Here’s to Oregon

November 24, 2013 (Updated December 4, 2013)

With the holidays upon us, it’s time to start thinking about what kind of cheer will be filling your glasses this season. With more than 550 wineries, craft breweries and artisan distilleries to choose from in Oregon, the question is: where do you start? One of the best ways is to head out and meet with the makers of all these fine libations.

Advertisements

The Oregon Craft Beverage Council has made it easy with their Here’s to Oregon Holiday Passport promotion. Through January 31st, eight of Oregon’s top wine, beer and spirits producers have created special offers in their tasting rooms, brewpubs and distilleries. We like to think of it as a tasty Oregon road trip designed for toasting.

According to Ed King, President of the Oregon Craft Beverage Council and founder of King Estate Winery, “There’s a reason so much attention is being paid to our products — the quality and craftsmanship of Oregon wine, beer, and spirits simply can’t be beat.  Even more promising is what lies ahead.”  We couldn’t agree more.

With the Here’s to Oregon Holiday Passport, you can experience first hand the quality and craftsmanship of Oregon’s spirits. All you need to do is download the passport and show it at participating member locations. The passport includes festive offerings like free wine tastings and complimentary pint glasses.

While serving Oregon’s craft beverages on your holiday table is all about good taste, it also supports thousands of families who grow and make what we love to drink.

As always, be safe and smart when you’re out on the road sampling Oregon.

Holiday Passport Participants:
A to Z Wineworks (Newberg)
Bull Run Distilling Company (Portland)
Deschutes Brewery (Bend)
Deschutes Brewery Portland Pub (Portland)
Erath Winery (Dundee)
King Estate Winery (Eugene)
Ninkasi Brewing Company (Eugene)
Willamette Valley Vineyards’ Tualatin Estate (Forest Grove)

About The
Author

Greg Robeson
Oregon Bounty Manager Greg Robeson was born for this job. A fifth-generation Oregonian who grew up in Central Oregon, food was always part of his recreation, whether hunting for wild asparagus, baking with his mom, or cooking family meals to avoid doing farm chores (yep, that’s right, Greg used to live on a pig farm). In college, full menus from the makeshift kitchen in his dorm room became somewhat of a post-midnight legend. In the mid-1980s, Greg’s work in public relations and marketing and penchant for volunteering introduced him to the pioneers of the Oregon wine industry and the leaders of Portland’s culinary evolution. At the time, the concept of fresh-from-the-farm cooking (led by another guy named Greg – Higgins) was just being planted. Working with some of Portland’s top chefs as clients and through volunteer projects, Greg watched and learned. It helped hone his passion for food with some actual cooking skills. Today, he cooks nightly for his wife Kelli and two year-old son Milo (who already has his own chef jacket and toque). Of all the pro bono work he’s done, Greg’s proudest moment was convincing Alice Waters to come to Portland for a fundraiser to build a vegetable garden at an inner northeast Portland school. In addition to the Oregon Bounty project, which consumes half of his year, Greg is president of Robeson Communications, a firm providing a full range of advertising and marketing services to clients in the Pacific Northwest. His culinary clients have included Archery Summit Winery, Carlton Farms, Domaine Serene Winery, Henry Weinhard’s, Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, and Seafood Oregon. If he can be allowed to brag a bit, in 2006 Greg’s work on behalf of Oregon Bounty was recognized with PRSA’s highest national honor, the Silver Anvil. Then again, he’d just as soon be thinking about what to make for dinner tonight.