July 2020 Volume 7, Number 2
• From the President – Message from Ellen Zonn
• Kiva Club Events – Mike Hewitt
• Home Socials – Sue Bieber
• Thank you for your help
• Save the Dates – Dates of Upcoming Wine Club Events
• Willamette Valley OR and Walla Walla WA Wine Tour
• Kiva Club Events – Mike Hewitt
• Home Socials – Sue Bieber
• Thank you for your help
• Save the Dates – Dates of Upcoming Wine Club Events
• Willamette Valley OR and Walla Walla WA Wine Tour
From the President, Ellen Zonn
Cheers!
Ellen Zonn
Let’s Go Places, Outside Events – Debbi Mitchell
Our January Outside Event at Urban Margarita and February Outside Event at Saigon Kitchen were both well attended and concluded with cheers to fabulous food, great friends and looking forward to doing it again.
Come join us when we are able to go out again!
Cheers
Debbi Mitchell
Come join us when we are able to go out again!
Cheers
Debbi Mitchell
Kiva Events – Mike Hewitt
These are indeed challenging times for our community and the world. So much has happened in such a short time.
In February we were enjoying home socials, restaurant outings and Pacific NW wines at the wine education event.
Then our world was rocked...One day we were planning the March “Best of the Best” Wine Tasting…and the next… everything is cancelled and people started hoarding toilet paper. We were asked to suspend all club activities, stay at home, and practice social distancing and extra sanitary hand washing. Then Kiva and Mita Clubs closed their doors to all activities.
Cory and I are very happy to be here with all our Trilogy wine friends and neighbors as we “hang in there together” to wait this crisis out. It’s good to see the emails, texts and greetings from neighbors checking on each other and offering help as needed.
We had a neighborhood “Toast to your Health” gathering in March...as have many other neighborhoods. We stood in our driveway with an American flag flying. We expected maybe 4-6 people to walk by. But neighbors showed up with a glass of wine in one hand and an American flag in the other. They kept their distance, stood in the driveway, sidewalks and street. We toasted to all those who are on the front line of this pandemic, and our family and friends. We hope and pray for those working on a vaccine, and to all who are suffering with the virus.
We are very thankful for our first responders, medical facilitators and essential individuals who help keep our country running.
As soon as it is safe, we will once again have our monthly wine education tasting. The next tasting will feature the “Best of the Best,” with a food pairing.
Until then, be safe and stay healthy. Wave to your neighbors. We are all in this together.
We look forward to getting back to a new “normal” way of life.
Cheers!
Mike Hewitt
Home Socials – Sue Beiber
The 2020 Home Socials started off the year with a bang! Even though the first three months filled up quickly, we were still able to accommodate the members on the waiting list due to cancellations.
In case you missed it, an announcement was sent out on March 15th to the Home Social participants stating:
1. Future invitations will be sent out the Saturday two weeks prior to the Home Social; and
2. If the Home Social is full, please send an email to the Home Social Chair at
[email protected] to be placed on the waiting list.
We would like to thank the members who volunteered to host the first two months this year.
January February
Mark & Dawn Carter Jack & Laura Dreyfus
Mike & Cory Hewitt Dave & Jane Folsom
Gene & Kay Mascoli Warren & Jan Goldberg
Sherri Purves Mike & Nan Ponting
Unfortunately, we had to cancel the March and April Home Socials but would like to thank the members who volunteered to host as well. Especially the March hosts when we cancelled the day before.
March April
Tom & Joan Kreutz Tom Berry & Fleeta Collins
Mark & Kim Nance Jerry & Pam Clements
Carl & Carole Schneider John & Joan Crabb
Sid & Ellen Zonn Leo & Sally Wozniak
In hopes that the Home Socials will resume this fall, we still need four hosts for September 12th (preferably 1 home on the Mita side). If you would like to host or have questions about hosting, please contact me at 623-810-9796 or [email protected].
The Home Socials are a great way to meet new neighbors while enjoying nice wines and appetizers. As a reminder, each attendee is required to bring one unopened bottle of wine (2 bottles per couple) with a minimum value of $10 each, an appetizer (1 per couple) along with your wine glasses and TWC name tags.
If you have received your home assignment and then find that you need to cancel, please email me at [email protected] so that someone on the waiting list will be able to attend the Home Social. Please don’t be a no-show or cancel on Punchbowl as I will not receive a notification of your cancellation.
Stay well and we hope to see you soon at the Home Socials!
Cheers
Sue Bieber
Save The Dates
Due to the Coronavirus all Wine Club Events are on hold. Hopefully we will be able to resume everything in the fall.
Due to the Coronavirus all Wine Club Events are on hold. Hopefully we will be able to resume everything in the fall.
