It’s a marathon, not a sprint. I have come to really understand the meaning of that well-worn cliché over the course of my marathon training (I’m getting ready for the Portland Marathon on October 9th). On those long training runs I’ve also been able to see clearly how the saying so directly applies to just about everything in the wine business. From building our little brand, to planting our new vineyard four years ago, to building our national import company – it’s all about the long-term picture. In this era of instant gratification and immediate results – wine remains one of the few things that simply takes time. Lots of it. As I slog out the miles on Leif Erikson trail in Portland’s Forest Park, it is abundantly clear that “slow and steady” is the way to go. Which is fine with me, as I’ve never been one for bursts of speed anyway…

We’re excited to join 100 of the Willamette Valley’s finest producers for a great tasting event called Pinot in the City – Saturday & Sunday Sept. 10th & 11th in Portland’s Pearl District. We’re bringing wine country to the city and taking over an entire city block. There may not be a better tasting of Oregon Pinot anywhere this year! (We are pouring on Saturday only, FYI…)

Over the next few weeks we’ve got a stellar line-up of events on the way here in Carlton. First up on Saturday Sept. 17th  from 12n-5p is our 10th anniversary party and release of our special bottling of the 2009 “Dix” Pinot Noir, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of our first vintage. We’ll focus exclusively on our own Scott Paul wines in the tasting room that day – with the ’09 Dix, ’08 La Paulée, and a multi-vintage vertical of older La Paulée bottlings on the flight. I’ll be going though the library to pick out several older vintages for this one – one of the tougher parts of the gig, to be sure… (The ’09 Dix is scheduled for release online September 8th – watch your email, or sign-up if you’re not already on our list…)

We’ll follow that up one week later on Saturday Sept. 24th with the release of our 2009 Chambolle-Musigny! In conjunction with our friends Anne & Hervé Sigaut, we produced one barrel of juicy, succulent and decadently delicious Chambolle-Musigny. This is a landmark release and event for us – do not miss the chance to taste this beauty. Plan to join us in Carlton from 12-5 for a flight of great wines from my favorite Burgundian village, including bottlings from J-J Confuron, Sigaut, and Taupenot-Merme. (The Scott Paul Chambolle-Musigny is scheduled for release online September 14th…)

Quick harvest update – the crop is looking very healthy and the sun is cooperating wonderfully. Now all we need is ten more weeks of perfect weather! So far, so good. In Burgundy, they are getting ready to start in the next few days – I’ll have pics and reports as it happens…

I get breathy and excited just thinking about my summer loves…my favorite bites of the season.  Here are some that you should be making…now!

I love this Fresh Fruit Custard Tart and so does everyone that I’ve made it for.  I tried to convince you to make it two years ago when I wrote this in my blog. “Speaking of berries, I have to pass this on, while the recipe (Fresh Fruit Custard Tart) is still linked over at the Oregonian’s Food Day.  I enjoy making desserts, but have no discipline or aptitude for fussy ones.  I love winging it when it comes to cooking, and in general, desserts don’t like this, since baking can be more of an exact science than other dishes.  But not so this one!  You’ve just got to make this.  It could not be any easier.  This recipe should be called Liar Tart.  Because you’ll swear to your guests that you’re really not much of a baker, not much of a dessert maker, and they will swear that you are lying!  Or it could be called Domestic Goddess Pie, because that is what you’ll appear to be.  And still not content to just let a recipe be, I added some lemon zest and some lavender to the custard.  (I pulse 1 tsp of lavender with the remaining sugar before dumping into the cuisinart with the sour cream and eggs).

Update: I’ve taken to adding lavender to the crust instead of the custard.  This can easily be made by a child.  Pirrie decorated this one.

Do you have basil?  I love Ina Garten’s Basil Green Goddess dressing.  It’s a dressing, it’s a dip, it’s my favorite accompaniment for slow-roasted salmon with couscous or quinoa.  I cut back on the mayo and sour cream and sub in some plain whole milk yogurt.  I also confess that I’ve never added the anchovy paste.

Got zucchini or other summer squash?  This gratin from 101 Cookbooks is fabulous!

Before going in the baking dish and into the oven, zucchini slices plus potato slices are tossed with toasted buttered breadcrumbs, shredded, gruyere cheese, herb olive oil and lemon zest,

Make some fruit preserves…in 15 minutes!  See my previous posts (and fears) about canning.  This is a simple, no-hassle style of preserves, and it’s so easy and delicious.  Since I’m not interested in a pantry full of jelly, and two small jars at a time is more than enough, this “un-canny” method works well for me.  Using the large open skillet speeds up the jelling so you don’t need pectin.  You also use much less sugar than what most recipes call for (and I use even a tiny bit less than what this recipe calls for).  The most recent batch was a mix of what I had on hand…some blackcap raspberries, some red raspberries, and a random half a peach that someone neglected at breakfast.

Since raspberries and blackberries can have more and tougher seeds, I pushed the jam through a sieve using a ladle, although you don’t have to do this, and it is completely unnecessary with less seedy fruit.

It’s delicious on toast or crepes, and we loved it folded into some fresh whipped cream, which I served alongside two cakes for dessert during a recent Champagne Brunch that raised money for Portland Children’s Museum.

Best Moist Yellow Cake, and Best Ever Flourless Chocolate with whipped cream with mixed berry jam folded in

Am now working on a fresh green pea dip for these sweeties.  So glad I planted them this year.  More soon.  In the meantime, go make something yummy that you love!

