In Europe: High Seas and High Tea

Wednesday, 06 June 2012 04:45 | Written by Byron

In honor of Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee there was a proper British tea on board today. But before tea time it was time for a proper wine tasting with our version of the "royal family": the Sokol Blossers.

Those present at the tasting, including the majority of the passengers on the boat, were Bill, Susan, Alison and Nik Blosser, Russ Rosner, Michael Brown and Jeff Knapp. It was the first time the family ( minus Alex who is steering the ship back home) had ever presented a wine tasting as a group. And unlike other wine tastings I have been to this was not only an opportunity to find out out about the wine making process, it was also a peek into the past, present and future of Oregon's first family of wine. Susan read from her book about the flight of wine we were tasting, the very rare Goosepen. Bill talked about how they arrived in Oregon. Nik was all about the business and Alison talked about the land, prior to Russ who provided specifics and answered questions.

The evening highlight was the second winemaker dinner with Clarklewis Chef Dolan Lane. Asparagus salad paired with SB's 2010 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris, followed by risotto Nero paired with an '05 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir, roasted cod with '08 Peach Tree Block Pinot Noir, roasted lamb leg with '08 Delectus Syrah and chocolate budino with SB's '09 Dessert Riesling.

We also danced to Kylie.

Today we meet up in Montenegro...Chef Dolan reminded Bruce that Clarklewis serves a wonderful Montenegro cheese. We plan on finding it today.