2019 Vinous Obscura 'Pino' Special Natural Wine (pine tips)
Most of the time, wine inspiration comes from drinking a wine and imagining how it was made and where it was grown. The Vinous Obscura 2019 ‘PINO’ was inspired by three of my favorite Portland chefs. I had the great fortune to work with Chef Joel Stocks and Chef Will Priesch during the heights of Holdfast Dining. Our entire staff was just the three of us, so I had a front row seat to witness their creativity and execution. There were many ingredients and techniques that always wow’d our customers, but one ingredient in particular always raised eyebrows.
New Release
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New Release *
The Flavor of the Woods 🌲
Pine tips have been used in culinary and medicinal applications for centuries. You’d expect that for those of us living in the Pacific Northwest that the use of pine tips would be more common. I mean, we’re surrounded by pine trees. I hadn’t really ever seen them in use until Chef Will started incorporating them in one of our juice pairings. During the peak harvest season for pine tips, they would incorporate them in a few dishes as well. People were stunned and I became inspired. As a longtime mushroom forager, I understand the “seasons” within the forest. Little did I know that while I’m canvassing the forest floor hunting for those Spring mushrooms, another delicacy was blooming above. By the Spring of 2020, with the world changing all around us, I received some timely advice from another Portland Chef with deep farm-to-table roots. I was texting with Kimberly & Vitaly Paley the week that our mutual industry was forced to shutdown. Towards the end of our exchange, their advice was simple and effective; “keep creating”..
