4 bottles, 4 people - sounds like my kind of dinner party. Hubby and I have date night tonight, but don't think we'll go quite so big. Great review, too bad the Eiswine didn't live up to expectations, but I bet those lemon curd cookies did!!

Yes, I do like to shoot for the moon, why not!

Re: PR and bloggers - I think a lot of what you hear is catch phrases and knee-jerk negative responses from people who are afraid to make that shift, same as with social media. The ROI is more difficult to measure, but savvy PR people and wineries understand the need for building brands and reaching new, fresh audiences and are willing to make that investment. The wine samples to bloggers are actually considerably more cost effective than tradtional advertising. Just like a 94 pt score from Wine Spectator will sell out a vintage, so have blog posts.

Wine storage is so often overlooked. If you live someplace with extreme temperatures, if you don't have a fridge, you're probably killing your wines. Having done PR for a winery, they most certainly calculate bloggers in with their press samples. Wineries know they have to send bottles out for review and the smart ones will even calculate a percentage of how many cases they produced and figure their list from there. As the trend in publications and reviews shift, the wineries continue to see greater results targeting bloggers over traditional mediums. As for the wine fridge, sounds like your basement might be a more stable option. The world has been aging wine just fine for years without them. If you live somewhere with extreme temperatures however, you surely would want the fridge to the wine stable, I've heard the Eurocaves are the bomb, can you get a sample of one of those?

Glad you've officially joined the club of Pinotphiles. Excellent review of my first love (shhh, don't tell my husband!). Thanks for including a good selection of the oft looked over Oregon Pinot Noir in your review as well.

Your words really bring the piece to life and I felt like I was right there with you!! Fantastic overview of this "unknown to me" region!! It makes perfect sense to be growing cool climate reds in this region and I really hope to make it out there one day to see and taste for myself, maybe I'll even try the muscrat!