Wine Club: Oregon

Wine Club's journey across America already skipped to the West Coast, where we enjoyed seriously tasty Oregon wines at Ashleigh's house! Pinot grapes grow famously well in Oregon's many valleys, where wine has been made since the first settlers in the 1840s. We ended up finishing just about every bottle! We tried:

• Coelho Renovacao Pinot Gris, a lemony white with a citrusy finish.
• Kudos Pinot Gris, a delicious pinot that I brought. It came highly recommended from the experts at my local Total Wine.
• Kudos Chardonnay, a Willamette Valley wine with flavors of honeydew, lemon zest, peach and cream. I'm not a huge Chardonnay fan, but this was good.

On the red side, we had an array of Pinot Noirs...Oregon and pinot grapes are not joke!

• A to Z Pinot Noir, my favorite of the pinot noirs, full of berry notes and a nice, long finish.
• Olsen Family Vineyards Pinot Noir, a screw-top (easy peasy!) subtle pinot with hints of cherry and chocolate.
• King Estate Acrobat Pinot Noir, a plummy pinot with hints of raspberry, cocoa and coffee. 

Ashleigh did her research on Oregon! In honor of Oregon's state nut, the hazelnut, we had Nutella with banana slices and sprinkles of coconut, all on top of graham crackers.

The Hood River area is known for its pears, so we had a salad with pears, walnuts and avocado.

For an entree, Ashleigh made really, really great rosemary garlic salmon.

But our favorite part might have been the Tillamook Garlic Chili Pepper Cheddar Cheese, a truly unique cheese unlike no other I've tried! The website description calls it "a real conversation cheese," and wouldn't you know it, that came true! The cheese is made by the Tillamook Valley Creamery and is a win.

Our next wine adventure will just be a hop up the Pacific coast to Washington state!