Doyle wrote “A Man’s Life” for this issue of Wabash Magazine and his aforementioned book was about Lange Winery in the Dundee Hills. I read the book on my way out to visit alums last summer and that paved the way to ask Doyle to write for the magazine.

The book was a year-in-the-life sort of thing about Lange Winery. The circle was completed April 9 for me when I spent part of the morning with Jesse Lange.

“Brian had been coming out to some of our wine club events here at the winery,” Lange explained. “We got to talking like any other conversation and he mentioned he was the editor of the University Of Portland Magazine. He wanted to do an article on wine coming from a neophyte’s perspective.”

Lange said the two quickly realized after a tour and interview that it was going to take more than one visit. “We just continued to go after a few more visits, a couple more tours, and through different parts of the growing season.

 “We decided to get together every month and do a vineyard tour and a winery tour to see a glimpse of the life cycle of a winery and a vineyard/farm. The Grail was a combination of all that.”

While Doyle’s book did pretty well for a niche publication, Lange saw an immediate impact in his tasting room. “We get people who come from all over the country and say, “hey, I read the book or my friend gave it to me.” They come to the winery to taste the wine see the (family’s) dogs, see the farm and vineyard. It’s been pretty fun. It’s nice to be the beneficiary of something like that but also fun to see people’s enthusiasm for the book.”

Lange thinks the book succeeded because it was written not as a technical book, but “it allows people to feel unencumbered and not be afraid of wine.”

To this day, Lange will meet people in his tasting room who mention the book. Lange is General Manager and Winemaker for the winery. His parents Don and Wendy founded the winery in 1987

Lange Winery is a boutique winery in the Dundee Hills of the Willamette Valley known for its outstanding Pinot Noir. It has been praised in Wine Spectator and other industry press. The wines just recently became available in Indiana at Cork and Cracker in Indianapolis, Vine and Table in Carmel, Vintage Spirits in Noblesville, The Corks in Columbus, and served in restaurants including The Saratoga in Terre Haute, Petersons, The Meridian, and Eddie Merlot’s in Indianapolis among others in the state.

Odds and Ends:

 - I actually have one other post I want to do after this one but it will probably be Monday. After the Tuesday night Portland reception I spent two days in Oregon's wine country on my own time and dime. But I did manage to do a little "work" yesterday morning. (Hold the laughter down!)

Wabash Magazine has a round-about connection to Lange Winery. Lange is one of the premier boutique style wineries in the Dundee HIlls' area of the famous Willamette Valley. Jesse Lange was very kind with his time and knowledge Thursday.

Brian Doyle, who wrote "A Man's Life" for this issue of Wabash Magazine wrote a book just a few years back on Lange. I talked with Jesse about that experience. I hope to have that one up early next week.

- Monday night in Seattle I learned a couple of interesting tidbits from two alums.

Greg Fulmer '05 is studying chemistry at the University of Washington. He is returning to campus, sponsored by the Chem Club, April 23rd to give a presentation on his research!

Second, I was so impressed with Bob Witherspoon  '65 when I met him last summer. He lives and breathes the liberal arts. He just cut his hours back at the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center last Thursday. He told me in July he wanted to resume music lessons for the French Horn. He plays in a local orchestra.

So, I asked Bob if he had done so and he said "yes, I'm taking cello lessons." That's something new for Bob and not the least bit surprising.

- Running into Todd Vogel at my downtown Portland hotel was easily the craziest moment. We went to a local coffee shop and caught up. Todd and his father Gordon rode up the hill to Bob Chamness' home for the reception. Both were very grateful for the really funny coincidence.

- Wabash College is indeed known pretty far and wide. During my time in wine country people would ask where I was from or where I worked. Many had certainly heard of Wabash.

- At Lemelson Winery near Carlton, Oregon, I was chatting with other wine tourists and talking about Wabash and noticed the very nice woman behind the tasting counter had something of a smirk. When the other tasters left she explained she was from New York but was very familiar with Indiana. She attended Earlham College.