Thank you Wine Club Members
Once again many, many of you volunteered your time to pack food March 3 with Food for Kids. With your help they were able to reach their goal earlier than expected. Thank you so much and we'll see you there next year.
Once again many, many of you volunteered your time to pack food March 3 with Food for Kids. With your help they were able to reach their goal earlier than expected. Thank you so much and we'll see you there next year.
Willamette Valley OR and Walla Walla WA Wine Tour
by Marla Brady
While enjoying Washington and Oregon wines at the February Trilogy Wine Club event last year, I asked our table mates and Trilogy neighbors if any had been to those areas. To my surprise, no one had been to OR or WA wineries except my husband and I. Thus, our trip to Willamette Valley and Walla Walla began to take shape.
The most challenging part was finding 13 days where three couples were free to travel! We found two weeks right after Labor Day and the rest of the planning fell quickly into place as each couple took on travel coordination tasks. We decided to do house rentals in Willamette Valley, Walla Walla and Moab so we could enjoy cooking in some nights and the joy of spending time together.
Finally, on Wednesday, September 4, 2019 at 5:59 AM, we took off in our 12- passenger rented van. Why travel if you don’t have room to bring home wine??? Travelers included Karan Schmitz and Bernie Binder; Karen and John Edelen; Marla Brady and Kerry Gust. We were adamant to stop every two hours for a quick walk about and a bio break. We carried plenty of water onboard as well as snacks and pillows.
At the end of our second LONG day of travel (driving shared by 4 drivers), we arrived in Salem, Oregon. The next morning found us at a great market and butcher shop loading our large Costco cooler with supplies for the coming days. As we were only about an hour from Dundee, we decided to take in three Salem wineries before heading that way: Witness Tree has changed hands and was a disappointment from prior experiences; Cristom and Bethel Heights were enjoyable. The wine purchases began!
All our Willamette Valley winery visits were reserved in advance. This ensured we could get into popular sites as well as make the best use of our time. In all cases, we were openly welcomed and our table for six was awaiting us. We also found taking a light lunch with us to enjoy at a winery ensured we did not get too hungry. In general, Willamette Valley excels in Pinot Noir wines, but had plenty of white and other red wines to satisfy everyone.
A favorite in the Willamette Valley was Archery Summit where we enjoyed a private tour. Our guide was knowledgeable and generous with the pours! Other wineries visited were:
• Shea Wine Cellars
• Lange Estate Winery and Vineyard
• Domaine Drouhin
• Patricia Green
• Bergstrom
• Penner Ash
We stayed at the Archery Summit Guesthouse, which is in Dundee. The house sits surrounded by vineyards and has a great view of the Willamette Valley. We would highly recommend it. The kitchen was roomy for shared cooking and who doesn’t love a firepit to sit around and have your coffee around on a cool morning?
We did have a birthday to celebrate and thus we went to two higher end restaurants that we would recommend: Joel Palmer House and Jory at the Allison Inn. Reservations are needed at both well in advance of your arrival.
After three nights in Dundee, we were on our way to Walla Walla. A stop at the Multnomah Falls was shortened due to pouring rain, but the falls were beautiful all the same. We stopped at the Mary Hill Winery along the Columbia River where the view is outstanding.
We arrived in Walla Walla to find our rental house better than imagined! The Cropp Mansion is over 130 years old and has been remodeled and updated beautifully. The Mansion could be haunted by a mischievous poltergeist that played a few tricks on some of us (I’m sure it wasn’t the wine we had for dinner). It is also walking distance from downtown Walla Walla and near a grocery store.The gourmet kitchen is a dream and we enjoyed sharing great food prepared by our fellow traveler and gourmet chef John!
We had two highlights in Walla Walla. The first was our private tour at Spring Valley Vineyard. We had a real treat as harvest started that morning and we got to watch the grapes being delivered and separated from the stems and leaves. The vineyard is located about a half hour from downtown Walla Walla; tours are free, and you must reserve (as we did with ALMOST all our Walla Walla wineries). Walking the vineyard grounds while sipping excellent wines at our own pace was a delight and we had many photo opportunities.
The second highlight was our Blending Experience at NorthStar. After a tour of the winery, we were led to the lower floor blending room were barrels of various red wines awaited us. After a bit of instruction, we each were set free to explore blending wines. More Cabernet? Less Merlot? How much Petite Verdot should I use??? We continued experimenting until we found a combination that we each loved. We then made the same blend into a 750ml size; bottled; corked and labeled our unique bottle of wine! It was more fun than any of us expected.
Other Walla Walla wineries visited were:
• Gramercy
• L’Ecole
• Kontos
• Long Shadows
• Woodward Canyon
After leaving Walla Walla, we traveled to Moab of a couple of days and then stopped by Monument Valley. We returned safely to Trilogy after travelling 3,378 miles. We returned with 186 bottles of wine. And we all agreed that we returned all TOO SOON and that we are BETTER FRIENDS NOW THAN WHEN WE LEFT!
