Willamette Valley views.
People who know us, know that we are unabashed fans of Oregon wine country. We have been making annual trips there for almost two decades and have built more than our share of itineraries for friends on where to sip, stay, and eat when visiting.
Sadly, the region was no more immune than anywhere else to the industry-crippling global pandemic that was particularly challenging for the tourism and hospitality sector. As a result, the foodie scene has changed significantly from when we visited the region pre-COVID19.
The good news is that as the world re-opened, so have several new spots that, along with some mainstays, are once again providing exciting options for visitors.
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Iris Vineyards.
Our recent visit to Iris Vineyards, just outside of Eugene, OR, was quite a revelation. Iris claims as its foundation the ancient Grecian concept of “areté”. Don’t feel sheepish if you don’t know the meaning of the term; it is hardly used in modern English. The ancient Greeks used the term to mean excellence or virtue in your purpose. I was surprised when I heard the people at Iris use the term since I had not heard it used since taking a course on Aristotle when I was at university.
Areté to Aristotle, we were taught, was not a theoretical concept, but a practical implementation of maximum effectiveness at a chosen goal. Areté in winemaking, to use a concrete example, is different than areté in cooking. Both have a similar philosophical underpinning, but each is a distinct form of areté. The concept of areté is abundantly present in all of the endeavours at Iris that we encountered: from how they grow the grapes to how they vinify the wine to how they offer it to their customers.
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