Discovering the hidden gems of Wine Country and bringing it to you via a weekly newsletter, podcast and iPhone App.
🍷 Weinnotes - Weekly Oregon Wine Newsletter
| Hi there! I'm A.J. and you're receiving this email because you signed up for a weekly newsletter about Oregon Wine and Wineries. Thank you for being here. If you enjoy please forward it to a friend who also enjoys wine. And if this email was forwarded to you, get your own by clicking here🍷 |
I finished a book this week that you might be interested in. The underlying subject matter is food, a little wine, and some great stories surrounding a food journey. I was hooked early on when one character left her husband and daughter forever to chase wine and a sommelier. The book's name is "Great Kitchens of the Midwest". It is 336 pages and can be knocked out quickly in a weekend. I highly suggest pairing it with some Oregon Bubbles, maybe Lytle-Barnett.
There aren't many links this week, but I did run across another quick interview with David Adelsheim titled "Stories of Passion and Pinot."
Today's newsletter will be shorter than usual for a couple of reasons. First, it is a podcast week, and second I am doing what I can to finish the newsletter on Wednesday this week. While it is raining in Oregon today, I decided to chase some sun in Palm Springs for Pinot Fest. If you remember, I asked a while back if anyone wanted to meet up, and nobody took me up on it. Don't sweat it. I will tell you all about it in a few weeks, sun and all.
Something I am trying to accomplish this year for the podcast is to interview multiple people surrounding one theme. For example, today's podcast interview is with Chase Renton. He is the winemaker for L'Angolo Estate and Chosen Family Wines. In that same group are Jacob Gray and Channing Frye. Fingers crossed, I can get them on the podcast so you can get multiple viewpoints around one subject. Stay tuned for more details!
A few months back, someone recommended I interview Chase, and there was no way I could disagree. So I asked, "What is one question I should ask?" He replied, "What do you enjoy most about being a new dad?" I wrote down the question, and yes, I asked the question. I am so glad I did. In the interview video, I have different photos of the topics we covered. When I asked this question, I stole one of his IG photos of him holding his baby with the biggest of smiles on his face. When he saw the photo, the response I got was priceless.
Wine is this magical conduit to friends, family, and life. Chase lives a charmed life surrounded by friends and family, and I hope you enjoy this week's podcast!
All of the links:
- YouTube
- Apple Podcast
- Spotify
With Gratitude,
A.J.
PS - Tell me someone you would like me to interview for the podcast.
Weinnotes, Wine Country's Hidden Gems
Discovering the hidden gems of Wine Country and bringing it to you via a weekly newsletter, podcast and iPhone App.
If you remember the newsletter I sent out in March, I mentioned the format was changing a little. Well, skipping a month wasn't exactly what I had in mind, and I hope that is not a trend I keep doing. Life is fun and jammed packed. I am pushing forward with all sorts of functionality constantly being added to Block 55. I am now in 13 different states and growing! The newsletter does suffer, and it kills me. I enjoy writing these so very much! Let's dive into it shall we? Family, we all know...
I am starting the newsletter while flying to Monterey for the DTC Wine Symposium. It's hard for me to believe that 6 years ago I started on this deep dive into the wine world, and now the wine world is all around me in so many ways. If you would have told me I would have created an experience platform, aka a reservation and ticketed event system for wineries, I would have laughed. There are so many people I know going to the Symposium from Oregon, California, and Washington. I can't wait to...
Here we are, the last month of 2025. It feels like this year has flown by before me, but looking back there have been some incredible memories I will hold near and dear to my heart. It has also been a bit of a difficult year, but with all of the difficulties come learnings to be a better person. I truly hope the remainder of the year is delightful for you and 2026 brings everything you could possibly want. With that being said, the other day I took a walk in between rainstorms. There was a...