Wine Wednesday

Owen Roe winery has become one of the top wineries in the Pacific Northwest of the US.  They primarily harvest grapes from small vineyards in Willamette Valley of Oregon and in Washington the Mid-Columbia, Yakima and Walla Walla Valleys.  Their first vintage was in 1999, and they've been making great wine ever since.  The make mostly reds - Pinot, Merlot, Cab, Syrah and some delicious blends - but also make a Chardonnay and are releasing a Pinot Gris this spring.

I've had (and loved) several of their wines, but today is all about Ex Umbris!

According to the Owen Roe website, 'Ex Umbris' is Latin for 'out of the shadows'. It was originally made as a one-off due to a wildfire that resulted in tremendously smoky grapes.  In more recent years, this wine has become a Northwest signature Syrah. 

The 2009 was rated 93 points by Wine Spectator and listed as #25 on their Top 100 list in 2011.

Usually around $25, this is one of my favorite Syrahs.  The 2009 vintage is the one most easily found in stores right now.  I know Whole Foods carries it, and you can also find it at Total Wine and maybe Wegmans.

Cheers!

Weekend Snapshots

Over the last 6 weeks or so, we've had some great, low key, in town weekends.  With the fall being as busy as it was and lots of things already on the calendar for the spring, low key has been really nice.  We've joked about how much stuff we've gotten done!

Low key doesn't have to mean no fun!  Friday night we went to one of our favorite spots, Mad Fox, again.  This time for dinner with 2 of our closest friends.  We finally used all 3 of our Groupons!  Thinking it was a great idea, we bought 3 in the fall...and have been the last 3 weekends in a row...

After Mad Fox, I headed downtown to meet up with my 'softball team.'  I use that term very loosely, considering I've only played in ONE game.  Ever.  The group is not very skilled at softball, and we're totally ok with that.  We're good at the other competition, Last Team Standing.  It's exactly what it sounds like, and we came in 3rd place this year, winning ourselves a free keg!

Saturday was spent running errands, grocery shopping, working on chores around the house and getting in an extra good workout.  We made the long trip about 5 steps next door to our neighbors house for dinner.  We're all trying to be frugal and eat healthy, so it was great.  Veggies and dip to start, delicious pot roast, fingerling potatoes, green beans and peppers for dinner, and Strawberry Fool for dessert.  Oh, delicious.  

Topped with some mini-chocolate chips and fresh mint, it was a huge hit.  

Sunday morning, I snuggled up on the couch with a big cup of coffee and the pup.  I have gotten very behind on magazine reading lately, so I was determined to get through some.  And that's just what I did - I read 6 magazines Sunday morning!  Ahhh, it feels so good to get through things like that! 

Hope y'all had a great weekends, too.  Happy Fat Tuesday to all!  Anyone giving anything up for Lent?  I'm still trying to decide on something...

High Five for Friday!

What a week it's been!  With the craziness of Freight Day and the upcoming Conference, I'm glad the weekend is almost here.

Today I'm linking up with Lauren at From My Grey Desk for High Five for Friday!

Here are five of my favorite things from this week:

1.  Even though I'm not a big Valentine's fan, husband and I had a great, quiet evening at home on Tuesday.

2.  I made another delicious Skinny Taste recipe on Wednesday!  Tuna Noodle Casserole.  YUM.

3.  I laughed so hard at girls night last night - it was exactly what I needed this week!

4.  I am so excited to go to one of our favorite places, Mad Fox, tonight for dinner with some of our best friends, and then meeting up with some of my Elon folks for some fun :)

5.  Snuggling with this love bug in the mornings is always one of my favorite things!

I hope y'all have had a great week and have some fun this weekend!  Think we'll get any white stuff on Sunday??

My life this week

It's that time of year again! It seems to come faster and faster each year...

Conference time! We have been packing for a week/month.  Tomorrow, an 18-wheeler will load up roughly 15,000 lbs of freight and drive it to New Orleans.  Tomorrow is the unofficial kick off to Conference.


It will be delivered to the 25 or so staff members who will travel to conference next Thursday.  Once it's delivered and our convention services team has built our 'sets,' we'll begin frantically unpacking auction items, idea fair boards, wine, setting up offices and registrations, building a Nike pro shop, and more.  Members and Partners will arrive Thursday night and Friday.  Weeks and months are spent preparing for what we call our Member-Guest.  It's when we become the club managers hosting our members at 'our club.'  

On Friday we'll have 50 people go out into a community in New Orleans with the St. Bernard Project to help rebuild some houses and education starts Saturday morning.  There will be over 70 education classes, focusing on food and beverage management, leadership skills, wine education, social networking and more.  We have our own trade show for 2 days with over 300 sq feet of space, vendors from Toro and John Deere to china, linen, and architecture firms.  There will be a silent and live wine auction, featuring over 1,000 bottles.  Archie Manning is speaking one morning.  Saturday is the auction that I run - we're having a Po' Boy festival with dueling pianos this year, and of course hurricanes.  Almost 70 items and about 600 people will be in attendance.  We're doing a 5k run bright and early on Monday to benefit St. Bernard Project.  That night, all 2000 of us will go on a progressive club tour of 3 of the most prestigious and historic New Orleans clubs.  

We have several people from each of the 13 Corporate Partner companies attending.  There will be over 100 international managers from literally all over the world.  There will be dinners, receptions, and lots of networking.  There will be many late nights, few meals eaten, and too many alarms set for 4:30am.  There is a blue blazer, gold name tag, several pairs of khaki pants and the ugliest most comfortable brown shoes you can find.

And then, at 5:00pm Tuesday night, we as staff will stand in a line, and say good bye, see you in San Diego, and wave to our members, sending them back to their clubs energized, motivated and rearing to go. 

Wine Wednesday

For Wine Wednesday this week we're heading to the Dundee Hills of Oregon's Willamette Valley.

Erath Winery is one of my favorites, and I have really been seeing it on lots of restaurant lists these days.  They have been growing and farming grapes on their land outside of Portland for over 40 years.  Dick Erath is one of the pioneers of Oregon winemaking.

They make a few different styles of Pinot.  First, their Oregon style wines are the most affordable, ready to drink wines.  Then is the more refined Estate and Single Vineyard selections and finally the limited Les Magique.

The Oregon collection is the focus of today's post.  This is a great wine, and we've been drinking it a lot over the last few months.  At Costco and Wegmans it's about $14.60 and it's $16 at Total Wine.  This is a great bottle for a nice dinner or to take to parties - and it's also a screwcap!

I would be remiss if I didn't mention their estate line.  If I remember correctly, this is one of the first bottles of Erath I had.  It's definitely a bit pricier, up around $28.  It's listed on their website for $34. Keep it on your list for next time you need a nice bottle of Pinot.

According to the Erath website, in 2010 "10 out of 10 Erath single vineyard Pinot Noirs from the 2006 vintage received ratings of 90 points or higher from the industry’s top publications including theWine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast and Wine Advocate."  

They also make some whites - Pinot Gris (which I've found at Costco, it was delicious!), Pinot Blanc and Gewürztraminer, but they might be harder to find.

Next time you see Erath on a wine list or in the store, grab a bottle!  Cheers!