 - I'll end with words similar to what I used two years ago when I went back to California for the magazine release on our first trip. I was taken, again, by the reaction of the alums at both receptions. They just had a great time. They were thrilled to meet Wabash men they had not known. They appreciated hearing news from the College. And most of all, they were grateful for someone coming to see them! That's not easy in these tough economic times. Last time we had four Wabash representatives, so I told the two groups the real example of betl tightening was that it was just me this time.

Regardless of the numbers, our alums love getting together and hearing from the College whenever they can. I've seen that at many Wabash events but I've never seen it like my return trip to California for the magazine and then this week in Seattle and Portland.

I just don't think either could have gone much better. There was great spiri and participation and a chance for many old friends to re-connect. And I witnessed some re-commection to the College as well.

I have one more post I will get up, I hope, Thursday night. But the story is a bit involved.

Last summer when flying out here to do the interviews that became the stories in this issue, I was reading a book by Brian Doyle about the state's great Pinot Noir. Doyle followed a year in the life of the Lange Winery in the Dundee Hills of the Willamette Valley. Doyle is the editor of Portland Magazine, a publication of Portland University.

I enjoyed it so much that during my two personal days of that visit, my first visit was to Lange. It was fabulous Pinot on a fabulous perch with a great view. Upon return to Crawfordsville I learned Wabash Magazine Editor Steve Charles had me Doyle at a conference.

Then Charles decided it would be great to have Doyle write "A Man's Life" for this Great Northwest issue. Doyle did just that along with several great essays.

So, to bring things full circle. I opened my first bottle of that Pinot Noir two weeks ago. It was just really, really nice wine. I have a little side avocation with a newspaper column and blog about wine. I wrote on my blog the next day how much I enjoyed the Lange Pinot.

The very next day I heard from Jesse Lange with a nice note thanking me for my kind words. I immediately wrote back explaining this odd connection between Wabash and Lange Winery and asked if he would give me a few moments Thursday to talk about the book experience and Lange wines. He graciously agreed.

I'll hopefully write a post Thursday night about that visit and have some photos!

For those wine enthusiasts or geeks, I've stayed over a couple days - on my own dime - to re-vist wine country here. I'm writing about that experience and the wines on my personal blog which you can check out here.

Tuesday's reception was the second straight night Wabash men gathered to celebrate each others' accomplishments and share an evening of conversation about their alma mater. See photos from Tuesday's reception here.

The celebration was typical Wabash with stories, memories, and days of brotherhood fondly remembered. And much like the previous night in Seattle, the discussion knew no boundries. The diverse group ranged from Brad Hoehn and Ian Bisbee, both Class of 2007, to Larry Faller, who represented the Golden Little Giants of 1958 with his presence.

I gave a brief update on activites at the College and answered a few questions throughout the evening.

We had a parent of a current student, La Donna Casey — mother of Drew Casey '12 and a total of 18 for the gathering.

An interesting side note to my day in Portland: I was standing at the registration desk of my downtown hotel this afternoon when I heard "Howard!" I turned and standing right beside me was Todd Vogel '04. Neither of us knew the other was in town, not to mention the exact same hotel.

It turns out Todd was with his parents vacationing. They had done wine country earlier this week with a ski trip to Mt. Hood and a drive up the Columbia River Gorge to Walla Walla, Washington planned for later in the week. I explained why I was in town and Todd promptly asked if he and his father, Gordon '72, could go along.

They joined me for the drive up to the Chamness home and met up with old friends, as well as fellow Mt. Vernon native Dan Schenk '95.

It's really a small world — at times a small Wabash world when you bump into an old friend, a Wabash grad, and his father some 2,200 miles from Crawfordsville. 

Last summer I traveled to Portland, Seattle, and British Columbia, and visited 10 Wabash men. Their stories are told in the latest issue of Wabash Magazine and Wabash Magazine Online. As a matter of fact, we have more material Online for this issue than ever before.

The group gathered at a Seattle landmark, the Washington Athletic Club, in the heart of this incredible city. Many of those attending were featured in the Great Northwest magazine and online. See a photo album here.

