Enobytes Wine Blog

You might think from the title that I’ve had too much to drink, but in reality, I’ve had too much to think. I’ve come to realize there are wines worthy of attention that many dismiss if they pray at the alter of the ratings ministry.

Case in point, I was out shopping for a bottle of wine the other day when I overheard a couple of consumers debating about whether or not they should buy a wine that scored 82 points. There were entertaining and convincing arguments from both sides and I simply couldn’t walk away without interjecting my point of view. Read the rest of this entry »

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Joe Dobbes, one of Oregon’s innovative Winemakers hosts his own syndicated radio show "Vine Time" which airs every Saturday at 4PM on News Radio 750 KXL in Portland.

This week, Joe is without his radio partner Brian Bushlach, so Marc from Enobytes joins the show to talk about the wine blogging industry. Midway through the show, Marc discusses the importance of interactive wine communities, his labor of love for the industry and shares his passion of writing for Enobytes.com and the OregonLive.com Wine Bytes blog.

Special shout outs were given to winebusiness.com, Craig Camp, Tom Wark at Fermentation, and our very own, well respected forum member, Eyedoc.

Click below to play the show. It’s a large file, so please be patient while you download it from the 750 KXL site:

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July 2008 Wine Picks

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What would you say if someone told you that you could enhance the flavors of your Cabernet by listening to Jimi Hendrix? Or how about enhancing your Merlot sipping experience while listening to Otis Redding’s ‘Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay‘? Could we even go so far as to say that wine tastes better when paired with music?

Its an interesting topic and I have to say I was intrigued to view a clip that was sent to me by an MSNBC affiliate stating, "I know that you’ve posted in the past about pairing Mexican food with wine so I thought you might be interested in another pairing - the ways in which music can affect a wine’s taste. Check out the video".

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If you haven’t heard of the Able Grape search engine, take notice. It’s a great tool for finding up-to-date wine information without going through the agony of searching for wine related information through other commercial search engines. Their results are precise and on-point.

Think of how many times you’ve searched on wine terms using conventional search engines and the amount of irrelevant data returned. Able Grape, on the other hand, returns relevant,

up-to-date, accurate results. I’ve used this invaluable tool frequently for learning purposes as well as a research tool, and I can’t say enough about its validity and ease of use.

Recently launching their second beta, Able Grape is seeking insightful constructive criticism to improve upon their search tool. Your opinion counts and they want to give you an opportunity to have some input on how this tool could be improved. It’s now your chance to test out the site and offer your constructive criticism.

And if that wasn’t enough, they are offering prizes for your astute feedback which include some special library wines. We strongly encourage survey participation in order to build a useful search engine tool that can be used by the wine community and enophiles alike. To enter, first sign up for Able Grape, (if you haven’t already) and then fill out their short question survey.

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2007 was a bit of a challenge for Oregon Pinot noir growers – just as the grapes were reaching ripeness, Mother Nature decided to dump up to eight inches of rain during harvest season, forcing winemakers to make decisions on whether to pull the fruit or risk fungus growth. Despite these challenges, most of the regions winemakers overcame these obstacles – although acids are a bit higher than normal and the alcohol levels are a bit lower, many of the wines are generating fragrant and vivacious wines worthy of cellaring.

Showing notes of earth and spice, clone 115 was Marc’s favorite. It’s quite evident that the ‘07 really fits the 115 clone profile, which produces well structured wines with good aroma and flavor characteristics. Texture is also an attribute this clone seems to provide in a style that is luscious and sexy. The wine was aromatic with flavors of blackberry fruit picked at the perfection of ripeness - a facet that will contribute heavily to producing a balanced wine with good integrated tannin structure.

The final tasting comes from the 777, a high quality Pinot noir clone coming from the Cote D’Or region of Burgundy. What I love about this clone is its ability to generate strong and intense aromas and flavors with round and supple tannin structure. Tasted from barrel, Panther Creek’s 2007 vintage is showing just that; rich and round with great balance and structure. Panther Creek’s ’07s will definitely be worth waiting for; be on the lookout for their future Freedom Hill release once blending activities are complete and the product makes it into the bottle.

Panther Creek barrels

The hospitality provided at the winery will impress all who visit, making the quality of the product and the warmth of the tasting room staff a combination that will reward enophiles in every way.

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I was a little surprised when I heard about this pipeline for natural gas that was going to be implemented at the Oregon coast. Note to self: (I have got to get more involved in issues just like this one). Last week, when Agrivino acquiesced, backing away from a showdown with the OLCC, I was greatly disappointed. That was a worthy cause worth fighting for. Like they say in Jersey "Forget about it".

So let’s move on. Now I am asking for your support in critically investigating the actions some multinational corporations will take to circumvent the state level government and citizen oversight groups, stampeding our government at the federal level. This pipeline that will be built by www.palomargas.com is constructed to traverse the coast range displacing all types of agriculture and existing business and residences. The pipeline is three feet in diameter and will have a very scary 1500 pounds of pressure per square inch of highly flammable and easily ignitable natural gas flowing through it capable of producing a blast radius of 900 feet.

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Get ready ladies, just when you thought you’ve heard it all, Lydia Mondavi sets out to create a makeup line made out of grape seed extract!

Grape seed extract has shown some beneficial antioxidant effects in preliminary clinical trials, from reducing blood pressure to Alzheimer’s Disease so maybe there is some validity to it – you be the judge.

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As I mentioned in my previous post you can never rule out obscure locations for producing great wines. For all those who travel on business and don’t take advantage of the wineries to visit in your destination cities, this column is for you. There are several good reasons beyond your own selfish needs that make visiting any available winery within reach during your business travel advisable and in some cases even necessary and I will list the top ten now.

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Click on “read the rest of this entry” to see the answers. Read the rest of this entry »

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