OPB Think Outloud
What a great way to spend a Wednesday morning. I joined Portland's thought leaders on all-thing-alcohol this morning at St. Jack restaurant, where we broadcasted live on OPB. A lively 
discussion of Oregon's alcohol industry was lead by On Air Host Emily Harris. Reasons behind Oregon's alcohol industry boom, the State's history with alcohol, and some tasty holiday cocktails were all topics for discussion.
Thanks to Steve Pharo, Executive Director of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission; Brian Butenschoen, Executive Director of the Oregon Brewers Guild; Kyle Jansson, Coordinator of the Oregon Heritage Commission; Karen Foley, Publisher of Imbibe Magazine; and of course Tommy Klus, Bartender at St. Jack restaurant and Teardrop Longe in Portland. That was fun.
If you missed it, please listen here.
SONOMA COUNTY VOTES ON FROST PROTECTION PLAN FOR VINEYARDS
On Tuesday, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed an ordinance creating a plan designed to protect both vineyard frost protection measures and endangered species in the Russian River. After nearly a year of negotiations, the Board added Section 11B to the County Code, creating a registration program for grapegrowers and plan to assess water use practices for frost protection by utilizing over 100 gauges placed throughout the watershed. Information on usage will be presented to the Board on a yearly basis and will be used to potentially mitigate effects of diversions on a real-time basis.
The move to create a program started when Federal officials informed the California State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) that overuse of water from the Russian River and its tributary, Felta Creek, for frost protection was negatively impacting endangered Coho and Chinook salmon and steelhead smelt. Officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration stated that continued overuse and endangerment could result in a ‘take’ under Section 9(a)(1) of the Federal Endangered Species Act, subjecting those responsible to fines and penalties.
The adopted program will be supervised by Sonoma County and includes a scientific review panel. The ordinance provides that the gauges will be overseen by an entity comprised of members of the grapegrowing community. The State Board had rejected an earlier proposal by grapegrowers to voluntarily adopt preventative measures, demanding there be some method to “…kick out bad actors.” On October 27, 2010, the State Board published a Notice of Preparation of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and Public Scoping Meeting for their own proposed regulations applicable to the grapegrowers diverting from the Russian River watershed. The State’s plan would cover water diverted for frost protection from the Russian River in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties and hydraulically connected groundwater.
Section 11B creates a mandatory registration program for all Sonoma county grapegrowers. Growers will be required to register with the County Agricultural Commissioner starting in mid-January, 2011 and running through March 1, 2011. Failure to comply could subject violators to fines ranging from $500-$1,000. The Board of Supervisors will vote on a fee schedule for the program in January.
Exploring the Option of Liquor Licenses for Food Cart Owners
Portland-area food cart owners are innovative, creative, and continue to contribute to Portland’s food and beverage culture. The range of food options varies greatly, but it is easy to find what you are looking for, or get updated on the recent cart happenings, with the likes of Food Carts Portland. Portland’s food cart culture has even been featured in Sunset Magazine and the New York Times.
Recently food cart owners have been exploring the possibility of serving alcoholic beverages to complement your burrito, panuchos, grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwich, falafel, or whatever 
else you may be enjoying. A limited few are already serving up beer and wine. For example, Pizza Depokos at North Station has a limited on-premises license to serve beer and wine, and Captured by Porches Brewing Co. appears to be serving beer out of a mobile bus under its existing brewery license, as described in an OregonLive.com article. However, whether we will see more food carts serving up beer or wine depends on whether a cart owner can convince the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) that it qualifies for a license under the current regulatory scheme.
The first, and probably biggest, hurdle a food cart owner has is the issue of defining the licensed premises. State law prohibits the OLCC from issuing a license to a location that does not have defined boundaries. While a licensed premises does not need to be enclosed by a wall, fence or other structure, it must have defined boundaries that are discernable. Further, state law prohibits the OLCC from licensing premises that are “mobile” unless the premises is a licensed public passenger carrier (like an airline, a railroad, or a tour boat operator). What constitutes “mobile” is up for interpretation at this point and may likely be the subject of the OLCC’s upcoming request to the Oregon Attorney General for an opinion.
Other likely licensing issues include, but of course are not limited to, minor posting, premises control, and local endorsement. These issues exist whether a food cart owner pursues a limited on-premises license, a temporary sales license, or some other privilege like a second or temporary location under another license type (i.e., brewery or winery license). In addition to these license-specific issues that an applicant must address, food cart owners must also be aware of the potential for increased site liability as well as increased regulatory scrutiny through the local endorsement process, which will trigger a compliance review of all applicable zoning, building, and health codes.
Hermann attends Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin Gathering
The Oregon chapter of the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, Sous-Commanderie de Portland held its first event on November 29 at Park Kitchen in downtown Portland. Chapter member Scott
Wright of Scott Paul Wines presented "A Graduate Course: Burgundy 501." We tasted four flights of White and Red Burgundy from Chablis and the Cote d'Or. The presentation was superb and the food and wines presented, as well as the wines brought by the members, were delicious (the '07 Bonneau de Martray Corton Charlemagne was magnificent...thanks Scott!).
It was fun comparing notes on the wines with David Millman of DDO, Shirley Brooks of Elk Cove, Bill and Donna Sweat of Winderlea and Scott Wright of Scott Paul Wines.
I look forward to our next meeting, perhaps with a White Burgundy focus in the Spring.
P.S Thanks very much to David Beck of Crawford Beck Vineyard for the picture.
