Pinots of Portland

After a stunning view of Mt. Hood, I landed safely in Portland, Oregon, for a week long conference in May2012. But I was on another mission: to taste locally produced Pinot Noirs.  Even though I tasted several Pinots during my stay, I ended where I began that first night with a Pinot Noir by Erath winery.  This medium bodied red was a gently complex wine with subtle berry tones and a lingering finis - dry but smooth and under $20 locally.

My readers know I share the good finds and avoid negative content in my blogs.  However, this time I have a story...

During my quest, I happened onto a wine bar conveniently located across from my hotel.  They had a regular or premium flight of three local Pinots.  Just what I was looking for. I knew this might be taking a chance since I had found some negative reviews on the web. But the location was too convenient to ignore and web content is not always reliable. So, a group from the conference went to the wine bar one evening. Two of my companions arrived before me and ordered the premium flight and were well into the trio of wines when I caught up with them.  These were classy, professional women and not newbies with wine tasting. 

Although my understand of wines has grown immensely over the past couple years, I admit there is still much room for growth. However, duing a wine trip last fall in southern Missouri, I had a wonderful lesson from Marty Strussione of Cave Winery on the bacteria that can sneak into a bottle of wine during the bottling process if things are not sterile. As the wine ages, the bacteria grows and infuses an otherwise good wine with odors that range from wet dirt to cat urine. Most wine lovers cannot get passed the nose. And so when I arrived we discovered that one such wine was sadly in the premium flight.

It can happen even to a careful, local winery. So,vendors may occasionally receive one or two bottles in a random case with this issue.  I would expect that anyone running a profitable wine business would be aware of this possibility. It goes with the purchasing local wines.

So, my friend pointed out the problem to the server/owner.  We were summarily rebuked. That was our opinion but it doesn't mean we are right. The owner was offered the glass to smell the wine.  She would not.  Rather she chose instead to tell us that we probably did not know what we were talking about.  So to that sever I say, "Why did you not know about this possibility and offer her a different glass of wine?  Even opening a different bottle of the same wine might have solved the problem. Don't you want your customers to enjoy their experience at your wine bar? If I were running such a business I would (1) smell the wine when asked, (2) offer another wine to replace it,  and (3) be mindful of power of bad reviews. 

Life is too short to drink bad wines! I will not be back!