So when in Rome and all that. We recently went to Portland for the Internet Strategies Forum and… Yeah, you read right INTERNET STRATEGY. See, in my 9-5 I am a hardcore web marketing and design guy, but during the night I turn into the guy that quits work and makes music, or drinks some wine, or watches Californication until he begins to feel really cool for being a blogger because, well, Hank does it too. But that really doesn’t have anything to do with the wine.

So when in Portland, one is pretty much required to dine at a McCormick & Schmick’s restaurant. Hell, in Portland, throw a rock and you will hit one. So we showed up at Jake’s Famous the other night, shortly after having a few shots of Jameson’s and Guinness at the Grill of the same name, just down the block. The restaurant had an eclectic mix of people in the mutli-roomed dining area. At the front near the bar was a few circular four-tops already crowded in by the folks standing near the bar waiting for a table. It didnt take long to get a table and it didn’t take long to order a house selection of oysters, seared Ahi, a Rib eye, a baked crab dish and a few other items. And then we ordered the wine.

I left it to the waiter to pick out the wine. The only requirement was that it come from the Willamette Valley. He came back with a 2006 Pinot Gris from Left Coast Cellars. I was quite frankly surprised at the choice of a Pinot Gris, but the selection was actually quite insightful. The richness of the crab casserole thing was paired nicely with a fresh, light combination of melons and for what might typically be considered a “sweet wine”, very well balanced.

Now for being a wine blog I know that about 12% of the words in this post are about the wine. But to err on the side of honesty, I can say that the wine was good, very drinkable, not as sweet as I expected, and then I went back to drinking my Toscano Rosso and whackin out the rib eye. So what I promise Left Coast to do is to grab another bottle of the Gris and give it a proper twirl. And in the mean time, you may want to check out the Left Fielders Wine Club. Twice a year shipments of 6 bottles will set you back $150-$180 bucks.