Welcome to Decanterberry Tales!
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400), is a collection of stories told by over 20 pilgrims on their voyage to Canterbury. The storytellers represent a variety of professions -- knight, cook, friar, physician, pardoner, shipman, squire, nun, clerk, etc. Their diverse social classes and personalities are revealed through their choice of tale which ultimately becomes a running dialogue about human strength and frailty.
Our blog, the Decanterberry Tales, is dedicated to those who journey with us into the world of gastronomy and wine flights. We share our wines with guest critics who come to clink glasses, break bread and savor a warm, gratifying meal in the presence of strangers and friends. Our guests come from a variety of backgrounds, adding their distinct impression to the blog. The Decanterberry Tales is a virtual pilgrimage, a running dialogue about how wine smells, tastes and finishes. And in this journey, we also discover wine's power to bond people to one another.
Who's behind all this?
Denise is an international mutt with family lineage from five continents (North America, South America, Asia, Europe and Africa). The desire for travel is literally pulsing through her veins. Denise lived in Bolivia as a child, Japan as a teenager, and France as a young adult. It was in France where Denise discovered five-course meals and real wine. Unfortunately, Denise joined the ranks of early twenty-somethings who were penniless in Europe, so to lower costs she frequently took bus rides to Chateauneuf-du-Papes for cheap, drunken swigs rather than to taste and celebrate the wine. Besides, the scenery up on the hill was spectacular. Once Denise settled down in the U.S., she worked in the nonoprofit sector and ran youth programs until the birth of her and Jason's son. Denise likes to shop at Goodwill and William Temple House, transforming old clothes into recycled fashions (she was a seamstress during her late college years). She also buys all of her son's clothes and toys from those two locations in order to lower their carbon footprint. If Denise is wearing a coat, most likely she made it. Denise is currently a stay-at-home-mom and part-time graduate student at Portland State University. With fingers crossed, she hopes to graduate in Fall '08. Denise's French is a bit rusty, but she attempts to translate what's written on some of the bottles.
Jason is a rare breed these days: a bona-fide Portland native. In his early 20's, Jason was actively involved in Portland's anarchist community -- co-founding Portland's reknowned anarchist information shop and bookstore, 223 Freedom & Information Center. During this time, he brought Noam Chomsky to Portland for a well-attended fundraising speech, and wrote many well-received articles including "Netwars", which was published in Z Magazine and many other international publications and books. In the mid-90's, Jason jumped into the dotcom movement when he created a computer business out of his bedroom. Later, Jason's start-up merged with another business to become NetXposure. Today, NetXposure has offices in Portland, Tokyo and Bangalore. NetXposure is a premier Adobe partner and serves clients such as New York's Museum of Modern Art, Harvard University, Yale University, Cornell University, Nike and the US State Department. Jason is NetXposure's VP of Technology and the creator of their successful software: Image Portal. Jason has also published several books in the IT field. Even though Jason is no longer an anarchist, his early anarchist writings continue to be published to this day. Jason is the wine connoisseur behind Decanterberry Tales -- Denise just helps him drink it.
Are we wine snobs?
No, we're food snobs who enjoy a good bottle of wine with our meal. We stumbled into our wine obsession through years of accidental tastings, beginning with the cheapest bottles during our college days. We're not professional critics. We simply want to share exceptional wines with aficionados and first-time buyers alike.
What's this about being "Vulgar"?
Well, we're being a bit cheeky about this one. No, we don't mean "dirty" or offensive. Instead, we're using this in the archaic sense: "characteristic of or belonging to the masses". Decanteberry Tales is for the community. It is comprised of people from a variety of backgrounds and could not exist otherwise. Furthermore, the current definition of 'vulgar' -- "lacking sophistication or good taste" -- makes this title especially fun because of the irony. Self-deprecation over snobbery is always preferred at our table.
Cost:
$100 or more $41 - $99 $21 - $40 $11 - $20 $1 - $10 Unknown Cost
The cost listed is based on the actual cost at the time of purchase, not the cost of appreciation over time; this means that if we bought a bottle 10 years ago and it was $30, we will list it with 3 dollar signs instead of what it might cost to purchase such a wine today.
Why do we do this?
One, drinking wine is engaging and fun, not a social ranking. Critiquing wine is not reserved for the sophisticated set -- anybody can do it. Two, wine is a powerful antioxidant and helps the body heal. Many of its healing properties either remain undiscovered or have just recently been untapped by research. Three, savoring delicious moments with loved-ones around the dinner table is preventative medicine. Our bodies deserve wholesome, organic foods from local farms. Our spirits deserve inspiring conversation and a connection to the earth and people. Our families and children deserve a nurturing atmosphere, good health and a caring adult who listens.
How do we do it? (Part 1)
Our food primarily comes from Pioneer Organics delivery service. We also make quick jaunts by foot to Zupans -- or New Season's and Kruger's Farm if we can muster the drive. Also, we have some tools of the trade like the wine aroma wheel and Riedel wine glasses and decanter to make the tastings more fun and entertaining.
How do we do it? (Part 2)
We attempt to subsidize this hobby with a (small) bit of money from Google ads. So please click on the ads if you want to help us!
Thanks.
Interested in becoming a guest critic?
Let us know why you would like to be our dinner guest -- we need a variety of people to offer feedback. Include a short three to four sentence bio about yourself. Our dinner guests have the right to:
- remain anonymous
- request the removal of quotes, photos or other material about themselves
- provide links to personal websites and/or organizations with which they are involved
- have fun
If you're interested in participating, please contact us at denise at decanterberrytales dot com.
Chaucer was once bestowed wine for life by King Edward III. He dutifully collected his daily one gallon ration for four years until another king came to power, halting this suitable agreement. And so we raise a glass to Chaucer and to you, our inspiration for this blog! Thank you for visiting!
Interested in sending us wine to review?
We're always looking for new wines to drink and review. Located in Portland, we tend to drink a fair amount of Pinot Noir, but we like a wide variety of varietals. If you are a winery or vintner and have something for us to review, please contact us at jason at decanterberrytales dot com.
