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This is the perfect time of year to treat yourself and your loved ones to the gift of memorable wines, good food, and a relaxing weekend in Oregon wine country at the International Pinot Noir Celebration. For the first time, the IPNC is pleased to offer a limited number of IPNC Holiday Packages for those who act fast. These packages include two full registration tickets to the IPNC weekend ($975 each) as well as one case of IPNC Library wines made by Cristom Vineyards, Brooks Winery, and R. Stuart and Co. for the 2004 Translating Terroir seminar. Each winery produced a Pinot Noir from the Domaine Drouhin Oregon estate vineyard and the holiday case will include four bottles of each wine for you to enjoy and compare.

Only 50 IPNC Holiday Packages are available and each package is valued at $2,350. We are excited to offer these 50 holiday packages for $2,100 with ground shipping included! If you would prefer three-day shipping, we'd be happy to accommodate your request at an additional fee. In order to receive your package by December 24th, please contact us by phone (800.775.IPNC) or by email (info@ipnc.org) no later than December 15th.
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The IPNC will proudly host over 60 prestigious Pinot Noir winemakers from three continents, including regions such as Burgundy, New Zealand, Austria, Germany, California, and Oregon.

Highlights of the 2009 IPNC weekend will include: TWO large format seminars, alfresco tastings, rosé lunches, a Willamette Valley vineyard tour, the Grand Dinner, the traditional Northwest Salmon Bake, an author book signing, and our first ever Pétanque in the Park tournament!

Don't wait to register! For tickets and more information, please visit the IPNC website or call us at 800.775.4762.
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Sam Tannahill is the Executive Winemaker at Rex Hill Vineyards and A to Z Wineworks, as well as co-owner of Francis Tannahill Wine Co. with his wife Cheryl Francis. Sam shares his thoughts on the 2008 Oregon vintage...

"This harvest will be one that goes down in my memory as victory snatched from the jaws of defeat...coming from behind to win when you are down 5 in the bottom of the 9th at game 7 of the world series...call it what you will, it is almost over and I am grateful, tired, happy, close to ecstatic, contemplative, tired, a little hung over and very, very contented.

IPNC Alfresco Lunch

At the beginning of October we were looking at disaster. Right now at the beginning of November we are looking at triumph. Whatever higher power one believes in smiled at us up here in the North this year. We were blessed with weeks of beautiful weather, low yields, and beautiful fruit. Those who waited are sitting on some truly beautiful wines. This is certainly the longest harvest I have ever been involved in - we started picking on the 25th of September and stopped on Halloween (except for a small lot of white we have out to make a sticky)...it is also one of the finest. Each vineyard really shows its pedigree and heritage. Every tank is different.

If I did have to pick one unifying factor that links the wines, it would be concentration. The wines are concentrated, deep and easily extracted. The wines have plenty of stuffing and tannin. Also, for the first time in years, the natural acids are balanced, pure and give focus to the wines.

Although the winemaking is far from over (we probably won't be done pressing and going to barrel for another two weeks) my early reflections on the wines are that this vintage is:

1. One of the best vintages I have seen in Oregon.

2. A cross somewhat between 1999, 2000, and 2002. The wines have all the lush fruit and elegance of the 1999 vintage, the structure and concentration of the 2000 vintage and the natural balance, acidity and sense of place that so characterized the 2002 vintage.

The lateness of this vintage, the absolutely fantastic weather, and the lack of disease may push the 2008 vintage into the record books and leaves me grasping for superlatives all the way around! They really are fantastic wines."