As you probably know, I presented that paper on Plato's Symposium at the Northwest Philosophy Conference last weekend. It was pretty cool, and I met some nice people and heard some good presentations. And Pacific University has a beautiful campus and some great seminar rooms.
Unfortunately, the conference itself is a bit of a mess. If you clicked that link up there, you saw the schedule: one day only, 13 sessions at a time! That's both way too much and way too little. Only one person came to my session, and there were a number of sessions without any audience at all! I was supposed to present comments on a paper about Aristotle, but no one came. Lame.
Fortunately, Pacific University is in Forest Grove, and Forest Grove is right on the edge of Oregon's wonderful Willamette Valley, where they make lots of wonderful wine! The picture up top was taken at Montinore, and I'd definitely recommend their Pinot Noir and their Gewürztraminer.
Ismail and Kari met up with us, and we managed to visit two vineyards and one tasting room. Yummy!
This is Kari at the Patton Valley Winery. We got a great tour, and learned all about their very small, sustainable Pinor Noir operation. Who knew that letting weeds grow was a great way to manage insects? Not me, but I like it! And the wine was good too!
Not only that, but they use screw caps instead of corks. Call me weird, but as much fun as corks can be, I'm a huge fan of screw caps...
Anyway, nice people, tasty wine, pretty countryside--a great way to spend an afternoon!
Grapes--about to be pressed.
Like I said, yummy!
What a great combination!
ReplyDeleteHow do Oregon's wines compare to Washington's? Washingtonwines.org is taking out TV ads during the evening news on Chicago's NBC station. We've seen several already.
ReplyDeleteWashington's are better!
ReplyDeleteOh, sorry--force of habit (?).
The main difference that I know of (caution: I don't know much) involves the kinds of climates & therefore the kinds of wines. Since Oregon wines seem to come from the rainy Willamette Valley, they're mostly gentler varieties, and especially Pinot Noir.
In Washington, the grapes grow mostly in the east, where it's drier and hotter. Lots of Cabernet and Syrah and such...
Mmm. That all sounds delicious. May need to go open a bottle right now!
Oh, and if you're looking for a good Washington wine, Chateau Ste Michelle is our favorite.
Cheers!