Spring brings barrel tasting

The Hostess and I spent the weekend at what seemed a virtual sprint but an enjoyable one, nonetheless. The schedule began Saturday with us chugging around the valley for the second weekend of the "Barrel Into Spring" tasting event sponsored by the Grand Valley Winery Association, a fun annual event that this year seemed more-crowded than ever. Officially limited at 190 people per weekend (it originally was a one-weekend event but demand grew to where another weekend recently was added), this year there were enough winelovers partaking in the hospitality that another weekend might be added soon. At least that's what we were told by one winemaker, but until the announcement is official It's best I not say who said it. We tasting some interesting wines, some not-so-interesting wines and some wines best forgotten. That's to be expected no matter where you go in the wine world, and the Grand Valley is no different in that respect from Napa, New Zealand or Europe. Winemaking remains mostly art with a bit of science (it seems chemists make pretty good winemakers) thrown in to balance the left/right sides of the brain. But one thing you find everywhere is the passion to make great wines, even if you know the path ahead of you is fraught (that's a Jeremy Parzen-sounding word, isn't it?) with peril. This year's Barrel Tasting was the usual mix of education and delicious food. Jenne Baldwin-Eaton, winemaker at Plum Creek Winery, arranged a well-conceived and well-executed display of wine glasses each holding a different scent to give guests a better idea of what aromas they might find in wine. And Parker Carlson of Carlson Vineyards, had the incomparable food of Grand Junction's Il Bistro Italiano to accompany his wines. His Tyranosaurus Red is made from Lemberger, a medium-boded red wine that paired well with the lamb Ron Hall was cooking. Parker and Mary weren't present this year but instead were in Wisconsin on their annual business/fishing trip. It seems last year Mary caught the bigger pike on the trip, something she was quick to share with us on their return. Speaking of Dr. P, he, Alfonso and Susannah have written some lovely words about Abruzzo, recalling the terremoto (earthquake) of six weeks ago and the resilience of the Abbruzzesi people. I'll touch on that a bit later. And oh, yes, there was this wine dinner at a bison ranch. More on that, too. I'm off on another assignment.