Guillaume Large
Oregon is now squarely on the radar of top winemakers from Burgundy. Domaine Drouhin Oregon started it all when Burgundian powerhouse Maison Joseph Drouhin acquired property in 1987 in the Willamette Valley and started producing wine. Since then, several big names in Burgundy have started or make wine at wineries in Oregon: Evening Land and Lingua Franca are both projects started with Dominique Lafond of Comtes Lafond; Isabelle Dutarte of Burgundy makes the wine at Oregon’s DePonte Cellars as well as running her own label Callabus Cellars, a project she shares with Domaine Drouhin’s Veronique Boss-Drouhin; and Bruno Corneaux who studied enology and viticulture at the University of Burgundy in Dijon with Veronique Boss-Drouhin has started Domaine Divio. In 2013 a big event happened when another Burgundian powerhouse, this time Maison Louis Jadot, purchased two vineyards in the Willamette Valley and created Résonance. On a recent trip to the Willamette we heard the Résonance story firsthand from its very talented winemaker, Guillaume Large.
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Alloro Vineyard
Oregon’s Willamette Valley is widely considered one of the world’s premier Pinot Noir producing regions. Among its 7 American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) is the Chehalem Mountains AVA which sits just under 20 miles southwest of Portland, stretching 20 miles long and 5 miles wide. 53 of the Willamette Valley’s 700+ wineries live here including such well-respected names as Adelsheim, Ponzi and ROCO. A recent new discovery for us was Alloro Vineyard, a winery on a living farm that brings the best things in life to the table along with an invitation for anyone to come have a seat.
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Pinot Noir grapes on the vine.
Pinot Noir makes, in our view, one of the most unique wines of all. This in spite of the fact that it is notoriously difficult to grow and can be maddeningly inconsistent from one vintage to the next. Yet, it is generally priced higher on average than other wines and in fact tops the auctions in terms of the prices it can fetch. Perhaps more than any other wine, it attracts the most ardent followers.
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Tyson Stelzer
Almost three years ago we interviewed Tyson Stelzer. To give you some background about Tyson we opened our article with “If you’re interested in wine and the name Tyson Stelzer doesn’t sound familiar living in the northern hemisphere, trust us it soon will. His resume presents very notable credentials including current International Wine & Spirit Wine Communicator of the Year. Not just content to being a wine writer, he uses all mediums to reach wine enthusiasts worldwide including authoring numerous articles and books, speaking at wine events worldwide, as well as hosting his own television series.”
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Lufthansa’s wine and food pairings are notable.
As Europe’s first and only airline to be awarded the title of “Five-Star Airline”, high expectations follow and can often be hard to live up to. Year in and year out Lufthansa has continued to raise the bar with their dedication to both excellence and efficiency, certainly earning their reputation as one of the 10 best premium airlines in the world.
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Dom on ice.
We recently cruised through the Baltics on the sumptuous Oceania Marina, a 1250-passenger luxury cruise liner. A fabulous cruise with many memorable meals and wines, but from a gastronomic point of view, the Dom Perignon Experience was easily the highlight.
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The Witchery by the Castle
Our first trip to Edinburgh certainly proved beyond a doubt that Scottish fine dining is not an oxymoron. There are currently 8 Michelin-starred restaurants in Scotland with half of them residing in the country’s capital. And while not on that list, our visit to The Witchery by the Castle certainly ranks among our all-time memorable dining experiences ever.
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A glass of champagne is always a nice way to start a flight.
Travel has been a big part of my life since I was born. Before coming to Canada, the country of my citizenship, I lived in two countries in Europe and we travelled frequently around the continent. Back then flying was glamourous. When my mother or father would take us on flights, we dressed up as if attending a formal event. Captains and flight attendants had a pseudo-celebrity status and people sat up a little straighter and gazed in admiration as they walked by, immaculately dressed in their fresh-pressed uniforms. One of my earliest recollections as a child was flying on British Airways with my parents and being treated like royalty. In the 40+ years that have passed since then, the rise of low-cost carriers combined with increased security measures has made flying more chore than treat, and often more stressful than enjoyable. I recently had the opportunity to fly with BA again in their long-haul business class, Club World, which re-ignited fond memories and a feeling that maybe, just maybe, flying could still be a luxurious treat.
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