Lenné Estate

And it didn't rain....

Everything conspired to go wrong on Saturday evening, but in the end it all went right. We hosted our first annual barbecue for our Rootstock Club which is the wine club at Lenné. Normally, you could plan an outdoor event for the third weekend in August and, 9 out of 10 years,  be perfectly safe. Not this year. The day was cool and showers were supposed to arrive later in the evening. At about 6:30, I felt some sprinkles which wasn't all bad as I was manning the barbecue, but just a little panic started to sink in as I watched the gray clouds coming from the west.

A little more tension set in when I realized that all the guests were here and the caterer, with the rest of the appetizers and the rest of the food, was late. Well who needs food when you have wine. And I had bigger problems to deal with, somehow we had more guests than rsvp's.  In a previous life I ran a food business and can always tell when I walk into a restaurant on a busy Saturday and they are out of control and trying to cover. At that point it felt a little like that.  You fly by the seat of your pants and trust that your preparation, along with some good reactions, will save the day. You just keep your fingers crossed at that point and hope it all doesn't blow up in your face.

Saturday evening we had no food and potentially more people than we could seat. We had rain threatening and a poor piece of planning on my part, left me on the grill trying not to burn the food we did have.  But somehow it all worked. The food came just in time and the staff and friends kicked in to gear to pull it off.

But the real people that made it work were the Rootstock members. This was our first real event and our overcrowded venue turned intimate with new friendships being formed. Some wine makers don't like to entertain, but I enjoy it. I grew up in the hospitality and marketing side of the wine business, coming to farming and wine making later. And it's not just entertaining anyone.  In my business,  wine club members are the most important customers I have. Some of the members were in a club I started at a former winery and followed me when I started Lenné and there is nothing more satisfying than that. Some of these people formed long term friendships with each other as a result of joining that club.

Hopefully we started a few new long term friendships Saturday. A special part of the evening was being able to host Fred and Mary Benoit. I went to work for Fred and Mary 8 years ago before they sold Chateau Benoit and it became Anne Amie. Better than anyone, they understand what it takes to build a wine brand from a bare piece of land.  Many producers today owe them and the other early wine pioneers in the Willamette Valley a great deal of respect for sticking their necks out to follow a dream and make it easier for us.

I thought about all my customers when they left a little after 9 and the rain started in earnest. I felt a little blessed. Indeed, the laughter on the terrace Saturday evening and the comments on the wine were validation to me. People who have followed me make the business so much richer and more pleasurable. I am here to make and sell great wine, but having people you enjoy buy into it, well, that is icing on the cake.

A little after 9, with the last guests leaving, it started to rain. I sighed and fixed myself a plate of food. I was grateful for the ability of the guests to roll with it all and even for the compliments on the food. The meat would have been leather if it hadn't been for the help of one of my partners, Jim Waddle, on the grill. People even seemed to want he recipe for the pork tenderloin. Recipe you say....I never use them, but this is my best recreation:

Rootstock Pork Tenderloin

1 Pork Tenderloin

Marinade:

3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup Trader Joe's  very terriaki marinade
1/4 cup J. Christopher Sauvignon Blanc(most white wines would work, as long as they have good acidity)
1tbs lemon juice
2tbs soy sauce
1tbs fresh minced or grated ginger
1tbs minced garlic
1tbs minced shallot
1/4 cup minced green onion

mix all ingredients and pour into a zip lock freezer bag, add pork and marinate 4-8 hours.

Grill tenderloins 9 minutes on each side unless they are big then add a minute or two more. If you want them just a little pink inside, don't leave them on longer. Remove from grill and let stand 5-10 minutes before slicing.  Fan out the slices on a platter and spoon topping sauce over pork and serve immediately.

Topping Sauce:

3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup sesame oil
1tbs soy sauce
2 tbs minced shallots
1tsp minced garlic
1/4 cut chopped green onion
1 tbs  lemon juice
1/4 cup white wine(good acidity, but a crisp, slightly sweet Riesling would be perfect)
1/2 bunch of cilantro chopped

Mix all the ingredients and add to a jar, shake well. Best if made several hours before and left at room temperature.

Coming up for air

Sometimes blogging is like when a tree falls in the forest and you wonder if it makes a sound if no one is there to hear it. It even makes less of a sound when you skip say, three or four months between post. My bad. An excuse, well here it is. We opened the tasting room for good at the beginning of April of this year. But it is really just being finished and we are doing most of the work. The good news is that it is a beautiful place and we are open from Thursday through Sunday so you can enjoy it too.

Aside from Pinot Noir, we also taste some of our friends wine. At the moment we are tasting th e 2006 J. Christopher Sauvignon Blanc from Croft Vineyard. Each time I drink this wine I think that it should be planted all over the northern Willamette Valley. This is one of the best Sauvignon Blancs made in America. The lime, stone fruit and mineral components of this wine keep me drinking as much as I am selling. I don't really even like Sauvignon Blanc.

Sangiovese is another variety that isn't at the top of my list, but somehow David O'Reilly pulled off one of the best I have ever had. David owns Owen Roe and just makes delicious and sometimes profound wines. His recent release of the Dubrul Merlot was one of two wines that really made my palate stand up and take notice.

Both the J. Christopher Sauvignon Blanc and the Owen Roe Sangiovese are on the tasting list for the next week or two. We hope you will come up and spend some time out on the deck enjoying the view and even better, the wines.