May 19, 2006

Reading about Oregon wine

Did you notice the big feature on Oregon wine yesterday in the weekly Wine section of the San Francisco Chronicle? It’s worth a read.

Smart of the Chron to get local guy Cole Danehauer to write the piece. Cole writes for the online Oregon Wine Report. He does a good job here conveying the latest happenings in the Willamette Valley to an audience outside Oregon.

Also, today I noticed the latest issue of the Oregon Wine Press magazine, newly redesigned (sort of) after being acquired by News-Register Publishing in McMinnville, down in Yamhill County.

Turns out OWP’s founding operators had to suddenly back away from the business early this year, but the new owner is keeping the publication open with Hilary Berg as managing editor.

The first issue, May 2006, is mostly listings for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend winery fest. But even the scant few articles put together apparently in very short time suggest a brighter future for this fun but probably too folksy publication.

Out with the bizarre if occasionally brilliant interviews and periodic rants about Oregon wine marketing. In perhaps with more consistent coverage of what’s really going on in Oregon wine production, though hopefully without any wine country lifestyle drivel.

And not Oregon related, but I get the Wine Spectator and can you believe that there’s a letter in the latest issue (June 15, 2006) from Kermit Lynch congratulating the publication on its 30th anniversary. He even writes something like “I can’t imagine the wine world without Wine Spectator.”

I don’t know what to make of it, but I couldn’t miss mentioning it. Is he joking?

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