On Saturday, May 22nd from 3:30 to 4:30 The Joel Palmer House will focus on the 2005 Vintage from Shea Vineyard including wines from Panther Creek, Broadly, Elk Cove, Ken Wright, and Penner Ash.

Light hors d’oeuvres prepared by Chef Christopher Czarnecki will also be served. Tastings will be presented by Sommelier, Andrea Higgins Fulton. For more information and reservations call 503-864-2995 or visit www.joelpalmerhouse.com

On Sunday evening our Cellar Direct Club and Reserve Board and members enjoyed barrel tasting, festivities, and a gourmet dinner at the winery. The weather cooperated with sunny skies and a cool breeze, and round tables reached from the crush pad out into the backyard garden where everyone was treated with delicious spicy sausage, fresh mozzarella, and ice cream in waffle cones. Michael Stevenson and Bill Hanson strutted about pouring barrel samples of the 2008 Freedom Hill Pinot noir, our single-barrel, club-exclusive bottling, and mingling with the guests. Nick from Nick’s Italian Café manned the barbeque while his daughter Carmen and her husband Eric tended to the buffet line.

Pouring wine for each table afforded me the chance to meet the folks who are most passionate about drinking our wine. Couples and groups of friends shared stories about Panther Creek wine from as far back as the early nineties. The one thing I heard the most was that they’ve never opened a bottle they didn’t like, and that they can’t wait for next year.

Cheers!