When the Bible wants to give us images of heaven more often than not the picture we receive is of a feast. I'm currently leading a small group which is going to be visiting five wineries in the area to learn more about wine, and specifically the uses of wine in the Bible. There are ten times more references to wine and vineyards in scripture than there are to any other plant. Wine is almost literally the liquid in which the biblical characters are swimming. Cana's Feast (pictures to the left) is such a beautiful setting. On a sunny day sitting in the Italian style villa you could easily forget that you are still in the Willamette Valley. We had the distinct pleasure of listening to the Executive Chef from Cana's Feast, Lisa Lanxon. She is a delight! I love the way she talks about wine and food. Her attitude is do whatever you like with them. Experiment, try some combinations and see what works for you. She has several challenges working at Cana's Feast. She has only red wines with which to work, and she does her wonderful creations out of a kitchen that is probably not much larger than the one you have in your own home. As she was describing her dark caramel sauce I found my mouth starting to water, and I was suddenly hungry even though I'd felt completely full just seconds before.
Lisa became a chef when her college education 
was brought to a sudden halt by her parent's decision to stop funding it. She found a job in a restaurant as a waitress and discovered that was not her calling, but in the back of the house, in the kitchen she found a fellowship and a way to create beauty that attracted her, and provided her calling in life. She came to Oregon at some point to visit, and ended up finding a new home. I asked Lisa why good food and the making of fine wines seem to go hand in hand. She said she wasn't sure. There just seems to be a symbiotic relationship. When people start making beautiful wines wonderful foods just seem to follow.
We met with Lisa in the spacious barrel room at Cana's Feast, not a regular part of a wine tasting experience there. It was fun to see where they actually make and store their wines. We were also blessed to have Jason Brumley with us. Jason is an assistant wine maker at Cana's Feast. He had just returned from Australia where he helped with the harvest there which was just recently completed (it is fall there and heading into winter.) Jason is a tall, athletic young man with a deep baritone voice. His knowledge of wine is encyclopedic. I'm always amazed at how much wine makers know about their wines, and how much I still have to learn.
At Cana's Feast they make only red wines the majority of which are big, red Italian style varietals. They source most of their grapes from the dry hills of Eastern Washington. We sampled a total of eight wines (for only $10, a great bargain I would say.) The favorite of the group was the '08 Barbera from the Columbia Valley of Washington. It is a deep, dark wonderfully smooth wine. All of the wine created at Cana's Feast is aged in oak and they only use their barrels for four years. A barrel can cost as much as $1800, yes that's right almost two thousand dollars. We did the math and that comes out to five dollars a bottle, just for the oak to store it in!
I ended up purchasing an '08 Cabernet Franc. We did not get a chance to taste it, but I love this varietal, and I think it will age well. I also purchased their '07 Nebbiolo. This is an intensely tanic wine which according to Jason should age as well as anything in their line up. I remember my wine professor saying that a Nebbiolo is purchase for special occasions several decades into the future. Maybe we'll open this one when my grand daughter, Zoe turns 21 (she won't be born until this summer!)
I'm not sure how much the owners of this winery had the Bible in mind when they named it. If you remember early on in the Gospel of John, Jesus is asked by his mother to help out a family in need. They are celebrating a wedding (in Cana) , and they are quickly running out of wine. Jesus tells his mother he can't do anything about it, and then creates about 150 gallons of good wine from regular water. There are a few things I'd like to point out about his story. First of all Jesus is a wine maker. And he makes good wine. He makes this wine for people who have already had so much to drink that they can't taste the difference. The writer of this story knows something about wine. The wine steward sounds as though he would fit in very nicely in an upscale restaurant in Portland. He doesn't just pour the new wine for the guests, but tastes it first (no doubt spitting it out so he can continue to tell what is good and what is not.) And he is correct about good wine. You do not serve good wine after your guests have already had a few. You start off with your best, because after a couple of glasses your taste buds are impaired to the point where you can't tell the difference. At a really good restaurant the wine steward might taste your second bottle of wine FOR you, as you might not be able to tell anymore if it is good or not. The Bible displays pretty sophisticated wine knowledge in this story.
If you find yourself looking for a sunny summer experience head out to Carlton and have a meal on their sunny portico with a beautiful glass of wine. And do call ahead for reservations. It's a popular spot to enjoy wonderful food, a beautiful view and delicious wines.