Oregon, Get Your Gris On!™ is an event that’s a result of the 2013 Oregon Pinot Gris Symposium, sponsored by Oak Knoll Winery. Oak Knoll is the leader in the Oregon Pinot Gris movement, and took to heart what wine writer Paul Gregutt has had to say for the last three years… “You need to have a tasting event for the people, if this is ever going to become ‘Oregon’s Other Pinot.'”

This year’s focus was “What the marketing efforts for Oregon Pinot Gris should cohesively be.”

Because Oregon Pinot Gris is now beginning to gather national awareness, and the effort to increase understanding continued with the Third Annual Oregon Pinot Gris Symposium on June 13, at Oak Knoll, many of those who attended the symposium were ready to just move forward. So, with the blessings of Oak Knoll Winery’s Greg Lint, I quickly organized an August weekend to celebrate. It will be held on August 17 and 18, 2013, at each winery who wants to focus their day on Oregon Pinot Gris…Oregon’s Other Pinot.

Everyone has been jazzed about doing something, but the initiative had yet to take off with an official sponsor. (Someone has got to hire someone else to get it rolling, right?) This year Oak Knoll is just continuing with its efforts to help the Oregon Wine Industry promotion, by extending its Symposium to also have this follow-up Get Your Gris On!™ statewide tasting, for those who want to join in the promotion.

To date, the leaders of the movement:

• A Blooming Hill ~ Our next Wine Club party is the 18th and our 2012 Pinot Gris is one of the selections!  We’ll be making it very festive.
• Airlie Winery ~ We’ll be pouring the 09, 10, 11 PGs as a vertical for $5. And… winemaker Elizabeth Clark will be at the winery for questions. She’s not usually there, so this is a real treat for you all.
• Anindor Vineyards ~ We’ve completed and opened our new tasting room which is an eco-friendly Oregon made Yurt, which is an incentive to visit as well as the quality of our Pinot Gris.  As far as I know we are the only tasting room inside a yurt.  We feel we are a Novel place with a L.I.V.E. certified vineyard producing wines that reflect the elegance of Oregon in the newest AVA, Elkton, OR!
• Apolloni Vineyards ~ We’re definitely doing something special for this weekend including discussion of the differences in style between Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio, showing both of these wines, and the tasting in our new beautiful barrel cave.
• Christopher Bridge and Santori Springs Vineyard ~ We’ll be pouring (and offering for sale) two distinctly different current vintages of our Estate Pinot Gris from 2011 and 2012. If “wild tropical and exuberant” fits your style of attributes for Pinot Gris, we have the wines! Our Satori Springs Estate Vineyard is LIVE certified in the East Willamette Valley of Oregon near Oregon City.
• David Hill Winery ~ We’re delighted to be part of this weekend celebrating Oregon Pinot Gris, and exactly what we’ll be doing will be determined shortly.
• Emerson Vineyards ~ We’re excited to be a part of “Get Your Gris On.” We’ll be building on “Pinot Gris and Things from the Sea” by offering seafood to enjoy with our 2012 Pinot Gris!
• Kim Kramer ~ We’re still discussing possibilities as to what to do, but very thrilled to be participating.
• Melrose Vineyards ~ We’re down for this cooperative, fun day, and will have T-shirts available to tasting patrons.  “Get Your Gris On!”
• Naked Wines ~ Vertical Tasting of our 08, 09, 10 and 11 Vintages from the Willamette Valley and Rogue Valley paired with Pacific Northwest Artisan Cheeses. We expect to share with our guests the different flavor profiles that are expressed in the fruit of these very different growing regions e.g. we love the fruitiness of Rogue Valley fruit while we treasure the minerality of our Willamette Valley fruit.
• Oak Knoll Winery ~ We’ll be doing a vertical tasting of our Oregon Pinot Gris, and pairing it with a cheese tasting of “House of Castello” fine cheeses.
• Phelps Creek Vineyards in Hood River ~ We’ll be celebrating the “Get Your Gris On!” event with the release of our barrel-fermented, 2012 Estate Reserve Pinot Gris. Join us for some paired treats that complement this new wine.
• Pudding River Wine Cellars ~ We’ll be offering a six year vertical tasting (2007-2012) of our Domaine Margelle vineyard award winning Pinot Gris to celebrate the weekend and showcase how Pinot Gris ages. We’ll also be pairing with seafood, to showcase a food and wine complement.
• Seufert Winery ~ We’ll participate in the weekend. We’ll also be offering paired bites and recipes.
• Spindrift Cellars ~ We’ll be tasting Highly Rated Cellared Gris releases from older vintages matched with some light foods.
• Tyee Wine Cellars ~ Expect Newest Release Tyee Estate Pinot Gris plus some Gris from the Tyee Library plus some Great With Gris appetizers.
• Walnut City Wine Works ~ We’ll be pouring our Walnut City Wine Works Pinot Gris, as well Lundeen Wines Pinot Gris, our winemaker Michael Lundeen’s own brand. We’ll also be sharing some small appetizers in the tasting room.

While these are the leaders of the movement, others will certainly follow. Meanwhile Oregon, Get Your Gris On!™