October 15, 2008 – 12:36 pm
Olsen Family Vineyards would like to take a moment of pause to acknowledge the passing of Oregon wine industry pioneer David Lett, from Eyrie Vineyards.
David Lett, along with his wife Diana, came to the Willamette Valley in the mid 1960s. Settling in the beautiful Dundee area, the Lett’s set an early standard for quality Pinot Noir production in the Willamette Valley and were the first to plant and bottle Pinot Gris in the U.S. With David’s strong vision and ability to promote our region as a premier wine growing area, he helped lay the foundation of where we are today. Olsen Family Vineyards was, and remains, humbled and inspired by his lifelong efforts, consummate professionalism and support of the wineries here.
The Lett family has issued a statement, along with information on where to send condolences and memorialized gifts to David’s favorite causes. More information can be found on the Eyrie Vineyards Website.
David Lett will be dearly missed, and our hearts go out to the Lett family and friends during this time.
October 11, 2008 – 1:04 pm
Ok, there are two things you need to know about the folks at Viridian Wine. 1. We love food! We love to cook it, dine out and talk about it. Number 2. We love entertaining, even if it is a simple meal of cheese and crackers around a campfire or a large casual company picnic with potato salad and burgers.
All these shared meals around here have me thinking more and more about the art of pairing wine with food. Hey, it’s a tough job, somebody has to do it. Opening a bottle of Virdian Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris or Rose to “taste test” along with some new recipes I’ve been trying out on my husband and the rest of the Olsen Family Vineyards crew is hard work, but really rewarding!
So what have I been finding out? All kinds of neat stuff, such as some great resources for learning more about wine pairings. Here are three books I can really recommend:
Everything You Want to Know About Pairing Wine With Food by Robert and Virginia Hoffman. This book is on sale for less than $10.00, but it is chock full of practical advice and is easy to read. The funniest chapter is on pairing wines with fast foods like Kentucky Fried Chicken and Nachos! Ha, Take that wine snobs!
Perfect Pairings: A Master Sommeliers Guide to Practical Advice for Pairing Wine with Food by Evan Goldstein. More expensive, but much more detailed than than the above listed book by the Hoffmans, I like this book because it is very comprehensive. This book also includes 58 recipes and wine suggestions for each as well as six seasonal and special occassion menus. Highly Reccommended!
Food and Wine Pairing: A Sensory Experience by Robert Harrington. Amazon.com has this to say about this HUGE 336 page book. It is sort of the bible on food and wine pairings:
- Lays out the basics of wine evaluation and the hierarchy of taste concepts
- Establishes the foundation taste components of sweet, sour, slat, and bitter in food, and dry, acidity, and effervescence in wine, and looks at how these components relate to one another
- Discusses wine texture, and the results of their interactions with one another
- Examines the impact that spice, flavor type, flavor intensity, and flavor persistency have one the quality of wine and food matches
- Includes exercises to improve skills relating to taste identification and palate mapping
- Provides a systematic process for predicting successful matches using sequential and mixed tasting methods
- Gives guidance on pairing wine with foods such as cheese and various desserts, as well as service issues such as training and menu/wine list development
Anyway, next week I’ll tell you about some of the wine pairing websites and blogs I’ve been reading. I hope this is helpful information for you. I can’t wait to get back in the kitchen and start experimenting some more.
October 4, 2008 – 6:24 pm
It’s fall in the valley and, it’s harvest time. The grapes are plump on the vine and ready to pick. Join the Olsen Family and friends as we catalogue the harvest from the picking, to the crush, to the bottling and beyond. The grape harvest is one of the most exciting times of the year for us, here, at Olsen Family vineyards. Look for updates of what we are doing, as we show you every step of our wine making.
The Olsen Family and Friends
September 17, 2008 – 1:00 pm
Just a reminder that the Olsen Family Vineyards Tasting Pavilion is open every weekend from now through November. The tasting pavilion is a great way to see where the Olsen action is, learn more about our wines, take a peek at our beautiful land and enjoy a nice leaisurely weekend drive down the country roads of our “neighborhood.” The Tasting Pavilion is open Saturdays and Sundays from 11-5PM and is located at 8930 Suver Rd., in Monmouth, Oregon.
A snapshot of the magnificent Viridian Vineyards
Come on by and say hello! We’ll have a nice glass of wine waiting for you.
