Decipher an Italian Prosecco

2013 Cecilia Beretta Brut Prosecco Superiore

2013 Cecilia Beretta Brut Prosecco Superiore D.O.C.G. (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) Conegliano Valdobbiadene Italy Ok, so if you don’t know much about Italian wines, let’s dissect this label together. The producer, Cecilia Beretta, is named at the top of the label. Often Prosecco wines (and many other types of sparkling wines) are made with juice from more than one vintage. Millesimato means that the year this wine was grown (2013) was a very good year in the region. So good in fact that…

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Why Wine? An interview with Shawn Burgert of Wandering Wino wine blog

Shawn Burgert

This is part of a series introducing you to interesting people in the wine industry. For many, the journey into wine is not only intriguing but often quite an adventure. These talented individuals are what make the wine industry what it is today so follow this series to meet this group of passionate people who have dedicated their lives to wine. Why Wine? An interview with Shawn Burgert of Wandering Wino wine blog Michele Francisco: Was there a specific wine, moment or…

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And the winners of the 2015 Oregon Wine A-List Awards are…

The people have spoken, the votes were tallied and the winners of the 2015 Oregon Wine A-List Awards have been announced. Last fall, the Oregon Wine Board and the Oregon Wine Press asked for your help in choosing restaurants and sommeliers that go the extra mile, promoting Oregon wines. All the winners make the wines from our state a priority in their dining establishments. “The Oregon Wine A-List Awards guide consumers to restaurants, both in-state and outside of Oregon, that promote and feature Oregon wines in…

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Why Wine? An interview with Matt Berson of the Portland Wine Company

This is part of a series introducing you to interesting people in the wine industry. For many, the journey into wine is not only intriguing but often quite an adventure. These talented individuals are what make the wine industry what it is today so follow this series to meet this group of passionate people who have dedicated their lives to wine. Why Wine? An interview with Matt Berson of the Portland Wine Company and Love & Squalor Wines Michele Francisco: Was there a specific…

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Donate your spare wine corks to a good cause this holiday season

As a wine drinker, it’s hard to know what to do with all those used corks once the wine and bottle are gone. The Wine Sisterhood has come up with a solution that gives everyone a warm, fuzzy feeling this holiday season. For every cork they receive by Dec 31, the Wine Sisterhood will donate $1 to the One Warm Coat organization that supplies coats to those who cannot afford them. Started in 1992, One Warm Coat has grown from a weekend event in San Francisco to…

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Vote now for the 2015 Oregon Wine A-List Awards

Do you have a favorite restaurant that you think best promotes and embraces Oregon wines? Or maybe a special sommelier who makes divine recommendations for wines grown and made in our state? Well, don’t hesitate to spread the love and nominate them for an Oregon Wine A-List award. The 2015 Oregon Wine A-List Awards(formerly known as the Superior Cellar Awards), sponsored by the Oregon Wine Press and Oregon Wine Board, is open for nominations through November 30, 2014. Created as a way to guide consumers…

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Taste the first wines of the vintage at Beaujolais Nouveau

Hosted by the Heathman Hotel and presented by the French-American Chamber of Commerce and the Alliance Française of Portland, the Beaujolais Nouveau Festival is the largest event of its kind on the West coast. It’s a celebration of the recent grape harvest throughout the northern hemisphere. In fact, it’s such a big deal in France that a law stipulates that no Beaujolais can be sold before midnight on the third Thursday of November. Made from the Gamay grape, these wines are bottled only weeks after harvest. Tasting…

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Taste the summer like no other– Oregon’s Zen vintage

Grape farmers in Oregon’s Willamette Valley never know what to expect from year to year… other than the unexpected. Blustery storms during fruit set can knock off flowers, resulting in low yields at harvest time, like they did in 2011. Birds can swarm the vineyards as the fruit ripens, sometimes decimating entire crops, as was the case in 2010. Summers can be hot, hot, hot, as we experienced during the 2009 growing season. Or remnants of a typhoon can hit without…

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Chardonnay wine is for lovers at Feast Portland

It’s been said “All you need is Marvin Gaye and Chardonnay.” Local producers here in Oregon agree. They’re making some of the best Chard out there and it’s not at all like yo mama’s favorite buttery, oak bomb. Instead it’s an elegant, fresh take on America’s #1 white wine. Let Bon Appétit’s Wine Insider, David Lynch, lead you through a tasting of some of the state’s best bottles and show you why Anything But Chardonnay is no way to drink. With that…

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