13 replies to this topic

[Jill-O]

Last year, this was the best on-site event I went to all year long. The food was fabulous, the wines were good too, and Anne Amie's property (one of the most beautiful in our wine country) at sunset was a crowning glory to an extremely fun event.

This year, the lineup is as follows:

Food:

• Beaker & Flask
• Biwa
• Jason Barwikowski
• Laurelhurst Market
• Lovely's Fifty Fifty
• Ping
• ¿Por Qué No?
• Ristretto Roasters
• Violetta
• and another collaboration from Apizza Scholls & Podnah’s Pit

Wine

• Anne Amie Vineyards - OR
  
• Cobb Wines - CA
• Grochau Cellars - OR
• Lemelson Vineyards - OR
• Lincourt Vineyards - CA
• Mt. Difficulty Wines - NZ
• Saintsbury - CA
• Syncline Winery - WA
• Tantalus Vineyards - CAN
• Teutonic Wine Company - OR
• Van Duzer Vineyards - OR
• Weingut Wieninger - AU

That is some fine stuff right there folks! Looking forward to the Syncline wines, love their blends. (And yes, wines are from places other than OR as well, it is a pre-event for the International Pinot Noir Celebration.)

I know it is a bit out into the future, but if you are starting to make summer plans, don't make other plans on Thursday July 28th from 6pm-10pm. Last year they had package deals with buses leaving from downtown, do not know if they will do that this year.

Tickets are available here, and while it might be a bit early, I would not wait too long, this is gonna be a very popular event:

http://www.anneamie....home.php?cat=13

I will update with any news I may receive as we get closer to the event.

[Jill-O]

I am giving this a bump up because it is such a great event. Beautiful setting, great food and wine - just a lot of fun. It is worth the drive, but they are also offering a package that includes transportation. Instead of the $60 for just the event, it is $95 for:

• Round Trip no-hassle transportation from Col Summers Park in SE Portland on Double Decker PDX for a safe and fun trip
• Pickup from Col Summers Park between 4:30PM and 4:45PM
• Departure at 4:50PM sharp!
  
• Admission to COUNTER CULTURE 2011 includes tasting of all 10 food vendors and 12 wineries
• music by DJ ATOM13
• and a few more surprises.
• Return transportation to Portland from Anne Amie after event

I hope to see some of you there, it is an awesome way to spend a summer evening!

In case you can't make it, I will be covering it here for you with pics and tasting notes...but really, are ya gonna let me have all the fun?! ;o)

[Amanda]

I'm loving the idea of a shuttle to and from the winery. That's a brilliant move. I wish I could attend, but I've got out of state relatives coming in and a jam-packed weekend ahead so it's a no go for me. If I didn't have so much going on I'd be there.

Best regards,

Amanda

[Jill-O]

Here's a reminder of how awesome it was last year:

http://portlandfood....post__p__134728

[MangoFish]

I purchased tickets for me and my hubby a while ago online. I got an online receipt, but no tickets were ever mailed. Is that normal? Do they just keep a list that they check against upon arrival, or should I be calling someone?

I didn't know about the bus when I purchased the tickets, but it sounds like a darn fine idea. Does anyone know if we can just show up and then pay the extra when we get there?

[Jill-O]

I purchased tickets for me and my hubby a while ago online. I got an online receipt, but no tickets were ever mailed. Is that normal? Do they just keep a list that they check against upon arrival, or should I be calling someone?

I didn't know about the bus when I purchased the tickets, but it sounds like a darn fine idea. Does anyone know if we can just show up and then pay the extra when we get there?

I think you need to contact Anne Amie to get all those questions answered. And I definitely would not just show up and hope you can get on the bus and pay later. But if there are spaces left on the bus, you might be able to amend your ticket to include transportation.

[Jill-O]

It was a great event last night! Pics and comments coming soon!!

[Jill-O]

A very tasty and fun event in a gorgeous setting...what more could anyone want for a glorious summer evening?

Here are some views of their beautiful property:





This is looking back at their tasting room:



And this is the view with the tasting room behind you near one of those palm trees:



I urge you to stop there for your picnic lunches when you do touring in wine country. They have lovely tables on their patio, and they also have some great hammocks:



What about the food? Oh, OK! ;o)

David and Jason from Laurelhurst Market had a very tasty clam dish with chorizo and peppers. Hard to eat while walking around, but worth sitting down for:



Jason Barwikowski was there (with the younger Barwikowski in tow - too cute!) and he had one of the top three dishes of the night, IMO. Fried potato gnocchi in a great tomato sauce with a kick-ass aioli on top. These were seriously fantastic. He was there under the Woodsman Tavern banner, which will be next to the Stumptown on SE Division in the mid-40s in the former trophy shop. Stumptown is opening the restaurant but Jason will be head chef and responsible for all of the food. I am so glad that we will all be able to eat his food in Portland again soon (late fall is the prediction for opening)!!



Porque No was making handmade tortillas for their tasty tacos:

[Jill-O]

Another top three dish was Biwa's beef skewers with rice sticks and green onion. So delicious, with great meat cooked rare and a sweet and spicy sauce brushed on:



Andy Ricker, under the Ping sign, had some tasty pork buns:



The Swamp Shack, a downtown cart, had shrimp etouffe:



I was so enamored with the smoky jerk chicken wings that Brian (Apizza Scholls) and Rodney (Podnah's) made that I was obviously too busy licking jerk sauce off my fingers to take a pic. So very sorry guys, I should have come back to ask for another wing so I could get a pic, but I was distracted by wines and my GF...mea culpa!

What wines? Well, I was wooed by a white blend from Austria by Wieninger, actually. Delicious wine and a great pairing for both the Beaker and Flask entry (pics later on) and Lovely's Fifty Fifty Viridian apricot ice cream (ditto). Here's the bottle:



Anne Amie was pouring their Pinot and also had some of their amazing Prisme for tasting. Syncline (from WA) was there too, with their Gruner Veltliner which was very nice, indeed. And one of the local PDX Urban Wineries, Grochau Cellars was there pouring their 2009 Pinot. It was good, but they also had a bit of their 2004 Cuvee Des Amis, and that was really nice. With all the young wines that folks tend to trot out at these events, it was so nice to have something with some age on it!



Dessert was taken care of by Lovely's Fifty Fifty. Salted caramel and Viridian apricot were the delicious choices:



Ristretto had some very smooth cold-brewed coffee which they were serving on ice, which was great, because it was fairly hot before the sun went down:



And the third of the top three was a goat terrine from Beaker & Flask. I am guessing the goat was confit, because it was rich and soft and delicious under the super crunchy exterior. Some green goddess and a sweet squash pickle slice rounded out all of the flavors so beautifully. A great dish extremely well done!



Sundown and the end of the evening brought out the fire dancing! So cool and a lot of fun to watch:






Next year, buy some tickets and go!!

[dswiese]

This was an amazing event and def on the list for next year. Great to meet Jill in person as well

sean

[Amanda]

Looks like a wonderful time!

Best regards,

Amanda

[RM]

Thanks for documenting these events for us Jill.

[WAfoodie]

Another top three dish was Biwa's beef skewers with rice sticks and green onion. So delicious, with great meat cooked rare and a sweet and spicy sauce brushed on:

This is a really inventive combination since I love the three primary ingredients separately and, thanks to this site, I know where I can get the rice noodle to re-create it.
The visuals are effective Jill, thanks.

[Jill-O]

This was an amazing event and def on the list for next year. Great to meet Jill in person as well

sean

So nice to meet you too!!