We’ll continue our series of Burgundy tastings here in our tasting room in Carlton with five great ’08 White Burgundies, each from a different producer and appellation, and our friends at Cheese Bar in Portland have selected the ideal cheese for each wine. We’ll be tasting these lovely ’08s:

Chablis Grandes Vignes – Frédéric Gueguen

St. Véran Champ Rond – Domaine Thibert Père et Fils

Auxey-Duresses – Benjamin Leroux

Pouilly-Fuissé Clos Varambon – Chateau des Rontets

Meursault Vieilles Vignes – Buisson-Charles

Harvest in Meursault - September 2010

Tasting fee for this special event is $15, refundable with any 3-bottle purchase of the featured wines.

Wow – summer, what a concept! Summer arrived here in Oregon about two weeks ago, and we’ve had ideal Pinot weather every day since. Sunny and warm in the mid-80s all day, cooling to the mid-50s every night. The vines seem very happy. It feels very much like a typical growing season, just four weeks delayed from a calendar standpoint. The long-term forecasts indicate we have a good shot at a nice and dry September-October, which we’ll need every bit of to pull this one off. We did it in 2008, so we’re rooting for Mother Nature to put on a great fall show once again. In the meantime, it looks like a pretty healthy crop out there, and we’ll be dropping fruit at a few sites to give us a decent shot of ripening what remains. The potential is there for a good 1.75-2 tons per acre in all of our mature blocks, Clusters overall seem on the larger side, but with a lot of millerandage (hens & chicks) which is very encouraging. And so, we wait…

Azana Vyd. on Chehalem Mountain

Not much waiting to do in Burgundy or Champagne however, as they are headed for another early one. Some sites in the Côte de Beaune will start as soon as August 29th, with the Côte de Nuits and Champagne another week or so behind. Seeing the early date leads some to believe it was a hot year there like 2003, but that’s not the case at all. It was rather an unusual phenomenon of a very early and extended spring, starting in late February. Temps in the 70s continued on through June, and then it cooled off in July, slowing things down a bit. At one point they thought they were looking at an August 22-25 start, but the cool July has pushed it back a week-10 days or so. Showers in late July have also raised botrytis issues in some sites, but otherwise it seems they are headed for a good one. More as it happens…

I’m looking forward to our special White Burgundy & Cheese tasting event on Saturday here in Carlton – with five of our killer whites paired with artisan cheeses selected by cheese guru Steve Jones of Portland’s Cheese Bar – it’s happening Noon to 5 on Saturday, and I hope to see you here!

Another IPNC is in the books, and it was a special one, to be sure. The 25th anniversary of the International Pinot Noir Celebration brought many of the Pinot world’s brightest stars to Oregon for four days of serious fun and celebration, and perhaps a bottle or two of good wine along the way !

Martha, Dianne, Suzy, Benjamin Leroux and Cameron at our IPNC dinner

It was a great pleasure to have Burgundy’s rockstar winemaker Benjamin Leroux with us, for dinner in our cellars on Thursday night and throughout the weekend. We were also honored to have Über-sommelier Rajat Parr from the Michael Mina Group (RN74 San Francisco & Seattle + a dozen more great restos) with us.

In Azana Vyd. with Pirrie & Benjamin Leroux

Huge thanks to John Sundstrom, Kelly Ronand and Michelle Madigow of Lark restaurant in Seattle, and Chris DiMinno and Nate Tilden from Portland’s Clyde Common for our most excellent dinner – major yum all around!

Lark Chef John Sundstrom

Chris, Nate & the Clyde Common crew

The grilled Squab

A plethora of fine bottles made their way across the table over the course of the weekend. Among my personal favorites: Mugnier 2001 Musigny, and 2001 Amoureuses – both were drop-dead stunning, pure silk and grace and liquid sex. Wow indeed. The ’07 Mugnier Musigny was also amazing for such a young Grand Cru. As always, Freddy rules. Other stunners included the ’02 Confuron Romanée St. Vivant, ’01 Drouhin Montrachet, ’02 Marc Chauvet Special Club (god, what a GREAT Champagne), ’93 Comte Armand Clos des Epeneaux, ’93 Ponzi Reserve, ’90 Eyrie South Block Reserve, and our ’07 Audrey was really doing a lovely dance Saturday night! Oh yeah, and the Henri Jayer ’85 Echezeaux. I am deeply moved by Henri’s ‘85s – the absolute essence of purity and elegance…

NYC somm queens Laura Maniec & Pascaline Lepeltier with Musigny & Amoureuses

I somehow survived that onslaught of seriously great wines Saturday night and managed to get up and run 11 miles Sunday morning, as my training for this fall’s Portland Marathon continues. My thoughts always tend to wander off to some rather bizarre places during longer runs, but on this one I just kept alternately praising and cursing Freddy Mugnier for all that gorgeous Musigny the night before…

Another magical night under the stars at IPNC

The fun continues with a string of great events coming up over the next few weeks, starting with our White Burgundy & Cheese tasting on Saturday August 13th here in Carlton from 12n-5pm. I’ve selected 5 gorgeous ’08 whites from 5 different producers in 5 different appellations, and our friends at Portland’s Cheese Bar are picking out some great cheese selections to match with each. I love cheese with white Burgs, even more than with reds. I’ve noticed in recent years that more and more the Burgundians are serving whites with the cheese course, and it’s a move I’m a big fan of. Come check it out for yourself here in Carlton…