By Fred Delkin

     We just had the honor of presenting Oregon's finest Pinot Noirs to a 
Shanghai  audience.  Enoteca is a new wine bar just across the street from my hosts' office on my recent visit to Shanghai.  This establishment boasts an  inviting atmosphere, very friendly owner-hosts and an admirable selection of premium wines from Argentina, Chile, South Africa and France.

We toted, in our checked luggage, a sexet of Pinot Noir bottles from Eyrie,  Domaine Drouhin, Penner-Ash, Ponzi, Lange and Argyle.  Unfortunately, the  centerpiece of our presentation, Eyrie 2001 from David Lett, "Papa Pinot," was the lone shipping casualty.

We recovered from this misfortune by explaining that the Domaine Drouhin  bottling was modeled after Eyrie's styling, which topped all the world's Pinot Noirs in a tasting sponsored by French Burgundy exporter Robert Drouhin...a triumph that caused the shocked Mr. Drouhin to make an ivestment in an  Oregon winery and vineyard located in the Dundee hills near Eyrie.

Our Enoteca audience included the wine bar's owners plus a pair of Shanghai 5-star hotel wine stewards.  Oregon fared very well before  this critical  group.  Drouhin and Ponzi were the top picks by the tasters, but all expressed their admiration for all the wines tasted.  We have made Oregon  winery  contacts for a distributor affiliated with the Enoteca management.
                            
During a  foray into Shanghai fine dining during our stay, we found only the Domain Drouhin label represented on wine lists, obviously thanks to the  international contacts of the Drouhin family.  No other Oregon labels  appeared, but that may now change.  Wine is a major item on the Shanghai scene.  Enoteca owner Adrian invited us to a private tasting of his homeland
Argentina's Malbecs later in our stay, and we came away with a very  favorable opinion of that nation's vinous outout.  

Mendoza is the primary Argentine wine region, nestled against the eastern  foothills of the Andes mountains.  Only in the past decade has Argentina  become an export player on the world wine scene, inspired by the success of Chile on the other side of the Andes.  Argentine wine consumption per capita ranks high on the international scale, but until recently it was slurped at home, rather than entering the export trade.

Wine transport solution

A startling coincidence awaited our return from Shanghai...an e-mail touting a travel bag designed to protect wine within checked luggage.  This padded  conveyance carries two 750ml bottles per bag.  Check this out at www.bottlewise.com 

This sure beats wrapping your wines in your underwear! 

© 2007 Oregon Magazine