Watch below for some of our favorite Memories. For more information on our trip, please contact any of us.
by Marla Brady
While enjoying Washington and Oregon wines at the February Trilogy Wine Club event last year, I asked our table mates and Trilogy neighbors if any had been to those areas. To my surprise, no one had been to OR or WA wineries except my husband and I. Thus, our trip to Willamette Valley and Walla Walla began to take shape.
The most challenging part was finding 13 days where three couples were free to travel! We found two weeks right after Labor Day and the rest of the planning fell quickly into place as each couple took on travel coordination tasks. We decided to do house rentals in Willamette Valley, Walla Walla and Moab so we could enjoy cooking in some nights and the joy of spending time together.
Finally, on Wednesday, September 4, 2019 at 5:59 AM, we took off in our 12- passenger rented van. Why travel if you don’t have room to bring home wine??? Travelers included Karan Schmitz and Bernie Binder; Karen and John Edelen; Marla Brady and Kerry Gust. We were adamant to stop every two hours for a quick walk about and a bio break. We carried plenty of water onboard as well as snacks and pillows.
At the end of our second LONG day of travel (driving shared by 4 drivers), we arrived in Salem, Oregon. The next morning found us at a great market and butcher shop loading our large Costco cooler with supplies for the coming days. As we were only about an hour from Dundee, we decided to take in three Salem wineries before heading that way: Witness Tree has changed hands and was a disappointment from prior experiences; Cristom and Bethel Heights were enjoyable. The wine purchases began!
All our Willamette Valley winery visits were reserved in advance. This ensured we could get into popular sites as well as make the best use of our time. In all cases, we were openly welcomed and our table for six was awaiting us. We also found taking a light lunch with us to enjoy at a winery ensured we did not get too hungry. In general, Willamette Valley excels in Pinot Noir wines, but had plenty of white and other red wines to satisfy everyone.
A favorite in the Willamette Valley was Archery Summit where we enjoyed a private tour. Our guide was knowledgeable and generous with the pours! Other wineries visited were:
• Shea Wine Cellars
• Lange Estate Winery and Vineyard
• Domaine Drouhin
• Patricia Green
• Bergstrom
• Penner Ash
We stayed at the Archery Summit Guesthouse, which is in Dundee. The house sits surrounded by vineyards and has a great view of the Willamette Valley. We would highly recommend it. The kitchen was roomy for shared cooking and who doesn’t love a firepit to sit around and have your coffee around on a cool morning?
We did have a birthday to celebrate and thus we went to two higher end restaurants that we would recommend: Joel Palmer House and Jory at the Allison Inn. Reservations are needed at both well in advance of your arrival.
After three nights in Dundee, we were on our way to Walla Walla. A stop at the Multnomah Falls was shortened due to pouring rain, but the falls were beautiful all the same. We stopped at the Mary Hill Winery along the Columbia River where the view is outstanding.
We arrived in Walla Walla to find our rental house better than imagined! The Cropp Mansion is over 130 years old and has been remodeled and updated beautifully. The Mansion could be haunted by a mischievous poltergeist that played a few tricks on some of us (I’m sure it wasn’t the wine we had for dinner). It is also walking distance from downtown Walla Walla and near a grocery store.The gourmet kitchen is a dream and we enjoyed sharing great food prepared by our fellow traveler and gourmet chef John!
We had two highlights in Walla Walla. The first was our private tour at Spring Valley Vineyard. We had a real treat as harvest started that morning and we got to watch the grapes being delivered and separated from the stems and leaves. The vineyard is located about a half hour from downtown Walla Walla; tours are free, and you must reserve (as we did with ALMOST all our Walla Walla wineries). Walking the vineyard grounds while sipping excellent wines at our own pace was a delight and we had many photo opportunities.
The second highlight was our Blending Experience at NorthStar. After a tour of the winery, we were led to the lower floor blending room were barrels of various red wines awaited us. After a bit of instruction, we each were set free to explore blending wines. More Cabernet? Less Merlot? How much Petite Verdot should I use??? We continued experimenting until we found a combination that we each loved. We then made the same blend into a 750ml size; bottled; corked and labeled our unique bottle of wine! It was more fun than any of us expected.
Other Walla Walla wineries visited were:
• Gramercy
• L’Ecole
• Kontos
• Long Shadows
• Woodward Canyon
After leaving Walla Walla, we traveled to Moab of a couple of days and then stopped by Monument Valley. We returned safely to Trilogy after travelling 3,378 miles. We returned with 186 bottles of wine. And we all agreed that we returned all TOO SOON and that we are BETTER FRIENDS NOW THAN WHEN WE LEFT!
Watch below for some of our favorite Memories. For more information on our trip, please contact any of us.