The closing activity for IPNC has traditionally been a Sparkling Brunch. This year’s finale was no different. As with other events there where several guest chefs preparing various items.
Always a big hit, oysters on the half shell
Ham, smoked salmon and of course fresh melons and berries. and of course Chinook salmon sashimi.
The theme was Paris and all the Somms dressed accordingly.
After finishing off all the bubbles we could grab, we went back to the Cottage loaded up the car and drove to my sister Marilynn’s home where we will do laundry prior to heading North to Seattle in a couple of days.
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The panel included Véornique Boss-Drouhin who started making wine in Oregon in 1988 at Domaine Drouhin Oregon and wine makers from Maison Louis Jadot – Jacques Lardére now with Résonance in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA, Domaine des Comtes Lafon now with Lingua Franca in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA – Dominiqu Lafon, Méo-Camuzet – Jean-Nicolas Meo now working at Nicolas-Jay in Yamhill-Carlton, and Domaine Marc Roy – Alexandrine Roy at Phelps Creek Vineyards. 
Each of the wine makers discussed their experiences in Oregon and why they came to the area as well. It was a lively discussion but not much of substance presented.
After the Seminar, we went outside to the shaded area on the lawn and had a lovely lunch. We had the pleasure of sitting with the wine maker from Durant Vineyards. Established in 1978 they have spent forty years producing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris fruit for some of the best wineries in Oregon. Over the last dozen or so years, they have been making their own wine selling it under their label.
. A generation ago Pinot d’Alsace was a pale light-bodied red for easy drinking, but in recent years there has been a surge of media interest as it was transformed into a deep colored, powerful and complex wine through improved vineyard practices and winemaking.
Moderator Stuart Pigott, who has championed Alsatian, wines for thirty years, along with three esteemed winemakers from the region, provided an overview of Pinot noir in Alsace, and guide you through a tasting of some of the most exciting new wines. We had experienced Pinot Noir from this area some years ago but it was interesting to see how thee current generation of wine makers is moving Pinot Noir to a whole new level in this area.
and were also able to try both new and older Pinot Noirs brought to us by Brandon.
IPNC – The International Pinot Noir Celebration – is held each year over the last weekend in July. This is a time when wine makers, consumers and industry and media for the wine world of Pinot Noir gather together in McMinnville Oregon to drink, eat and hopefully learn something useful. The host site is Linfield collage in the middle of McMinnville. We have been coming for over 10 years (don’t really remember the first year we came) and have enjoyed it every time. The weekend starts with what is called pre-IPNC dinners. This year, as we have done for the last 4 years, we have gone to the Salud dinner.
The following day starts the actual IPNC experience. The entire group – usually about 800 people – are divided into two groups. One group stays on campus while the other goes out to a winery via a chartered bus. Included in the registration are all meals – again most prepared in temporary kitchens set up on the Campus grounds or at the Wineries.
purchased several acres of vineyard land on a east facing slop above the small town of Dundee. Planting about 4 acres in 2001, on Jory soils, he planted various Pinot Noir Clones (for those who care, he put in 667, 777, 114, 115 and Pommard 4).
Of course, Janeen’s must see garden was the Medicinal Garden displays. This has the closet varieties of medicinal plant species that are most like the herb garden where she has spent so much time.
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