Rumpusing through old super 8 films I came across this nugget. Old Granny takes the clan to Henry Shaw’s Garden, summer 1976. The Pentlands, Hollos, Judys, Dunns and Fehligs are well represented, as well as Robert Dunn Sr, Grizelda Skinner and Raymond Scott.

A marvelous way to cool down on a sultry summer day. This tradition is alive and well.

LC

Just in time for Thanksgiving, David Easthope delivers his second installment in our continuing education series Vino Divino. What a resource! Thanks David for bringing us along.

Our last installment covered the Dry Creek Region of Sonoma Valley. This time, we thought we would focus on Thanksgiving pairings. California has an abundance of wines to offer for the Thanksgiving table, so naturally we wil be covering….Oregon. Yes, Oregon! The land of zany folks, microbrews, hippies and great, great Pinot Noir. We strongly suggest you consider a Pinot Noir (red wine) or Riesling (white wine) from the Willamette Valley in Oregon for your Thanksgiving turkey. While certainly, Napa and Sonoma have their wonderful and well recognized Pinot Noirs (and of course Pinots are of recent fame from the movie ‘Sideways’, filmed closer to Santa Barbara), Anne and I are big fans of the Willamette Valley. These are not your subtle, French Pinot Noirs which can be, honestly, a maze of difficulty and with higher prices to match. Rather, Willamette Pinots have bite and usually reflect a more eclectic style in order to stand out. While some might taste a little cola-y (as Anne likes to describe) they are always, always memorable and provide enough zing for your buck. Today, while Willamette Valley is rising, it is still a relatively good value, with excellent Pinot Noir in the $30 range! Also, many wineries are active in biodynamic practices, which is taking organic to a whole different level. As for Rieslings, we know them a little bit less than Pinot Noir but we have ordered a few Dry Rieslings ’08 from Penner-Ash for Thanksgiving in addition to some Pinot’s. Rieslings from reputable Willamette winemakers will be great pairing for Thanksgiving Turkey as well.

A quick note- the bottle labels will often describe in more detail where they come from using the AVA designations. Many are from McMinnville, Newberg, Eola-Amity Hills, Dundee Hills, etc. Ask at the wine store for Willamette Valley and they should point you to the right place.

We strongly suggest the following Willamette Pinot makers, wineries tried and tested:

Penner-Ash (our definite #1 based on taste and price)
Belle Pente
Torri Moor
Lemelson (good value)

….and worth a serious splurge- Archery Summit, some of the best Pinots we have tasted, ever

 

Archery Summit

Penner Ash

 

In Vino Veritas,

David

A few important notifications for family.

1. The Jack Cromie Trailblazing Day is this Sunday 15 November at Moone Athy, 10:00 AM till 3:00 PM. This is being organized by Charlie Judy and if you have questions please contact Charlie. An Evite with instructions has been emailed to the family but if somehow you’ve been skipped over Charlie can provide information. A slide show about Jack will be presented during the lunch break at the farm house. Our thanks to Dan and Susan Cromie who have kindly put this slide show together for the family.
2. Sarah and Ed Fehlig are organizing the family 2009 Thanksgiving Celebration at Moone Athy. Helene Tatum has kindly created an Evite for this festivity which can be accessed here. Rumor has it that the George Judy tribe from Up North will be in attendance, along with many others, so we are all looking forward to this annual high point. The Jack Cromie slide show will be shown at this time too for those not at the trail blazing.




3. A wonderful new John Mullanphy Family Tree has been produced by Betsy Boland Barbieri. It is to be found at this link. Our thanks to Betsy for all the work that went into this project and to Helene Tatum for notifying us about its existence. Official Rumpian proclamations announcing new additions to the clan are imminent and await suitable photos of the subjects.
4. As many of you have seen, OurRumpus was struck on 11 Nov by a spambot which added spam comments to many posts and also sent spam emails to Rumpians. Many apologies. At the suggestion of Zellie McClelland we’ve added a CAPTCHA to our directory login and add comment procedures which we hope will preclude these nuisances. Please let the chamberlain know if you get any spam emails from his address. Thanks in advance!

LC