The Tasting Panel magazine

April 2017

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98  /  the tasting panel  /  april 2017 DEPARTMENT HEADER Terry Brandborg dis- cusses Umpqua Valley Gewurztraminer with a group of buyers at Le Pigeon in Portland. Seated, left to right: Gabriela Ramos, owner, Taylor Railworks; Tobias Hogan, owner/Wine Buyer, Eat: An Oyster Bar; Andy Zalman, Wine Steward, Higgins Restaurant and Bar; and Andy Diaz, owner, Blackbird Wine Shop. o brighten up an especially gray February afternoon in Portland, Oregon, a group of wine buyers, somms and beverage directors gathered around a farmhouse table that spanned the length of Le Pigeon's cozy dining room. To the right of the table, a copper-clad open kitchen with sprawl- ing overhead ducts engulfed the room in tawny warmth. I watched Chef Gabriel Rucker out of the corner of my eye as he prepped the four-course lunch for our group, his deft motions a study in conservation. We'd been invited by The Somm Journal to participate in a "Europe in Your Backyard"–themed blind tasting. Our challenge—to single out the 90-plus-point European wine in each flight of four wines. The warm- and cool-climate varietals showcased by three of Umpqua Valley's top producers, collectively known as the Big Three—Abacela, Brandborg and Reustle–Prayer Rock Vineyards—illustrated the range of fruit the Valley is capable of producing. First up, a flight of limpid and deeply aromatic Gewurztraminer from Brandborg Vineyard & Winery paired with a deli- cate parsnip and apple vichyssoise crowned THE TASTING PANEL TASTES GLOBAL WINES ALONGSIDE UMPQUA VALLEY'S OLD WORLD VARIETALS Europe T in Our Backyard by Christine Havens / photos by John Valls

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