International Pinot Noir Celebration releases schedule

Noted actor Kyle MacLachlan will launch Oregon’s International Pinot Noir Celebration (IPNC) for its 26th annual event July 27-29, 2012.

IPNC Grand Seminar Host Allen Meadows—the Burghound—known for his unsurpassed expertise on Burgundy, will lead weekend guests on a tour through vineyards of Chambolle-Musigny, Echézeaux, Gevrey-Chambertin, Nuits-Saint-Georges and Vougeot. Guests will taste examples and hear from winemakers Bertrand Ambroise of Maison Ambroise, Grégory Gouges of Domaine Henri Gouges, Jacques Lardière of Maison Louis Jadot and Philippe & Vincent Lécheneaut of Domaine Lécheneaut.

The theme for the 26th annual IPNC is “The University of Pinot.” Allen Meadows’s morning seminar on the wines of Burgundy will be billed as “Study Abroad in Burgundy” while the afternoon will be filled with small seminar-style classes and tastings. A sampling of course offerings includes “Flying Winemakers” (Applied Cultural Studies 201), which explores the lives of winemakers who make Pinot noir on more than one continent, “The Coolest of the Cool” (Climatology 201), a tasting and discussion of why winemakers choose to grow Pinot noir in the most marginal of climates, “Sensory Evaluation of Pinot Noir” (Pinot 101), a guided, how-to tasting with Josh Raynolds of Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar.

Attendees will be divided into two groups; one group visits a vineyard with lunch and the other stays on campus. They reverse the following day.

The Friday and Saturday tastings will be Pinot noirs from around the world from the 2009 and 20l0 vintages. The 2010 was so small that they will be combined for each tasting.

Tickets for the full event, held on July 27 – 29, include exclusive access to all seminars, tastings, tours and activities, as well as all meals over two days and the Sunday Sparkling Brunch Finale. Tickets are $975 and sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Two additional University of Pinot “post-grad” seminar options will be available for an additional fee. For details, contact the IPNC at 800/775-IPNC. http://www.ipnc.org. The IPNC is held at Linfield College in McMinnville,Oregon.

There is also another option to taste all of the featured wines. The “Walkabout”, formerly known as Passport to Pinot, will be held Sunday, July 29, 2012 2:00 - 5:30 pm the Oak Grove at Linfield College. The ticket price of $150 includes a tasting of the wines poured by the winemakers, food prepared by guest chefs and a commemorative tasting glass.