WORLD CLASS WINE WORKING OVERTIME

This is a glass of wine, world class wine. Mmm, mmm.

It originally comes from the Hawks View Winery in Sherwood, Oregon.

Today it came from my basement, racked with the other wine in the house.

If you’ve heard of  Sherwood, it’s probably from reading about Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest.

Is it world class? Here’s how good it is:

Too good.

Too good to drink casually. That’s reserved for discount wine from Costco, or boxed wine from Safeway, both solid choices.

But really, how good is it?

So good my wife considers it too good to drink at all.

That kind of wine. She’s not wrong.

If we had the same in-depth conversation about whether to open a bottle or not that we have with most everything else, it’s a guaranteed ‘not.’

And she’s right. So I went rouge and opened it all on my own.

 

Wife: Are you opening that wine?

Me, going at the bottle with corkscrew: Yes, I am.

Wife: If you want to drink wine you should get some at the store, not from the winery.

Me: Would you like me to pour you a glass?

Wife, lifting gin and tonic with extra lime: No, but it’s expensive wine.

Me: I hope it lives up to its reputation. Cheers, honey.

Wife: This is some of the best wine in the world.

Me: World class Oregon wine at its best. I like the sound of that.

Wife: I want you to enjoy it, not chug it.

Me: I’ll try my best.

 

Best Wine? Oregon Wine In My Garage

What makes Oregon wine world class is the climate and the soil, the dirt, which is the result of glacial floods laying down sediment after the water receded, and Cascade Mountains’ erosion.

Mix the right dirt with the right hillside and you’re on your way.

I know I was.

While I enjoyed the hell out of my White Pinot Noir I got to thinking about other state wine.

I pulled down the map every good American needs in their garage and checked it out.

This map came from the Phil Lewis Elementary sale after the district closed my kid’s school and sold the land to Lowe’s in the Tigard Triangle.

I think I paid five bucks.

Take a look up in the top left corner and find a green state with two mountain ranges creating a U-shape.

Inside the U is Willamette Valley, the green part on this map.

 

From Oregon Wine:

 

Portland is a city of neighborhoods.

With more than 30 wineries and 70 breweries, nearly 30 coffee roasters, 1700 restaurants, and artisan makers of every medium, each neighborhood boasts a unique blend of vibrant artists, craftspeople, and shop-local entrepreneurs.

These are neighborhoods built by neighbors. Portland offers the best of Oregon Wine without leaving the city.

 

I say it’s more than Oregon’s best, it among the world’s best with two in the Wine Spectator’s Top 20.

It feels like an honor to taste perfection in my garage.

Background music?

 

I drink alone
With nobody else
You know when I drink alone
I prefer to be by myself

 

What Pairs With Fine Wine

A treadmill and television are an impeccable choice.

Ping Pong and White Pinot?

Excellent.

 

 

If you’re beginning to think everything pairs with the right wine, we’re on the same page.

While this is a fine choice, my best wine memories lie elsewhere in the company of a different sort of vintage, with people more knowledgeable about wine and life than I’ll ever hope to be.

 

The Baron of Beaverton household is a combination of both builder and planter.

He knew what he wanted and how to make it happen. And he had inside help making it grow.

What I understood most about the Baron and Lady was they knew the importance of space, and spacing, both inside and out.

That they make room for friendship is the best space of all.

People full of ideas, and willing to share them, are who you want time with.

You’ll learn some history, some literature, all without missing a beat because they make it part of everyday life.

If you’re lucky enough to know people who navigate life with unmistakable grace and poise, follow their lead.

 

I still have hope to improve, but at my age I’m beginning to understand limits.

With a glass of forbidden wine.

If nothing else, it fueled my revolutionary spirit, the American spirit portrayed in Ken Burn’s documentary on The American Revolutionary.

 

What Real Freedom Requires

Over here in America, which I want my international readers to know, we follow rules.

You know the rules?

They come with different names, but they are rules, important rules, ruin your day if you break the rules kind of rules.

Building codes, speed limits, criminal law, and more.

To enforce the rules we have inspectors, policemen, and judges.

If you violate code a building inspector can shut you down and make you tear down the offending structure and start over.

Break the speed limit and a policeman will write you a ticket at the very least, or throw you in the back of the car for recklessness or stinking of booze.

Judges sit and hear it all before making a legal decision.

They listen to the inspector and the offender, the speedster and the cop, and they rely on their legal education, their learned wisdom and experience, before rendering a verdict.

Here in America, that’s the justice system: screw up enough to get noticed, get a fair hearing, and pay the consequences, if any are in arrears.

The best part of American freedom is sharing it with others.

We be free so you can be free?

I’m feeling it.

 

Let Freedom Ring

 

PS: Following rules is a good example to set in families. Help the kids see the value in following rules and they might grow up with stories about you, and maybe without a police record.

 

PSS: Did my honey-doodle join me for another? Yes, she did.