Live from the North Umpqua
By the banks of one of America’s most beautiful wild & scenic rivers – miracle of miracles there is now WiFi in the main lodge at Steamboat Inn! I got up this morning, ran and hiked for 5 miles along the river, came into the lodge for a great breakfast of Orange-Cinnamon French Toast, and have now discovered that I can post a blog entry from here – so here we go!
Tonight is our winemaker dinner at Steamboat with guest chef Gabe Rucker from Portland’s Le Pigeon, and I am really looking forward to it. We have a good crowd – 55 people for dinner tonight, so it should be good energy all around. Last night here was another winemaker dinner, featuring Capitello Wines and Marché restaurant from Eugene – the food and wines were excellent – I especially enjoyed the line-caught Steelhead from the Quinalt river, and Capitello’s sparkler -a fun night to be sure. Really nice to see some familiar faces from our Burgundy classes and regular visitors to the Scott Paul tasting room. I wish Martha and Pirrie were here, but alas I am on my own. (Martha’s bro and sister-in-law from DC, and their three kids are arriving today for a week of skiing on Mt. Hood, and we can’t all be in two places at once!)
We’re pouring some nice stuff tonight – starting with the 2007 Chablis from Gueguen, and then Chavy’s 2006 Puligny-Montrachet. On the red side we’ll do the 2005 Chambolle-Musigny Les Fueés from Hervé Sigaut, and then our 2006 La Paulée – all paired with the hedonistically decadent and delicious dishes from Gabe (and our friend Andy Fortgang, Le Pigeon GM and wine director, who is sharpening his knives and working in the kitchen tonight with Gabe.)
I’ve just learned that Arsenal trounced Newcastle 3-1 today – and United lost again! It could be an intersting race in England after all, though Chelsea lost today too. Maybe it’ll come down to United and Liverpool – in which case I’d vastly prefer United.
The Champions League draw for the quarter-finals was yesterday – it looks like some great match-ups. Arsenal drew Villareal, and they should have a good shot of going through. Chelsea-Liverpool should be the hottest tie, with Barcelona-Bayern also sure to produce a lot of goals, and United-Porto probably a cake-walk for the defending champs. Action to come – first legs are on April 7
After dinner tonight I’ve got to crash and get up early, it’s about a four-hour drive to Carlton, and I need to be there to open the tasting room at 1 tomorrow. See you there (maybe with some stories from dinner tonight!) Cheers!