I gave a brief update on Wabash's record application year, the development of the Business Leadership Program, immersion learning, and other issues.

But for me it was watching the magic in the room that made the night so special. By the end of the night it seemed I had witnessed every single alum engaged in conversation with another Wabash man. Class year didn't matter and age didn't matter, because they all had a common experience — Wabash. The common experience was shared Monday night through laughter, anecdotes, and stories — evidence that the College clearly means so much to these Wabash men.

One of the interesting twists to the night was that we had a young man from a suburban Seattle school district join us to get a feel for what Wabash is all about. Several of the grads made an effort to spend a few minutes talking about Wabash. And by the end of the evening, two or three of the alums told me they had shared their contact information with the young man and encouraged him to contact them with any questions.

Is there a better Wabash story than that? Does anything explain the brotherhood and strong place our College holds in men's hearts than wanting to share it with an 18-year-old none of them had never previously met?

It was a great Wabash night. And the best part for me is I get to do it again Tuesday night. It's off to Portland for one more celebration of the Wabash men of the Great Northwest.

I learned this morning we may have a prospect or two at our alumni function tonight which is very cool. We have graduates from all eras and that's a great opportunity for a young man to get a feel for Wabash.

I took the obligatory walk down to Pike Place Market this morning and took some photos. See the album here.,

Sunday, April 5
SEATTLE, Wa. - It's always great to return to a place of many great memories.

After a pretty full day of travel, I'm in Seattle, Washington, for the first of two alumni receptions celebrating the latest issue of Wabash Magazine - The Great Northwest.

Alumni will gather Monday night in downtown Seattle at the Washington Athletic Club for an evening of Wabash fun. We'll have copies of the magazine on hand, thought it was mailed last week. Tuesday night I'll be in Portland to host a similar reception there with Bob and Sandy Chamness.

It was a somewhat rare and glorious day in the Northwest Sunday. It was the kind of day that draws people to this beautiful part of the country. I flew into Portland from Indianapolis and then drove to Seattle. The temperatures were in the mid 60s but even more amazing was the sunny skies and NO RAIN!

I had an incredible view of Mt. Hood flying into Portland, almost close enough to reach out and touch it. In the distance, you could see Mount St. Helens and Mount Ranier. So the 3.5-hour drive up I-5 was made a little easier with the fantastic views of the three big mountains.

I"m staying in the same hotels in both cities as I did last summer when I was out here reporting the stories in this issue of the Magazine. The pic above is looking out the window of my hotel. I'm afraid I wasn't very adventurous after such a long day.

I returned to one of the real inconoclastic restaurants of this beautiful city - The Palace Kitchen, owned by renowned chef Tom Douglas.

It's a funny place because if you just walked by you might never stop. But the food is incredible with incredible flavor and taste combinations.

It is classic northwest cuisine. I went back for the appetizer that draws them in from around Washington state. It's a fondue of goat cheese, fresh cream and french lavender. The chef throws pieces of bread on the grill, and slices apples for dipping. It's one of the most unique flavor combinations you'd ever hope to have.

Monday morning I'll visit Pike Place Market and check out the Washington Athletic Club for the evening's reception. Several of the guys profiled in this issue have said they'll attend. I can't wait. We'll have pictures and something up Monday night as quick as possible.

Howard W. Hewitt

Much like our 2006 Road Trip California, we'll present stories about accomplished Wabash men. We returned to San Francisco in the spring of 2007 for a reception with Wabash men and had a really great evening. With some changes in theme, we are repeating that success with two alumni receptions in April.

7 p.m., April 6
Seattle, Washington
Washington Athletic Club
1325 Sixth Avenue, Seattle

7 p.m., April 7
Portland, Oregon
Home of Bob Chamness '75
9936 NW Wind Ridge Drive
Portland

Drinks and hors d'oeuvres will be served at both receptions. There will be no cost to alums and their guest attending. Please RSVP by March 30 to Heather Bazzani at 765-361-6360 or bazzanih@wabash.edu

The idea is to just get Wabash men together for an evening of fellowship and to see the latest issue featuring men of The Great Northwest.

