VIP Tours

Oregon Wine Tours was recently chosen to provide a VIP tour to her Excellency Claudia Fritsche; Ambassador of the principality of Liechtenstein. We were referred to the Ambassador by two resources as being the best tour company in the area. We were able to provide a very high end tour for the Ambassador and her group with private tastings with some of the areas best wineries. Pictured is Doug Tunnell of Brick House Winery showing the Ambassador his vineyards and the surrounding Chehalem Ridge AVA. We also were able to provide an excellent lunch thanks to the help of the Dundee Bistro. They were able to set up an excellent meal on short notice for us and did a splendid job.
The ambassador was in town for a speaking engagement at Lewis and Clarke college and for an opening at Lawrence Galleries in Portland for a prominent artist from Liechtenstein. Being from a family that has made wine for hundreds of years, she loved the beauty of Oregon's wine country and enjoyed the local wines very much.
I really appreciate being referred to the Ambassador and her group. I think we have worked hard to be recommended to such a high profile person and I'm proud to be thought of so highly.
Remember though, the reason I started this was to be able to make sure that anyone could walk into a tasting room and not feel intimidated. When you join us on a tour, I want you to meet the people that have created that passion for wine in me and experience that for yourself first hand.

Cheers!

Ron

Fantastic Wines - 2002 Panther Creek Temperance Hill Pinot Noir

Being in the wine industry and being a person who really appreciates wine, I have to say that my wife and I enjoyed a bottle of wine the other night that really made an impression with me. We happened to be at the beach and enjoying a nice meal of Salmon with some shrimp and brown rice with a bottle of 2002 Panther Creek Temperance Hill Pinot Noir.
Michael Stevenson is the wine maker at Panther Creek. Not only is Michael a very nice person but I respect his wine making abilities tremendously. This wine was absolutely beautiful. Everything about that wine was really enjoyable to me. I've cellared that bottle for several years and decided that this was a good night to enjoy a special bottle. You don't always need some special occasion to enjoy a nice bottle of wine either. I feel that every now and then, you should just enjoy one of your nicer bottles instead of waiting for your anniversary or New Years Eve...
When you go out tasting or on our tour and you taste a wine you really like, please buy it from the winery. Cellar it properly and give the wine at least a couple of years to come to age. My wife is a great cook and this evening was just a good opportunity for her and I to enjoy a really nice wine with a really nice meal.
The wine was, to me, just the thing to make that evening a very special evening. No special event. No birthday or anniversary. But Michael's wine making "gift" in a bottle made from a great Northwest vineyard created a very memorable experience.
So thank you to Michael Stevenson at Panther Creek Cellars for a great bottle of wine. Thank you to my wife for making a fantastic meal!
There have been a few evenings within the last six months where a wine has sincerely left a mark on me. The last wine I had that really, really impressed me was a bottle of 1996 Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir. We opened that on vacation in California this last December 8th at the Napa Rose in Anaheim California. The master sommelier on duty that night thought that we had brought in a bottle of 1989 DRC La Toche. Not sure if I'm spelling that correctly... Again, a wine that made an evening incredible. So don't wait for some special event, create the event by enjoying one of those wines with someone special. That's the special event!

Cheers,

Ron