Phil Knight Legacy Basketball Event

Family needs to understand that they are not necessarily top priority at all times.

Anyway, because it's the off-season, here's really beautiful Penn Station, which was demolished in 1963 to make way for the really ugly Madison Square Garden.

 

Family just came back from Portland and described as a place I wouldn’t want to visit even with the Gators on town, but this would be a great event to see.

 

There are good and bad places everywhere. If the opportunity comes your way, go for it.

 

My take on Portland:

They are too "precious".

Their IPA's are over hopped but they think they are the best.

The food truck culture is amazing. Not LA amazing, but up there.

Close proximity to some of the best wineries in the world. Oregon wines can be awesome.

Powell's bookstore is a gem. Better than anything I have seen in New York or Chicago for regular (not collector) books.

It is too hipster and expensive for my taste.

And I have family there so that is a plus.

 

i agree with the wine being awesome as my daughter lived there three years and got married in a vineyard on top of a mountain, a more beautiful wine area and tops Napa and Sonoma for beauty. Powell’s bookstore is a treasure you need to spend time in. There was a great sports bar near Powell’s downtown, the name I keep thinking was Schlotky’s, I will look up and get the spelling correct.

Of course the west coast has negatives, lots of homeless, Portland is the city that gave out free syringes and methadone to heroines addicts. Radical groups of activists are located in Portland.

The beauty of the area is unlike many places you will travel in life. Mt. hood can be seen from the city is about eighty miles away. An awesome day trip if you have time. Another day trip is Cannon Beach, two hour drive if you want to see the rugged Pacific coast. Cute town on the coast, lots of places to eat and drink. Farmers have a market downtown Portland in a park on the weekends, very good cherries, pears, blueberries, apples, granola and all others type of hot foods to fill the tummy.

Yes I agree with Lurker that Portland is expensive.
all in all, a unique American city with its own vibe, they love the Trail Blazers in the NBA. NIKE puts a lot of money into this tournament and if you have time and money is a great trip the the city of Roses!

 

unfortunately everywhere is expensive these days...

 

Not that we are talking about this, but about 10 years ago, we were in the Napa region and thought "let's see what the 'A' list folks can do", especially those who are strictly local. Man, was I in for a shock. The West Coast winery business is almost exclusively about getting all the money out of your pocket instead of reaching-for-the-stars in their craft.

I will NEVER say another word about the dynamics of Virginia wines versus the US "snob" wines. Low-end value? Sure they still do a remarkable job, but Australia, Chile and Argentina are neck-and-neck with them now.

I would much more prefer a 3L box of Argentinean Malbec over some West Coast snob wine from an "elite" winery. They made their bed and now they have to sleep in it.

 

So, you sip with pinky in?

 

Hell, yes. Argentine Malbec is my go to wine, and you'd be shocked how much you can buy a vineyard for in Mendoza. It's less than the price of a condo in most US cities.

 

I really like Chilean wines!

 

My wine cellar (yes, I built one in a closet and it holds about 180 bottles stored at 55 F) is mostly West Coast wines and NONE from Napa. I did have some sangiovese from Napa that was delightful and not from one of the frou-frou wineries but they are all gone. Instead I get wines from Russian River, Anderson Valley and Santa Cruz in California and mostly the Ribbon Ridge part of Oregon in the Willamette valley. Also wines from the hilly region west of US 101 near Paso Robles in California. There are some outstanding Rhone style wines from there. These are all great wines. They give you three different tastes after a sip with a long and plesant finish. Not wine to be guzzled.

I also drink malbecs and Spanish riojas as everyday dinner red wines along with New Zealand sauvigon blancs and Oregon pinot gris. Really serviceable ones can be bought just over the $10 per bottle range. Mostly they are "one note" wines and not like the ones I described above. I find them enjoyable with many meals that I cook. Nothing wrong with many of these wines. If you find good ones they are a tremendous value. We used to buy cases of Ramon Bilbao rioja for less than $10 a bottle. An outstanding value at that price point. And we used to get Acrobat pinot gris for $9 a bottle before it was written up in the New York Times as a great value. Two examples of relatively cheap wine that were great values.

Now if the expensive wines I have are worth it is a matter of opinion. To me they are. To other folks they might not be. I have no problem with that. Some folks like expensive cars. My last car was a rusty Opel Manta.

 

The wine industry is changing dramatically. Climate change is screwing up European vineyards that haven't changed in centuries. We'll all be drinking scuppernong wine soon. Watch out for the seeds.

 

Malbecs are among my favorites. Just as rich as Cabernet Sauvignon without being so cotton-spitting dry.

 

I was recently in Oregon visiting some vineyards where I buy wine. They are starting to plant warmer weather vines in some acerage. Some of them already have syrah and grenache but not mouvedre. GSM wines are Rhone style and the best US ones are from just west of Paso Robles in California.

 

That is because you are drinking them way too young. The tannins are still too harsh. Decent Cabs take a long time in the bottle to tame down.

 

When I first started enjoying wine from Bourdeau I really liked good First Growths and they were only $50 a bottle. I actually liked more of the wines from St Estephe and they were second growths and cheaper. Montrose and Cos'de Estronal.

Now hidiously expensize.

 

Late Harvest Zinfandels (Ridge Vineyards) is one of my favorites but then I'm a Port fanatic. (No I don't smoke cigars) lol

 

Interesting little factoid is that all European (and American) noble grape vines are grown on scuppernong (or its North American relatives) rootstock.

 

I didn't know that. Also, isn't scuppernong native to America?

 

Not all. I know some vineyards in Oregon that have some grapes growing on their own roots. Phylloxera is there but not wide spread.