This past Friday and Saturday nights, we hosted an Oregon Pinot Party at Cleveland Wine School Cellar Door. The place was packed with Pinot sipping friends, each greeted at the Door with a glass of bubbles - Argyle Brut to be exact. I think most were amazed (and pleased) with the versatility of Pinot, namely its ability to morph into a new grape variety. One of the oldest vines on record, Pinot Noir is genetically unstable and likes to misbehave in the vineyard. On my recent trip to Oregon, I actually saw a lone rogue vine within the row. Very cool. When Pinot Noir mutates to the point of changing color, we give it a new name such as Pinot Blanc. A delicous white wine that is neutral in flavor offering gullet washing properties. This weekend we featured Elk Cove Pinot Blanc. Light in body with lemon, apple and slight peachy aromas the wine is a perfect starter wine and a good value at $20. Some tasters noticed the slight residual sugar on the wine, others did not. Regardless the wine is very easy to sip. The other fantasic white, and one of my favorite varieties, that Pinot Noir takes form as is Pinot Gris. Fuller in body than its Italian version (Pinot Grigio), well crafted Gris is packed with flavor making it a great wine to sip alone or with food. Since Pinot Gris tends to lose its acidity in the vineyard, warmer climate growers race to harvest in hopes of keep acid levels high. Not so for cooler climate growers where night time temps keep bunches cool resulting in longer hangtime and flavor concentration. Chehalem Pinot Gris rocked the tasitng room last night. Might be my new favorite wine.

Then came the real deal, Pinot Noir. We sampled examples from different sub AVAs of the Willamette Valley including Bethel Heights (Old World styled with lots of minerality), Rex Hill (fruit-forward and approachable), Willamette Valley Whole Cluster (carbonic aromas with bright cherry fruit), Penner-Ash (hefty with lots of dark fruit aromas), Domaine Drouhin Laurene (big and built to age). Each wine brought something different the glass decidedly illustrating the flexibility and transparency of Pinot Noir. And that my friends is why grape growers like to grow it, winemakers like to make it, Sommeliers like to suggest it, we like to drink it and Hollywood made a movie about it. Kind of makes you want to grab a glass….go on, its noon somewhere. Cheers.

Day 1: Began when 18 WSET students landed in McMinnville at Hotel Oregon. Located in the heart of the Willamette Valley, Hotel Oregon is an authentic styled tavern and inn (circa wild wild west) that feels more like a guest house than a hotel. After a quick sip of house-made brew, we headed out for our first winery visit at one of the area’s oldest wineries, Eyrie Vineyards. Founded by the late (and great) David Lett, the Eyrie tasting room and winery is situated right in the center of town making it an easy first stop for anyone staying in McMinnville. The tasting room had lots of historic photos, each adding to the rich Lett story which began  40 years ago.  Best yet, a platter containing three tight bunches of very ripe grapes - Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc - was on display for all to see, touch and taste. A pinoneer at heart, David Lett was dedicated to growing Pinot Noir (along with its various mutations) and was the first winemaker to grow Pinot Gris in the region. After a quick taste of the 2007 Pinot Blanc (light weight, crisp acidity with bright citus and appley fruit), we walked into the barrel room for an intimate lesson on Eyrie by winemaker Jason Lett.

The barrel room was designed to create the perfect environment for barrel maturation - temperature controlled, no windows and cement walls and floors. Once we settled in, it did not take long to notice the mold on the walls which Jason quickly told us is part of the natural environment helping to keep “bad” bugs away from the wine.

While he shared many stories and interesting winemaking techniques with us, my favorite take was a line Jason quoted from a friend. “When the grapes come into the winery, you start with 100 points and you can only lose points after that.” This sentence sums up the Lett philosophy.

Whether you are hosting a gathering in your backyard or attending a city-wide event such as our Taste of Hudson and Taste of Cleveland, long weekends such as Labor Day Weekend always centers around food and wine. While we may consider ourselves a progressive  society, simple pleasures never change. We all gotta eat and we all gotta drink; perhaps not wine, but you get the picture. When it comes to food - politics, race, gender and religion (to some extent) become secondary notions. Food & wine are the grand equalizers. In selecting the wines for this week’s events in Cleveland, I use special care to ensure that the wines will appeal to everyone and pair up nicely with most cuisines. Below you will find a two of my favorite equalizers:

Red Guitar Tempranillo: Crafted from old vines grown in Navarra Spain, this wine is great sipped alone or made into a batch of Sangria. Perfect for the last days of summer grilling.

Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc: A nod to the sunny days of summer, this Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand has plenty of bright citrus fruit and crisp acidity making it a perfect partner for just about any light bodied cuisine.