I'll give an overview of our roadtrips and an brief update on events at the college.

I found some great, great stories which will be featured in the magazine and online. We'll have more news about the receptions in the coming days - invitations to all Washington and Oregon alums are in the mail.

The ten Wabash men I visited in Oregon, Washington, and Vancouver D.C. come first. I wrote about this several times in my blog from California two years ago but the sense of gratitude is really special.

At each visit I would always thank the Wabash man for his time, fitting me into his busy schedule, and sharing his story. Every time I was told "no, no, no" - 'thank you for coming all the way out here to see me.'

Wabash Magazine has a special place in many alums' hearts. They read it soon as it hits their mailboxes and most said they considered it a privilege to be featured. Well, on this trip the privilege was all mine.

Upon returning  Monday morning Steve Charles will ask me  about my best story. I haven't a clue. And normally I'm not shy about suggesting one over the other. I've never listened to so many great stories in my writing career.

There stories will largely comprise a special Winter 2009 issue of the magazine. Some of the stories will be featured off the website. We probably will occasionally publish some information between now and then teasing the eventual release.

I'm always asked how we select who we visit. First, we always miss some people. Second, it's very difficult to schedule these very successful men on back to back days in the short time period we visit. We look for interesting careers (not difficult), some geographic diversity, and some age diversity.

I was sharing a story via e-mail with Steve Charles this week. I shared a particularly poignant moment with one alum who was reflecting on his career. Steve wrote back and reminded me "we have a pretty good gig."

Steve was wrong - we have a really great gig!

Emptying the notebook:

 - I drove the Columbia River Gorge yesterday with my free time. I took the big loop going down the gorge and then around Mt. Hood. I wish I was the type of writer who could go on and on about the nuance of mother nature, the incredible beauty of the fir trees, the shaping of the gorge by glaciers and water movement thousands of years ago. Then there is the stunning majesty of Mt. Hood, constantly popping out of the surrounding mountains and trees.

I'm a storyteller - not a poet. I found myself fumbling for words talking to myself yesterday.

These few photos will have to do.

 - When Steve and I left California after the magazine release party in March 2007, he wrote asking where California keeps its fat people. Steve, I couldn't find them here either!

The healthy lifestyle is so evident everywhere you go. I don't think I've ever seen as many bicyclists in a major city as I saw in Portland and Seattle.

 - Saturday (this) morning did not start well. There was a power outage at my airport motel. No hot water. Well, you get the idea. Should be a great day for a five-hour plane ride.

 More later or Monday perhaps!

In photos: On home page and lower right, two different shots of Mt. Hood. Top right, the spectacular Multnomah Falls - more than 500 feet tall. Center left, the Columbia River Gorge - this shot was actually near Hood River which means the peaks along the river were smaller than the first 20 miles I drove!

Gallagher is the President and Chief Operating Officer for Westport Innovations in Vancouver. The company is doing fascinating research and production in the area of heavy engines. They're working with Cummins to produce large vehicle engines which run on natural gas instead of diesel. The benefits are lower cost and lower emissions.

The company seems to have an unlimited future. They are looking for new ventures all the time. They have a deal now with Kenwood to build trucks to try to increase their fleet. The Cummins partnership even includes offices in the Westport headquarters near the Vancouver airport.

I toured the research lab where they test the engines. It was interesting to see how the natural gas fuels the Cummins engine. The modifications are rather small, but certainly not simple. A†very small amount of diesel is used with the modified trucks to allow the natural gas to fire the engine.

Gallagher's office is simple but with a beautiful view of the river running along the airport and the mountains in the distance. It's decorated with photos of family and pictures of Mike receiving many of the awards Westport has garnered the last few years.

The world is watching Westport's work. China is already a customer. The company wants to increase the size of the fleet to lower production costs, then the future is almost unlimited with large engines.

Grogg spent most of his career in northern Indiana and building a small community health center to a major social service agency in the Portage region.

