We’re already on the second leg of our pre-Thanksgiving Western tour. The first part of our journey brought us to the Spa at Valewood, a lovely boutique hotel outside of Los Angeles. (aka Jack & Jenna’s). We were on the golf package – 3 rounds in a 3-night stay playing in all kinds of weather – 50-mile-per-hour winds in the canyon on day 1, sunny and warm day 2 and a chilly round at 7 am on departure day. Pat broke 100 on the sunny day – fair weather golfer that she is.

As we basked in the late morning sun after golf, we wondered – why are we leaving here for cold and rainy Oregon? The headline in today’s Oregonian is “One Storm Down, Two to Go.” Oh well, it’s what we do for wine.

In that regard, part two of our trip started off well. After a complimentary glass of Pinot Noir in the hotel library, we settled in for dinner right in the hotel’s cozy lounge. In addition to wine and beer, Oregon also produces artisenal gin – all that is enough to keep even Pat warm. We had heard and read that the food in Portland is wonderful, and we weren’t disappointed. Jim started with crab cakes that were unlike any we had had before – he thinks the unique taste was fennel. Pat had a salad of poached pear, goat cheese and little berries she had never seen on a plate before – they looked like something you would see on a bush in the forest, which they probably were. Our entrees were also delicious – wild boar bolognese (memories of Florence)and braised leg of lamb with root vegetables and gnocchi.

The restaurant was out of the Tempranillo we wanted so we took the waiter’s wine recommendation – Dunham Cellars 2006 Trutina from Columbia Valley in Washington. It was a Cab, Syrah and Merlot blend and was also delicious – jammy yet with enough tannins to give it body. We’re off to a good start on part 2 of the tour.