Swine and Wine!

Pork and Cork, Pig and Swig, Boar and Pour, Hoof and Quaff.…..

 

Here is a picture of the Guest of Honor

Last year, we happened to be in Salem Oregon.  So on the way home, we stopped at a couple of wineries in the Willamette Valley.  They do Pinot Noir wine there…Red wine, that in France is called Burgundy. 

From Total Wine:

 

Wines made with Pinot Noir are known for their elegance and refinement. They often possess an exotic bouquet along with a velvety, mouth-filling texture. Pinot Noir exhibits flavors of ripe red fruit, cherry, chocolate, toast and spices. Most famous in Burgundy, where it is the only grape permitted in producing the famous red wines of the Côte d’Or, Pinot Noir thrives in cooler climates. Other fine, well-structured examples of Pinot Noir can be found in Oregon’s Willamette Valley and California’s Carneros and Russian River Valley.

 

Translation: YUMMY!

One of our stops was at Archery Summit.  They do a really good job, and we really enjoyed their wines.

 

Wine Cave at Archery Summit

 

As a side note:  Denise should not be allowed access to credit cards, order forms, pens or decision making while drinking wine!

Bottom line, we joined their wine club.

We got invited to their spectacular sounding Valentine’s Day dinner, but it was very limited, and we were number one zillion and one zillion and one on their waiting list.

Sigh!

So we jumped at the chance to go to their summer BBQ, Swine and Wine.  I mean, good wine and a sense of humor.  That is right up our alley.  We will ignore for the moment that I don’t eat pork.  Good thing I drink wine!

We were instructed to park at the winery, and they would shuttle us to the vineyard.  We had some lovely Pinot Noir Rosé wine and snacks while we waited for the transportation to arrive. 

 

Here is a picture of the inside of the vehicle.  You can see how we had to suffer for our wine!

We were met at the vineyard with more Rosé and more snacks.  They had awnings set up for the dining area.  It was right in the middle of the vineyard.

 

 

Look at all those glasses!

 

Waiters circulated with little shot glasses of Chilled Corn and Coconut soup…I passed on that, The Blog Fodder said it was pretty good.

We then wandered to our table and introduced ourselves to the others.  We had the pleasure of dining with Eric from the Production Staff of the winery, and his girlfriend Erin.  They were a very interesting couple who have lived around the world working in the wine industry.  The recently “came home” to Oregon, and appreciate it even more for having lived elsewhere.

 

Our first course was a beautiful salad made with arugula, watermelon, goat cheese, and pistachios.  They paired it with a lovely 2013 Archer’s Edge Estate Pinot Noir.

 

We then had the main course served family style. They had roasted fingerling potatoes with rosemary, summer squash with a Pinot Noir Vinaigrette, corn with chanterelles, and plenty of roasted pork.  They had infused the little piggy with rosé wine, and it was moist looking. 

All right, I tried a little…it was tasty, but I still don’t like pork!

They had 3 wines from the vineyard we were sitting in to go with this feast.  All Pinot Noirs…one from 2000, one from 2003 and one from 2009.  They were all wonderful and unique, but I liked the 2003 the best.

If you are counting, that is 5 different wines, and as much as you’d like!

 For dessert we had sweetened Greek yogurt with fresh berries and shortbread cookies.

 They then rolled us back down the hill to the winery, where we could (Surprise, Surprise) order some of the wonderful wines we enjoyed.

 I managed to keep it to 6 bottles.

I am really looking forward to their Crab Feast in January!