He's now the Executive Director of the Ryther Child Center on Seattle's north side. The center is a residential†home for children. Many have mental health issues, have been abandoned, or abused.

Lee gave me a walking tour of the small campus. They deal with younger children mostly, with the exception of one program for teen boys.

He visits a cottage a month to hear directly from the residents and hear their concerns. He instituted programs to give the kids a chance at plenty of physical activity.

The center was started over 100 years ago by a women's group as an orphanage. Today they are serving Seattle's children with Lee's compassionate leadership making a difference in many lives.

Instead I took the tough route and drove the distance today — it proved to be worth it.

The real highlight was getting to see Mount St. Helens! I was approaching the area about an hour north of Portland and saw a huge snow covered mountain, missing its top of course and realized that was it.

Had I ever seen it before I'd have known Sunday there was no way it was going to be visible from the observation area. I didn't drive back up today because it was too late. But I did stop at the visitor's center where they have a great area to take pics.

That's where I shot both of these.

I knew the mountain was a sizeable one — 9,677 feet before eruption. But after seeing the wide swatch of destruction Sunday, then the size of the mountain today it all made a lot more sense. The volcano lost more than 1,300 feet in height in the May, 1980 explosion.

The side facing I-5 shown here, doesn't give you the full impact. The other side of the mountain is where the force of the volcano blasted a major chunk of the mountain into the surrounding area.

I really wish I had not been tired and it was earlier so I could have driven back up to the observation area where you can look into the mountain.

For anyone who's never been up in this area, it's just incredible to see the power of mother nature.

The other good thing was that it was a beautiful clear day. So, I saw Mt. Ranier passing Seattle, then Mount St. Helens, and even Mt. Hood when I arrived early evening in Portland.

I now have Friday for a little recovery before flying home Saturday morning. I'm thinking of taking the Columbia River drive which I'm told is incredibly beautiful.

Later today I'll be back to Seattle and visit with Lee Grogg '68 who has had a remarkable career in the mental health field.

Today is my final day visiting alums. It will be back to Portland tomorrow and a flight home Saturday morning. I'll post tonight after today's two visits.

A couple of notes

 - The road is getting to me, I think. I posted an entry two days ago that I had not edited very carefully. Apologies!

 - And, I referred to the mountains in a couple Seattle pictures as the Cascades. That was based on what one of the guys had told me. I posted comments this morning noting those are the Olympics, not the Cascades. Both mountain ranges can be seen from the city, just depends on what direction you point the camera!

 - Crossing into Canada was interesting. Visitors must have a passport now and there is often a delay. Electronic signs warned me of about a 30-minute stop and it was accurate. I had heard that two hours is not unusual. Basically, they check your passport. They ask about your reason to enter the country, where you are going, spending the night, and questions of that nature.

 - I spent the night in Richmond B.C., very close to Vancouver airport. This is a stop over for many people flying in and out of the city. It has a large Chinese minority population. And like the entire Northwest  it's beautiful with large mountains and plenty of water.

My last full day in Seattle ended with a great evening on Capitol Hill — a hip, eclectic area filled with restaurants, bars, live music clubs, coffee shops, and young people!

Greg Fulmer '05, a University of Washington student pursuing a doctorate, was my tour guide. I've erroneously referred to Greg as a pre-med student in previous blogs and that's incorrect. He's getting his doctorate in chemistry. He hopes to work in industry when he finishes in about another two years.

Greg, a native of New Palestine, Indiana, lives up near the Capitol Hill area and made a great tour guide. We visited a couple of coffee spots, a classic old bar, several great night spots, and enjoyed dinner at Coastal Kitchen.

We went with calamari and crab cakes as a small plates approach to dinner. This was a really cool restaurant that often changes its menu and decor — or essentially re-invents itself every few months.

We hit up a couple of local coffee shops. We played a couple of terrible games of billiards at a big time hot spot called Garage. The place is a former auto repair shop that now hosts two bowling alleys, about 20 pool tables, and a bar. And, it's expanding. One of it's owners is a member of one of Seattle's best known bands!

