Costa Rican Wine? Forget it.

The intrepid wine tourist in me was sorely disappointed with the 3 tastes of wine made in the Central Valley of Costa Rica. A blanco, tinto and rose were proffered free in an attempt to sell some bottles to the tourists.
All three cupfuls went into the bin after half a sip.

Chilean and Argentinian wines remain my favorites, but this close to the equator, one has to keep them both chilled so they don't boil and spoil.

In search of the holy grail, DeeTouring Dee, the Wine Dee-Va

Princess of Pinot is Contributing Blogger

Dee Farrell, a wine scribe who sips, swirls and savors Oregon wines, has join the growing list of wine blog contributors to TravelsWithWine.com.

Pour yourself a glass and read up as you drink up.

Rex Hill: Signature Wine of A to Z Wineworks

I'm a long-time lover of Rex Hill Wines - particularly the pinot - and I'm thrilled to be visiting the vineyard for the first time this week.

The very clever A to Z Wineworks company purchased the 25-year-old Rex Hill vineyard and winery last year - and haven't stopped growing more than grapes. They certainly have my vote of confidence and my vote for the best written wine website in Oregon.

I should know, my main writing projects at Copywriting Cafe involve web content overhauls of first-generation websites. I couldn't find a thing wrong with AtoZ and much to admire.

Since I'm a registered Donkey Party member, guess its time to buy another aristocratic wine (05 Rose) at a democratic price to watch the primary election results roll in!

Favorite Wine Shop off Hawthorne

Pietro helped me with my purchases on Friday afternoon, and I left the shop with a backpack filled with two pinots and two tempting Sangioveses from his father's vineyard off Sonoma.

Pietro, the wine was so tempting that I cracked open the first and shared it with Jim and Dave over a Cowboy Pizza from Papa Murphy's. Great combo, we all agreed. The second will probably be my nightcap tonight, as I promised to give him some feedback and tasting notes.

The pinots are being saved for my birthday on Monday and deck party next Friday. I bought an Oregonian wine, Eyrie Vineyards by David Lett - can't wait to try these old vine drops - and another pinot from Marlborough, Oregon's cousin AVA on the other side of the hemisphere on the South Island of New Zealand. I've toured there, but this is a new label for me to try with maybe NZ lamb on the grille during the deck party. Hopefully we won't get weathered out like last Friday night.

PS The photo was taken when I was the age of the number of this row of pinot. I was dee-touring down-under then and my passion for pinot began at this Tasmanian vineyard.

Vino Ventures...Wine Travels

I've revived my wine tasting and tour guiding business - Vino Ventures - to cover my Oregon wine wandering and writing.
I retired the wine tourism operation in Tasmania (vinoventures.net) and returned to the USA a few months ago. I've been visiting vineyards, attending food and wine festivals, and pitching magazines on feature stories about Oregon's premier vintages.
I also started a monthly wine tasting society, called Third Tuesday Twilight Tasting, held at West Cafe in Portland. It's a fun evening with new friends and great grapes. Naturally, I'm alternating between Australian, New Zealand and Oregonian wines, which are very similar in my opinion.

I also will be contributing to a wine blog called TravelsWithWine.com produced by ZephyrAdventures.com. They have imitated my one-day Vino Ventures concept into a multi-day, multi-sport, multi-vineyard tour and I can't wait to help them promote the new tours in Oregon Wine Country and in my beloved Sonoma Wine Region in CA.

Drop me a line at vinotravelventures@gmail.com for my Princess of Pinot tasting notes.
En vino veritas, Ms. DeeVine