As the days grow shorter and we bid goodbye to summer, it’s time to–well, it’s time to start thinking about next summer! Honestly, it isn’t too early to sign up for the 2010 International Pinot Noir Celebration, an immensely popular weekend in Oregon devoted to wonderful wines,
fabulous food, and an all around great, good time. When I was at the celebration this year, I observed that at the end of the weekend people were already signing up for next year’s IPNC.
Let me give you an idea of what it’s like. Obviously, the focus is on Pinot Noir. One of the world’s oldest known grape varieties, it produces a beguiling, tantalizing wine that is revered for its unique ability to embody both strength and delicacy. Only a few regions in the world can grow Pinot grapes successfully, and most of those regions are represented at IPNC. The two-day event is always held on the campus of Linfield College, in tiny McMinville, located in the heart of Oregon’s Willamette Valley wine region. It’s by no means a glitzy event–most people stay in the college dorms, though others arrange for accommodations in local B&B’s–but the very informality of the housing reflects the laid-back, unpretentious spirit of the occasion. The only thing that’s truly grand is the wine. Although the event is studded with stars from the world of wine, they seem to relish the relaxed atmosphere that allows them to rub elbows and clink glasses with consumers. A shared passion for the wine levels the playing field.
At this year’s event (the 23rd IPNC gathering) Jancis Robinson was the Master of Ceremonies. Among the host of other knowledgeable speakers were Steve Doerner (from Oregon’s Cristom Winery), François Millet (Burgundy’s famed Domaine Comte Georges de Voguë), and David Schildknecht (co-author of the 7th edition of Robert Parker’s Wine Buyer’s Guide, and contributor to The Oxford Companion to Wine). More than 60 winemakers, from Austria to New Zealand, were in attendance (with their wines).
As always, the event was designed to maximize guests’ interaction 
with winemakers. Seminars and tastings are interspersed with visits to various wineries for lunches prepared by acclaimed Pacific Northwest chefs. I had lunch at Erath Winery, where Adam Bernstein, from Adam’s Sustainable Table in Eugene, OR, prepared a stunning alfresco feast that began with smoked Columbia River sturgeon, and oysters on the half shell garnished with rosé sorbet (a surprising combination but a wonderfully refreshing treat on a very hot day). We had Oregon tuna carpaccio, followed by duck breast with duck confit hash and foie gras torchon. There was more, much more, with verticals of Erath’s fine wines throughout the meal.
One of the mysteries of IPNC is how the assortment of guest chefs at Friday night’s Grand Dinner manage to feed the masses such delicious fare with so few glitches. The pace is slow, to be sure, but what a succession of farm-to-table courses there was, including pork rillettes with spiced cherries, smoked Penn Cove mussels, stuffed saddle of lamb with shell bean piperade, and lemon pound cake with mascarpone and local berries.
The highlight of the IPNC event for many of us is always the Saturday night traditional Northwest salmon bake. Picture this: wild salmon roasting on alder stakes over a huge custom-built fire pit, lanterns twinkling overhead in the branches of the oak trees, carvers slicing up grilled bavette steaks sauced with ancho chili-romesco sauce. There are miles and miles of tables groaning under the weight of platters and bowls heaped with impeccably prepared salads, pastas, breads and veggies. And then there is the wine! Among the Oregon Pinots that filled my glass early on was the fabulous Patricia Green “Ribbon Ridge” (‘05), luscious Drouhin (‘06), lovely Anam Cara “Mark II” (‘07), hugely flavorful Bethel Heights “Flat Block” (‘06)…and then I stopped taking notes. Everyone had brought bottles of wine, from France, California, Australia. It wasn’t all Pinot now, but a riotous mixed selection of special Rieslings, Bordeaux, both red and white Burgundies–wines that guests and vintners had prized out of cellars for the occasion, some of them shipped halfway around the world, others carried a couple of miles from the local winery. The music was fun, the desserts sublime, and the crowd mellow. I’m already dreaming of the next IPNC…and if you are interested as well, visit www.ipnc.org
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