I realized when I got back to the hotel tonight that I didn't shoot a single photo of Greg. But I did shoot a bunch of video we'll use at some point to help promote our Great Northwest issue of Wabash Magazine — probably Spring 2009. Maybe we'll roll out some of it earlier. Greg did a great job playing host.

I drive Wednesday to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to visit Mike Gallagher. He's had a fascinated career in energy and is working in a real cutting edge industry trying to make a difference moving large vehicles away from diesel fuel to eco-friendly natural gas.

After visiting with Gallagher '68 Thursday morning, I'll see Lee Grogg '68 later in the day on Seattle's north side. That will be my last alumni visit before heading toward Portland and my Saturday return to Indianapolis.

Dr. David Avery '68

Tuesday afternoon I visited Dr. David Avery '68 who is one of the country's top experts on Seasonal Affecteive Disorder. I visited the massive Harborview Medical Center to chat about his years of research on how the lack of sunshine can affect your mood.

Dr. Avery showed me the equipment used to provide electric or magnetic stimulus to patients suffering from depression. After admitting my own less-than-positive experience with electric shock a few years ago for some nerve damage in my arm, he convinced me to try the magnet stimulation. Indeed, he placed the paddle on my arm up near the elbow and my fingers twitched in response  each time he activated the device. And I didn't feel a thing.

He also reflected briefly on returning to campus for Big Bash in June and how much fun it was to see old friends from his college days. And as you might suspect, he studied the personalities informally to see who was the same and who had changed.

While talking about SAD he also suggested that anyone can benefit by getting outdoors into natural light as quickly as possible after getting out of bed. It will help put a positive spin on your day, he suggested.

The Market

This morning I didn't have an appointment so I did the one thing you just have to do if you come to this incredible city — I visited the Pike St. Market and I drank coffee!

The market is an energetic place with a mixture of tourists,and locals, and really friendly and fun vendors. Here is a photo album with comment.

The people here are energized, or at least they were Monday, by the natural beauty that surrounds them.

My day started with Andrew Naugle '98 who is a principal for Milliman Inc. as a healthcare management consultant. Andrew came to Wabash thinking he'd be an attorney but an internship helped steer his life and career to healthcare management.

He jokes that no one thinks healthcare management could be interesting and that his job is to help insurance companies make more money, which in part it is. But he became animated talking about the analysis, writing, and work he does traveling the country helping companies determine best practices and new ways of doing business.

His office looks out over the Sound from the 38th floor of the Ranier Building downtown. He talks about his hectic life and how working in the consulting business has made him more successful and happier than he ever could have been as a lawyer.

And he's reached back to Wabash to hire a recent graduate. John Kasey '08 joined Milliman just four weeks ago. Naugle wanted to hire a Wabash man when his firm had an opening. Kasey is busy finding his way around Seattle as a newcomer.

Dr. Bob Witherspoon is a delightful man who has made a significant, truly life-altering, impact on hundreds of lives. The northern Indiana native is the Medical Director for the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center's transplant clinic.

He's been honored by his peers for his kind and straight-forward approach with patients. He worked with the legendary Nobel Prize winner Dr. Don Thomas who showed leukemia could be cured by bone marrow transplant surgery. He's helped train hundreds of physicians.

But like so many Wabash men there are many sides to Bob Witherspoon. He has an interest in aviation, language, sailing and a passion for music. He plays the French horn in a small orchestra and sees music as a big part of his life when he retires.

Tomorrow I'll visit the city's best known tourist spot — the Pike Street Market. In the afternoon, I'll spend some time with Dr. David Avery who is Director of Inpatient Psychiatry and Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington.

Greg Fulmer '05, a medical student at UW, is going to help me Tuesday night with a special project for this trip. He and I have the tough assignment of checking out Capitol Hill — a very popular area for college students.

I decided since I had all day to do a side trip to Mount St. Helen's which you'll remember erupted May 16, 2000. It's a very long drive up to the Johnson Ridge Observatory. From I-5, it took me about an hour and a half to climb the 4,000 feet above sea level distance to get to the ridge.

