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Memorial Day Weekend


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Sunday morning I'll be dragging out the smoker for the first time this spring. 3 racks of babybacks, 2 with my usual homemade rub (recipe I got from the internet) and 1 with "Corky's" rub that Turf Smurf sent me.

Somewhere around 6 hours in my smoker at around 220 degrees. Macaroni salad, deviled eggs, coleslaw and a few cold ones. Tee time at 3:54 p.m. Life is good! :D

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A St. Louis tradition. PORK STEAKS! Potato salad, cole slaw, green bean cassaroll, made from scratch rolls, corn on the cob, watermelon, grilled asparagus, sweet potato fries, tomato and cucumber salad in Italian dressing, German chocolate cake, maybe a beer or twenty.

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Not much cooking for me...I'll be drinking and dining. Memorial Day weekend is one of two weekends / year that some of the smaller Willamette Valley wineries are open.

 

Tomorrow, we're going to hit the following (and yes, it is all mapped out to avoid the crowded roads and hit some good wineries :D )

 

We start at Sineann and Prive' and possibly JK Carriere. Then we'll head west to hit Penner Ash and Patty Green (this one we're doing by peer pressure only). After Patty Green, we're hitting Shea and then Lemelson, then down to Panther Creek, Westrey. At that point, we'll evaluate how much time we have left before heading back to Newberg to eat here:

 

The Painted Lady

 

We'd hit LeCadeau if they weren't pouring in Dundee. That place will be a zoo and it only takes 3 cars to back up traffic through there.

 

It should be a good day. Sunday, I'm planning on taking the boat out (not early). Monday, I'm back in the office.

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The Cave Egg will be serving up a nice 7 lb beef brisket with a simple wet rub (chili powder, cayenne, garlic powder, ground pepper, lemon juice), mesquite smoked at 220 for 7 hours, with BBQ sauce and mustard on the side.

 

It's a good thing we learned how to make fire.

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A St. Louis tradition. PORK STEAKS! Potato salad, cole slaw, green bean cassaroll, made from scratch rolls, corn on the cob, watermelon, grilled asparagus, sweet potato fries, tomato and cucumber salad in Italian dressing, German chocolate cake, maybe a beer or twenty.

 

Not in my house. :D

 

Sunday - baby back ribs smoked on the grill

Monday - Beef brisket smoked on the grill.

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Basic BBQ on Saturday at the home with some friends and their babies. Hamburgers, hotdogs, corn on the cob, fruit salad, etc. Nothing too exciting but the first real BBQ of the year I like to keep simple. I plan to get a bit more daring over the coming months as I asked for a new BBQ cookbook from the wife for Father's Day.

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Memorial Day Weekend is one of only two weekends that many of the Willamette Valley wineries are open. We wouldn't want to miss an opportunity like that so 5 of us loaded up in the Tahoe and headed down the backroads (in an effort to avoid traffic and maximize our drinking).

 

We started at Sineann and Medici in Newberg. I wish Sineann would have been pouring their Pinots because its what they do well. I had high hopes for their Baby Poux...a Cab Sauv from young vines of the Champoux vineyard in WA (where wineries like Woodward Canyon, Leonetti, Fidelitas, and Quilceda Creek get some of their grapes). I didn't drink the Medici wines but others were not impressed. Maybe part of it was due to being 10am and most of us still had toothpaste lingering, but nothing outstanding here.

 

Next stop was Penner-Ash. Their facility is very nice and they were pouring into the new Riedel Oregon Pinot glass that will be officially released by George Riedel at the International Pinot Festival in July. Our discussion on the short drive revolved around what the perfect Rose' would consist of. We found it at Penner Ash: Dry but full of fruit. Not sweet, but very light and crisp, 100% pinot from stainless steel. After that we tasted their Pinots, starting with their standard Willamette Valley Pinot which was very nice and balanced. Next up was the 2005 Goldschmidt which seemed popular, was almost sold out (I talked to Penner Ash today and it did sell out this morning)...personally, I didn't care for it. It was definitely too young and I just couldn't discern its potential. It was very different and none of really thought too much of it. Now on to the good stuff: 2005 Shea Vineyard Pinot....typical Pinot from the Shea vineyard: Absolutely outstanding showing quite a bit of depth. It'll probably drink best in about 4-5 years. We then headed downstairs for the 2006 barrel tastings. Standouts were the Seven Springs, the Shea, and something that started with a Carabella. If our group would have had to choose a favorite from the barrels, it would have been a toss up between the Seven Springs and the Shea. I know the owner / winemaker really likes where the Seven Springs is headed. Once again: If it says Shea on the bottle, its good. (Oh, they had a really good double-cream brie as well)

 

Next stop: Shea Vineyards. On to the source of the best grapes in the valley. Dick Shea's new facility is still under construction but far enough along to use for pouring some great wines. While none of us were thrilled with the Chardonnay, we just really wanted the Pinot. The only tastings from the bottle was the 2005 Shea Estate. The 04 was a top 100 wine for a reason and this vintage is just as good. Perfect balance of fruit and terroir. We followed this with the East Hills which had a great nose, mouth, and finish. Great structure for a wine out of the barrel (although all of these had been in a decanter for quite a while). I can't remember the next one but it started off well and then disappeared....no finish at all. Two more Pinots starting with the Wadenswill and ending with the Homer were the highlights: With these, however, it was obvious that they're going to need some time in the bottle before they reach their prime. Thanksgiving weekend is the other weekend that this winery is open but only to people picking up future orders....which we will now be doing!

