Postcards from IPNC – Wish you were here
IPNC 08! As always, it was a magical string of days, spent in the company of our hard-working and fun-loving Burgundian producers, fellow winemakers, and many happy consumers (some newcomers and some who make the pilgrimage each year). Highlights include: the braised pork cheeks with vegetables and foie gras cream, prepared by Proprietor/Chef Pascal Sauton of Carafe Bistro in Portland, for the Thursday night dinner in our winery; the snap, crackle and pop of the beautiful open fire pit, with entire salmon filets baking above on long alder stakes; the early evening lighting, where the glint on Reidel glasses meets sun-kissed faces, and tattoos and fleece and Façonnable shirts mingle over shared wine treasures, under the strands of round white lanterns. Two days later brought a tour of the Portland Rose Garden, and then a nice fat elk burger and micro-brew at a pub in The Pearl District. Big smiles on French faces!
In seminars and tours, our French producers were asked to share their knowledge of biodynamics. With me, they shared some tips for the potager (the garden). When Marielle and Thiébault saw a dirth of gardening tools at my disposal, and some compacted soil, I was jokingly gifted a griffe (a cultivator). The carrots thank them! We toured our little garden, sharing vocabulary, and then sat down to a summer meal of grilled hanger steak, parsley and lemon rice, green beans, garden salad, some excellent Oregon cheese, and then some just-picked raspberries with almond cake and lavender cream. The rice is a nice summer side-dish that tastes bright and fresh. The recipe is tweaked from one from Food & Wine Magazine.
