This year’s IPNC (International Pinot Noir Celebration) started Friday morning with overcast skies and cool temperatures, rare for this famed weekend at Linfield College in the heart of Oregon wine country.

Our group spent the day at Belle Pente Vineyard in Carlton, Ore. As the clouds disappeared, we toured the vineyards, learning about the different blocks of Pinot Noir grapes within the vineyard.

 Everyone was then broken into smaller groups of 6 (or so) for a blending exercise, in which we developed a Pinot blend from 3 different blocks of grapes. Cyril Frechier (Sommelier, Campagne, Seattle, Wash.), Fiona Beckett and Fiona Sims (Wine/Food Writers, The 2 Fionas, UK) judged each group’s blend, and much to our excitement, our group won!

 Following the blending exercise, we tasted Pinots from around the world, including Oregon’s own Sokol Blosser and Flowers from Sonoma.

We then moved to a four-course lunch, provided by Portland’s Ben Bettinger of Beaker & Flask. 

First course, cool corn chowder with shrimp; second course, blackened cod with seasonal vegetables; third course, lamb from the Belle Pente property (too busy eating to take a photo); and fourth course, panna cotta with black pepper, seasonal fruit and a shortbread cookie. My oh my, can you say delicious?

As if all of this wasn’t delightful enough, once we returned to campus, we visited the Moonstruck Chocolate booth, where we sampled truffles, as well as the not-yet-released Single Origin dark and milk chocolates. A wonderful cap to our fun-filled day, that is, until we moved on to the dinner festivities.

It’s a question we recently asked of stylists across the country in a national search for “America’s Sexiest Stylist.” Sexy Hair Concepts, along with Look Good…Feel Better, a  public service program supporting cancer patients, asked people from every state to nominate hair stylists who embody the term ”sexy” – from the inside out. Those who make their clients look and feel good on the outside and in, and who are involved heavily in their communities. The stories of passion, hardship and community service were overwhelming.

The contest received hundreds of submissions and has since been narrowed down to just 10 finalists: a diverse group of people, of all ages, from across the country. Each finalist was sent a flip cam to film a short video on what makes them America’s Sexiest Stylist – the heartwarming stories can be seen and voted on here.

Online voting will end on Wednesday, July 28th at 11:59 PST. Congrats to all the finalists and nominees chosen!

Heather Gleason and Kristin Heilman

(CBS)  Oregonians have long had a love of all things beer, so it’s not surprising that Portland is the unofficial brewery capital of America. It has more breweries than any other city in the world - 35 - is the biggest craft brewing market in the country, and proudly answers to the nickname “Beervana.”

So, “The Early Show on Saturday Morning” hand-picked five craft beers from Brewvana as the best in America, and called on Food and Wine magazine Executive Wine Editor Ray Isle to fill us in on the choices, as part of our special Fourth of July tour of places that make the nation’s best food. We call it A Taste of America.

Widmer Hefeweizen: A great American version of a German wheat beer. It’s a little tangy, and very refreshing. A great summer beer. I’d pair it with grilled seafood, raw oysters, that sort of thing.

Click here to read the entire article.