 

Next stop: Lemelson for some good Pinot and a picnic. Actually, we started out with their whites: Pinot Gris and Dry Riesling. Everyone else really liked these but the Gris was a little too sweet and the Riesling a bit too floral for my tastes. On to the good stuff: The first Pinot was their Six Vineyards which they have always exported. This year, production was higher and they will sell locally. Great QPR wine at $20 / bottle. Drink it up. Next bottle was the new Thea's (another top 100 last year) which is very similar to the past vintage. The only two others I drank from the bottle were the 05 Stermer and 05 Jerome. Extra bottles of each had to be purchased. From there we headed to the cellars to taste from the barrel: Same wines as we tasted from the barrel at Thanksgiving and what a difference a few months makes. There was a lot more balance now. No single flavor dominated and you could pull out all the different pieces. We ended by picking up our wine club shipment and ate a quick picnic before driving on.

 

Next, we headed down to Panther Creek where we actually started with the 06 barrel tastings. It'll be interesting to see how these develop because they aren't even close right now. Seemed like a waste to even be pouring them. Back to the 04s which were drinking really well with plenty of potential ahead of them. The 04 Shea (shocking) and the Temperence Hills really stood out. While most wineries were releasing 05s this weekend, Panther Creek's current releases are the 04s.

 

Next stop was Westrey, just down the street from Panther Creek. Westrey makes a solid line of QPR pinots (although I'd probably pick up the Lemelson Six Vineyards or Thea's first), but the Oracle Pinot was a highlight at this winery, also pouring into the new Oregon Pinot Glass.

 

Well, we were planning on avoiding the major road but it was 4pm with 2 hours to kill before our dinner reservation in Newberg so we headed up to Dundee where Le Cadeau was pouring at Ponzi. Thats some good Pinot and they were pouring the 02s with the 05s to allow for comparison. Most of these were pretty tight and could use some additional time....or so we thought (you'll see). The girls drank some bubbly and we killed some time before heading to Newberg to eat here:

 

www.thepaintedladyrestaurant.com

 

Portland and the valley have a lot of great restaurants but this one is almost in another category. 3 courses each and we decided that a couple 02 Le Cadeau Pinots would work. The wine was brought to the table early and poured to give time to breath. These opened up amazingly after about 45 minutes. Where there had been a lot of light fruit dominating up front, it settled down to a fantastic pairing to our meals.

 

We started with a mix of appetizers including Salad, Steamed Mussels (in a great Chardonnay / Butter sauce), and my wife had the veal sweetbreads over some potato concoction which I had to try: The sweetbreads were done to perfection and just fell apart in your mouth.

 

Entrees included Lamb, pork tenderloin and I had the Alaskan King Salmon over Wild Morel / Truffle / Asparagus Risotto. I can't remember ever having a better salmon dinner....amazing.

 

For dessert, there was a s'mores torte flambe, strawberry shortcake, and I had a pear cheesecake which was also very good. I managed to finish it...and then had to be rolled out of the restaurant.

 

This morning my wife and I did head back to the valley for a couple hours and a couple more wineries before I had to head to the office.

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not cooking..... just drinking some wine and hanging out in the mountains.

 

 

Played golf today with a really nice couple who lives in Breckinridge. Our club is semi-private-you have to be a resort guest at the nearby resort and pay $175 a round-not a bad deal since it helps to keep our initiaton and membership dues down and not a lot of outside play because of the cost per round.

 

Anyway, a terrific couple to play with.

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What?!?!?!? Do you cook for a living or something? :D

 

 

ended up going to my friend's restaurant.... prob the best menu he's put together so far. app: scallops with leek, chevre tartlet w/ chive oil and got his special: seared marlin over pesto risotto w/ enoki broth... w/ kim chee pastry....

 

got a dry rose, pinot noir based, ch. potelle zin (awesome), 20 yr tawny, and vanilla grand marnier.

 

Played golf today with a really nice couple who lives in Breckinridge. Our club is semi-private-you have to be a resort guest at the nearby resort and pay $175 a round-not a bad deal since it helps to keep our initiaton and membership dues down and not a lot of outside play because of the cost per round.

 

Anyway, a terrific couple to play with.

 

very down to earth community.... good people

 

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More rain today. :D

 

I had to improvise yesterday with the ribs. Smoked them for about 2 hours then the downpour so I took them off then shoved them into my ceramic pot and baked them in the oven for 3 more hours. The rain stopped so I tossed them back on the grill for a quick sear. The meat melted off the bone. Fantastic.

 

Looks like I'll be doing the brisket the same way today. :D:tup:

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