We are back from our trip to Eugene, Oregon where we attended the 30th annual conference of the Society of Wine Educators (SWE). We were unable to take the time to participate in any of the pre-conference visits to the local wineries, so we will have to make another trip. But, with my parents moving to Ashland, OR in the next few days, I’m sure that won’t be a problem.

Getting to the conference was a bit of a challenge, as you may recall the torrential storms we had last Wednesday. As a result, our flight was significantly delayed, pushing our arrival into SEA-TAC ahead five hours. Landing at 2:00 AM, we had missed our connection to Eugene and thus spent the night at the Marriott’s airport hotel.

We were safely at the conference by 10:00 AM on Thursday morning, having only missed the plenary session, although we did hear it was a great presentation. Back on track, we proceeded to our first session, for which I chose a presentation on the Russian River AVA. From there, it was a whirlwind of activity. Eleven educational sessions, three sponsored lunches, an international tasting and a gala dinner later, I was beginning to develop palate fatigue by the last day, but nonetheless, it was a wonderful conference.