which were in the process of being trimmed. It's amazing how much of the body of the vine the vine dressers remove. On a Pinot Noir planting all that's left are two stringy vines. What you see is a huge central vine about three inches in diameter and then a pencil thin growth of vine coming out from each side. If these vines were never trimmed they'd end up looking a lot like a blackberry bramble. They also wouldn't produce much in the way of fruit. They'd expend all of their energy growing more vines. Someone just driving by who didn't know much about vineyards would think that these people were killing the plants. It looks pretty grim when you see the pile of vines that have been cut off next to the scraggly few they've left in place.

When I was growing up my dad had some rose bushes that he tended in the front of our yard. Every year these bushes would produce prolific amounts of blooms, and every year my dad would cut them back to almost nothing. I was reminded of those roses when I was looking at the grape vines. People would come by as my dad was trimming the roses and cry because he was destroying the rose bush. I'm not sure if they ever came back the next summer and saw the results of that trimming, or if they were ever able to put all of that together. My dad was a great gardener. It's a skill I did not inherit. The plants that we have in our landscaping are most notable for their durability.

I wonder if anything thing else is like those vines? Do we need to be cut back? I think it's true of church growth. You almost always see a decline in a church before it really takes off and starts to grow. I wonder if it could be true of national economies as well. Maybe we have to experience a bit of trimming back so that we can really focus on what's important and make the whole works healthy again. I have no idea. I've never understood anything related to the economy.

I do know that good pruning is a very necessary step in great wine. It's a long-term process. They are out in the dark, damp days of January now trimming back the vines. When bud break occurs and the fruit starts to set they'll go out again and trim off most of the forming fruit clusters. Then as harvest approaches they might go out again and remove more of the fruit. It's a very strange to go to a vineyard a few weeks from harvest and see that they've removed a LOT of fruit and laid it out on the ground to rot. But I can't argue with the results. This kind of care, and knowledge produces great wine. I'm glad they know what they're doing, I hope and pray our elected officials know what they are doing as well.

1 Degree from Saint James

There is nothing about the appearance of the Crab Pot in Lincoln City that would lead you to believe there is great food inside--actually inside is a misnomer, because there is no inside, it's a no nonsense fishmonger stand with an awning out front. The only clue to the quality of the place might be the cars lined up in front, or the people standing five deep at the counter waiting their turn to get fresh seafood. I stoped in the other day. For some reason I got it into my head to make a cioppino. This is a hearty fish stew made with fresh ingredients. I waited my turn, let a few folks go ahead of me, and then told the owner, Allen Black, "I'm thinking about make a cioppino." He asked the next logical question, "What do you want to put in your cioppino?" I had no idea. Seeing the totally blank look on my face, he suggested that we consult with Saint James. I was even more puzzled until he brought out his original edition of The James Beard Cookbook by James Beard. As he looked in the index for Beard's cioppino recipe he did some reminiscing about the author. What he said almost knocked me over. "James use to stop by here all the time. I wish I would have remembered to have him sign my book one of those times."
How strange to be one degree removed from one of the most famous chefs in the history of the Pacific Northwest. James Beard, THE James Beard use to stop by this fishmonger's place to get his fresh seafood. And what great fish it is. You can get one of the best crab cocktails I've ever tasted for $7.95. (You choose a piece of bread, or a half a lemon for garnish.) I picked up four Dungeness crabs, two large fillets of white sole, a couple of pounds of steamer clams, a pound of scallops, and a dozen large, fresh prawns. That much fresh seafood is not cheap, but the taste when it's all steamed together in a tomato enriched broth is heaven. We added a loaf of brown and serve sourdough bread from the local Sentry Market (by the way some heavenly coffee can be had right next door, freshly roasted on sight.)
This dinner was for our family and our good friends, Garry and Irma. We combined the meal with an '06 Montinore "Almost Dry" Riesling wine. I loved the meal. We spread out newspapers all of the table, give everyone a fork, spoon, bowl and plate . . . and dig in. There is something so fun about tearing apart a crab and sucking down all that great, sweet meat. Working so hard for you food seems to make it taste even better.