Please The Palate Pick of the Week: Provisions Tasting at Soter Vineyards, Willamette Valley

Written by Allison Levine on August 17, 2019

Lifestyle Food Wine

Today, a visit to a winery can offer so much more than a wine tasting. There are vineyard tours, reserve tastings, meeting the winemaker, food pairings and barrel tastings. Each of these experiences enhance the wine tasting experience, leaving a lasting memory. On my visit to Soter Vineyards in the Willamette Valley, my friend and I sat down for the Provisions Tasting, which offers a sampling of the current release wines paired with small plates crafted from the produce and meat grown on their biodynamic farm. From the moment we pulled up to Soter Vineyard until the moment we drove away, the Provisions Tasting at Soter Vineyards was extraordinary and that is why it is the Please The Palate pick of the week.

Mineral Springs Ranch is a 240-acre oak savanna in the heart of the Yamhill-Carlton AVA. Soter Vineyards is the 32 acre estate vineyard and the entire property is a biodynamic estate owned by Tony and Michelle Soter.

We drove up the long driveway to the top of Mineral Springs Ranch.

At the top of the hill is the Soter Vineyards Tasting Room. The rectangular wood barn looks rustic from the outside but is anything but rustic on the inside. Read More +

Please The Palate Pick of the Week: Serendipity Ice Cream, McMinnville, Oregon

Written by Allison Levine on August 10, 2019

Lifestyle Food

I love ice cream and when I am traveling I always do a little research to see if there are any local ice cream places. As I traveled around the Willamette Valley in Oregon this week, I made my home base in the quaint town of McMinnville. Per usual, I started a google search to see what I might find. Not only did I find an ice cream shop serving local, Oregon made ice cream, but the mission of the business makes Serendipity Ice Cream in McMinnville, Oregon, the Please The Palate pick of the week.

Sitting on a corner along Third Street, the main street, in McMinnville, Seredipity Ice Cream looks like an old time ice cream parlor. Serving more than two dozen different flavors of Oregon-made ice cream, guests line up to order their ice cream. The ice cream is creamy and delicious but what makes this place so special are the people serving the ice cream.

Serendipity Ice Cream provides employment to adults with developmental disabilities. It was established in 2000 as an MV Advancements integrated work environment. MV (Mid-Valley) Advancements was founded more than 50 years ago by Margaret Reavis Larson to help adults with disabilities through innovative approaches in order to meet and exceed their own personal goals of growth and development so they can live a fulfilling life.

Ice cream always puts a smile on my face but knowing that eating ice cream is helping other people made me all the happier. I am so happy I found this wonderful ice cream shop in McMinnville, Oregon! Serendipity Ice Cream is the Please The Palate pick of the week.

Serendipity Ice Cream
502 NE Third Street, McMinnville
503.474.9189

South African Wine Redefined

Written by Allison Levine on August 8, 2019

Lifestyle Wine

The wines being made in South Africa are pretty exciting to taste! I already knew how good the Chenin Blancs were but I had not tasted a Pinotage that I had liked until I attended a seminar entitled South Africa Redefined. Any preconceived ideas about this old world meets new world wine region need to be thrown out the window. Time to meet some of the winemakers focused on site-specific, terroir-driven wines that showcase what South Africa has to offer, as I wrote about in the Napa Valley Register, and am sharing here.

What types of wines do you think come from South Africa? Perhaps it is Pinotage or even Chenin Blanc. Or perhaps it is bulk wine, inexpensive wine or wine with animal labels.

South Africa has a 400-year-old history of making wine and while it may be “old-world,” South Africa is in many ways “new world.”

Twenty years ago, there were 300 wine producers in South Africa. Today there are approximately 750 producers. Many of these producers are focusing on specific sites to make terroir-driven wines. They are what is driving South Africa’s wine industry today and are redefining any preconceived ideas we may have.