The temperature dropped nearly 20 degrees from bottom to top — and there was thick fog in brief spots. Unfortunately, there was very thick fog at the top, too. The hundreds of visitors, and your's truly, watched the film and waited and waited. But by 1 p.m. the fog had not rolled out so I headed back down the mountain.

From the observatory you can look right into the crater of the volcano just a few miles away. But Sunday's fog limited visibility to just a few hundred yards at times. I never saw the outline of the mountain while up there.

While that was very disappointing it was still a moving and interesting experience. I remember the first time I saw the Grand Canyon — from the north ridge on a chilly morning. This trip up the mountain reminded me of that. The power of mother nature is beyond any weapon a man can make. The devastated ecosystem is still a long way from recovering.

A park ranger, giving one of those standard talks they do every few hours, noted that most people see the gray pumice throughout the gorges and ask why it's still there and why nothing has grown. She notes they're correct in that it can be a rich soil — after 200 years or more. But Mount St. Helen's erupted just 28 years ago.

I've attached a photo album with comment. The photos all look a little cloudy — or foggy I guess. I'd love to see this area on a clear day, but it was still worth the time.

Tomorrow it's back to work with a full day. I will see Andrew Naugle '98 at Milliman Inc., Robert Witherspoon '65 at the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center, and John Kasey '08 who just joined Naugle here in Seattle.

But I did have lots of feedback in the weeks after the 2006 California trip about the wine entries. And, I think it gives you a little sense of place whether you're into wine or not. The people stories are amazing.

I had planned to visit Willamette Valley early on but really became interested when the bookstore's Lana Burnau loaned me Brian Doyle's The Grail, which chronicles one year in a vineyard following the cycle of grapes to wine. (The embedded link will take you to a sampe of his essays.) Doyle is magazine editor for the University of Portland.

Steve Charles has met Doyle at a conference and Jim Amidon was familiar with his work. He writes in a most interesting style. He even talks about his approach to writing late in the book. He ambles through long sentences that make an old editor cringe. Yet, they are readable and contain nuggets of information. He often uses that trick to pack in a lot of information without wordiness. In other words, he'll write a long sentence to list many examples. He also has a very nice off-the-wall wit.

He writes in an essay style. All books have chapters, usually of a continuing story. Doyle writes each chapter more like a short essay.

He spent his year at Lange Winery. Lange sits atop one of the highest peaks of the Dundee Hills area. It's signature red soil and steep slopes are perfect for what some say is the best Pinot Noir in the world, outside of Burgundy, France.

So, I started my Saturday journey going up to Lange. It takes an effort to get there. The last couple of miles are steep, bumpy, gravel roads. I had hoped to catch Don or Jesse Lange around to sign Lana's book, but neither were around. Instead the tasting room workers were very gracious and helpful.

The Lange Pinot is widely praised as one of the area's best. And Doyle even dubbed Lange "The Grail" — the best Pinot in the world. I'm not sure I agree with that after doing the tasting, but it is a sophisticated, well-structured Pinot Noir that is going to be put away for a couple of years so I can enjoy it at its best.

The rest of the day was visiting wineries in the area. I've attached a photo album with some comment about some of the spots I visited. I'll add to the album after my visits today. In California, I tasted a lot of great wine, and some not-so-great. The stunning thing about Friday was I didn't taste a single bad Pinot Noir. Not one!

I'm writing this at 7 a.m. Saturday with some disappointment. I had scheduled one of those once-in-a-lifetime, "you must do before you die" kind of things today. I bought a ticket for a 6 a.m. hot air balloon ride. It started raining at about 5:15 a.m., a light mist — and it clouded up, so they had to cancel today's flights. I'm hoping to get rescheduled for tomorrow morning.

Today, it's back into wine country and maybe stop by a hazelnut farm. Hazelnuts are second only to the wine industry in these parts. I'm off to Seattle tomorrow, after either the hot air balloon ride or a side trip to Mt. Hood. I keep hearing it's over there, but in four days haven't seen it yet!