PRESS

Daily Press
Wednesday, December 14th, 2005

Wine Lines by Bob Johnson
Gifts for wine lovers

Shopping for a wine lover this holiday season?

Here are 10 gift ideas for a wide spectrum of budgets — and we do mean wide...

1. Just as "Monopoly" has tutored generations of future Wall Street moguls on the opportunities and obstacles of the business world, "Bouquet" could become an educational stepping-stone for wine steward wannabes.

Developed by Swedish sommelier Britt-Marie Backe, "Bouquet" combines aspects of the best board games, including dice and categorized questions. It even offers three levels of play: connoisseur, professional and amateur.

Before You Leave: McMinnville

Sunday, November 27, 2005
KATHRYN KURTZ

McMinnville is the gateway to Oregon's wine country, so stop at the Oregon Wine Tasting Room and Bellevue Market. Then taste from a generous 23 to 30 reds, whites, roses, ports, semi-sparkling, late-harvest and dessert wines.

Soon joining the bottles on the shelves: the new wine board game called Bouquet. Arriving just in time for the holidays, Bouquet was invented by Britt-Marie Backe, a sommelier from Sweden.

Backe loves games and fun. When sommelier studies got boring, she made up test questions; the game followed.

According to Patrick McElligott, manager of the Tasting Room and teacher in the Chemeketa Community College wine program, even Oregonians who know their pinots will find the game challenging.

Choose to play as an amateur, professional or connoisseur (hint: The connoisseur does not always win). Roll the dice, move your cork and scramble to answer from 900 questions in six categories, including vocabulary, region and estate/producer. "What does degorgement mean?" "How old is a VSOP cognac?"

The 25-year-old Tasting Room, Oregon's oldest, specializes in wines from wineries not open to the public and those outside the area. Browse through 200 wines representing 80 producers. Originally housed in The Lawrence Gallery, the Tasting Room moved in 2002 into an updated mom-and-pop convenience store (formerly a gas station, meat-cutting plant and, possibly, farrier).

Bellevue Market carries eclectic edibles such as wasabi peanuts, Balinese long peppers, fennel-rosemary crackers, fresh wild mushrooms, gourmet cheeses and frozen fruit pies.

Oregon's fall wine-touring migration attracts all levels of wine enthusiasts, and all can play Bouquet. The fun expands when sipping an unusual wine from the Tasting Room.

Before You Leave: Bouquet should be available in early December; call for availability. Cost: $40. www.wineentertainment.com Where: Oregon Wine Tasting Room and Bellevue Market; 19690 S.W. Oregon 18, McMinnville, (about 9 miles southwest of town); 503-843-3787; open daily 11 a.m.-5:45 p.m., www.winesnw.com/oregonwinetastingroom.htm

Before You Leave appears in Destinations the last Sunday of the month. Feedback: travel@news.oregonian.com

Coast Impressions - the online magazine for Oregon's Central coast December 2005

PINOT NOWAR - When you care enough to give the very best.

I will raise a glass to the memories of those ghosts, those who were our fathers and to those who were denied fatherhood. And it is without cynicism nor irony that I sit here this evening with a good glass of Oregon Pinot noir whose label proclaims itself PINOT NOWAR Willamette Valley Oregon Pinot noir 2003 ($25). This is an eminently drinkable Pinot made by Patrick McElligott and Gregg Sanders at White Rose Wines in Dayton. Patrick is manager of the Oregon Wine Tasting Room on Highway18, nine miles south of McMinnville, where this wine was sold exclusively until a few bottles managed to find their way down to Newport. His palate and knowledge make him a leading expert on Pinot noir and other Oregon wine, he teaches in Chemeketa Community College's wine program, and he is an outspoken anti-war activist. Holiday Wine Gift Ideas: For that person who only knows $6.99 grocery store reds, upgrade them to a Cadmus Oregon Pinot noir 2004 ($33) so they can experience the dramatic difference. And clear the table after dinner, unfold the game board, roll the dice and move the wine cork to the next square as you play, Bouquet-The Winegame. Move over, Monopoly, do not pass Go. This new board game invented by Swedish sommelier Britt-Marie Bäcke, Bouquet ($39.95), can provide both fun and a wine education for beginners and experts at the same table as they sip a good glass of wine. Cheers! Copyright © December 2, 2005 by Joseph Swafford

Joseph Swafford is the former owner of The Champagne Patio Restaurant & Wine Shop and Newport’s foremost authority on wines