Being a Wino is Fun!

Portland may be known for its fine microbrew culture (which is something I did not fully appreciate until I moved to Missouri where Bush is the highlight of brew culture), but it also offers many opportunities to try the vino experience. Not only are we located in the midst of the ever-growing Willamette Valley wine industry, we are also within driving distance of many fine Washington wineries. The closest hotbed of tasting rooms and open wineries is located along Highway 99, heading from Portland to McMinnville. Passing through Newberg and Dundee, there are dozens of local wineries that are well worth the drive. Our favorite is Sokol Blosser, which offers a mixed white and mixed red (named Evolution and M) that are some of our favorite wines. Evolution is a crisp but very smooth white mixture that we frequently use in a wine marinade for Chilean sea bass. Andy is an excellent cook, did I mention that? We gave the M bottle a try simply on its association with the winery, and I was pleasantly surprised to find it a well rounded and very fruity wine that is easy to drink. We first enjoyed it on a sunny picnic at Sauvie Island (a great Portland getaway), and the warm sun and excellent company always come to mind when we drink this wine. Other wineries that we have tasted at and enjoyed are Erath Vinyards, De Ponte Cellars (their wine tasting room is associated with an excellent restaurant), and Torii Mor Wineries. Also highly recommended are the Andrew Rich Wines and the Rex Hill Vineyards.

If you don't have time to take the scenic drive, there are many places to sample wine here in P-town. In our neighborhood, Sip D-Vine offers flights of red and white of selected vineyards which rotate weekly. For a great late night venue, try South Park (named so before the popular TV show came into existence, and in fact named after its location South of the Park blocks). It is in downtown Portland, and offers a great bar menu that includes a creme brulee that is drool-inducing. As an added bonus, you can order wines by the quarter glass, which is especially helpful if your name is Jackie and you don't handle your alcohol that well. And, if you are in the mood for good wine with a minimum of frou-frou fuss, then head to Johns Market. John's is well known as having the best beer selection in Portland, but it also carries a well selected array of wine. Since everything is scaled down and pared back to bare bones, the market saves on expense and manages to deliver cheaper bottles than many of the finer establishments in the area. Of course, John's is also well known for the worst produce selection in Portland, if not the entire Pacific Northwest. Ah well, you can't be an expert at everything...

Our favorites:
Sokol Blosser http://www.sokolblosser.com/
South Park http://www.southparkseafood.com/

Where to Stay: Hotel Modera

There is a new hotel in downtown Portland that may be a good option for the wedding. The Hotel Modera opened this summer after a complete gutting and renovation. If you book early, you can get a rate of $139 per king sized room with your choice of a view of the cute courtyard or the city proper. By clicking on the special rates button, if you enter the code TZOO you can also get free parking (normally $27 a night). Although the location is a bit farther away from our reception than other hotels we have recommended, the Modera is still in the heart of downtown Portland. The streetcar is close by, which makes it a simple step to the reception! For more information, check out www.hotelmodera.com.

RSVP YES

Yeah for RSVPs in the affirmative! We've been getting them in (most of the Minnesota RSVPs are in- way to go, Midwest!) and it's exciting to see who's going to be there. So far, only two negative responses. Hopefully that number will remain low.

The best answer thus far has included a "solution" to our word problem, which points out that if we are in a speedster, we could be in Mexico during the reception eating enchiladas while everybody sits at the brewpub wondering where we are. Intriguing. Belatedly I realized that I sent an invitation to an actual mathematics professor, but luckily they didn't criticize my faux math problem too much...

Keep the RSVPs coming! We love getting them and hopefully we'll see you all October 18th! Unless we decide to abscond to Mexico, which I must admit is an intriguing option.

Andina

To celebrate my 29th birthday, our friends Paul and Sylvia joined Andy and I for lunch at Andina. Billed as "novo Peruvian cuisine", Andina has been an oft mentioned restaurant among friends and has long been pegged as a place that we have to try... as soon as we have a suitable occasion (translation, as soon as we have the cash to give it a go!). Located right in the middle of the Pearl district (and only a few blocks away from our reception site), the restaurant maintains an atmosphere of relaxed chic with exposed wood furnishings and brightly colored linens. Your dining experience can be enjoyed one of two ways: tapas-style with shareable plates of varying sizes or with traditional entree selections of upscale South American dishes. The tapas dishes are sized small ($7), medium ($12) and large(22) regardless of what items you choose. This is odd in that you'd pay as much for a salad as you would for river-caught smoked fish or rack of lamb with new potatoes. Any of the proffered ceviche dishes are particularly tasty. In addition to some unusual corn-based drinks (looked dark purple and apparently taste not like corn at all) and other South American classics like margaritas, Andina carries a well rounded wine selection. In fact, there is an associated wine shop below the restaurant. All of the dishes we had were excellent, from the mixta nikkei (spicy tuna, crab and shrimp on fresh potatoes with lime) to the anticucho de pollo (marinated chicken kebobs with a hucatay-peanut sauce). For the four of us, we ordered five dishes and it worked out well, leaving us full and not too terribly broke (for lunch, roughly $15 per person. Dinners are more, but if you order off of the tapas menu, the prices are the same). Surprisingly, one of the highlights of the meal was the beginning bread and dipping sauce. A trio of sauces is served in a white porcelain dish which off-sets the vibrant colors. There is a vivid orange mango habenera sauce, a deep green lime jalipeno concoction and a creamy peanut/cheese sauce. I'm a sucker for bread and dipping sauce, and the vibrant and bright flavors were a pleasant kick off to the meal.

If you are looking for an upscale place to enjoy a fresh meal, Andina would be a great choice for a special occasion. Its steep pricing puts it out of everyday dining, but if you are looking for a good meal and have reason to celebrate, Andina makes a great choice.

For full menus and more information, head over to www.andinaresturaunt.com

First RSVP!

The first RSVP has come in, and luckily nobody's tried to attempt any complicated mathematics on the card... Hopefully we'll hear from all of you soon!