It would help if Oregon wines were better than their Washington and California counterparts...and not priced as if they were.

I want to support OR wines, but my experience (and that of my friends) is that they simply aren't worth the asking price. When OR vintners give the locals a break, we'll respond in kind, I promise.

Top 100 West Coast wines of 2004: 79 CA 14 WA 7 OR

Washington...America's 2nd wine state.

Top wines in the US by Wine Spectator score...

And $15 is too much for a standard bottle of wine. That's exactly what I'm talking about. There's too much very good wine available for less than $10, to pay $25 for OR wine.

Our family made a decision a while back to eat local. We have beef in the freezer from Elgin, Oregon. Our stash of booze contains Oregon micro-brews and vodka from Bend. We drink Earth2O water because it is from an Oregon spring near Bend. We grow our own veggies through the summer adding extra goodies from a local Farmer's market. We actually thought our decision would be difficult, it's been remarkably easy. We spend less too because we rarely eat any packaged or processed food. When we do eat out, we choose resturants that feature local foods, Higgen's and Wildwood come to mind. We never stay in Shilo Inns, we try B&B's. Once you start it's really fun to go Oregon!

Wait just a minute there TJ... That Top 100 list was from the San Francisco Chronicle... maybe just a little bias?

In any case, I'm not interested in drinking from the Top 100 list. Are there ANY sub-$10 bottles on that list?

I don't drink wine to feel superior to the next guy, or to wax rhapsodic about, I drink wine because I enjoy good wine. I don't care what some magazine ranks it, and I certainly don't care to drink the rare, the special, the trendy....

There's plenty of great Oregon wines, and there's plenty to drink that are under $15. (I've found the sub $10 wines from everywhere to be generally lacking.)

And don't forget the Ville as in burger. All produce and beef organic and local.

Big donors to local charitable efforts.

I know they're in Vancouver, but they definitely get it.

Here are more Oregon companies: Strawberry Mountain Inn, Higgens, Carafe, Neil Kelly Co, Blackberry Springs, Clear Creek Distillery, Sienna Architecture, Artichoke Music, Crater View Ranch, Blackledge Furniture, Pratt and Larson Tile, Motel DelRogue, Mustard Press, Schock Welding Co, Sokol Blosser Winery, Mark Woolley Gallery , and the list goes on.

There are overpriced pinots --I just got a flyer from Domaine Serene about their new "limited release" at $200 a bottle!-- so I appreciate there are overpriced, pretentious, Oregon wines out there. But then there's Patricia Green's second label "Dollar Bills Only." (named after the sign on the jukebox in Lumpy's tavern...) OK, so the grape glut is over...Hip Chicks Do Wine couldn't even buy any reasonably priced pinot grapes last year. So prices ain't going down.

But my point was more: Civic Auditorium (OK, "Keller Auditorium"), the Schnitz, the Rose Garden...can't we showcase what we have?

That you often can't buy a bottle of Oregon wine at dinner is just wrong. If Burgerville -- to their credit-- can feature Oregon beef...why can't our vendors in our public spaces?

It was fun to be at the season opening of the Farmer's Market at PSU last weekend. So much great local food...cheeses, wine, sauces, pastries. Pate from Viande. Bread from...how many local vendors?

Let's support these guys. Keep them in business, and insure there will be fresh food --REAL fresh food-- on our tables.

Frank, I should say to you that at a place like the Schnitz or the Keller, there really should be OR wines. I'm thinking about what wine I'd choose standing in the aisle at Joe's.

Kari, there are some really nice Chilean and Australian wines for less than 10 bucks.

I was watching Food Network the other day and Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals was on. She was talking very highly of the pinots from Oregon's Willamette Valley. She said there were numerous award winners and there were several great wines you could get for $8.

When comparing the number of top wines for each state, you also have to take into consideration their size. California is much, much larger than Oregon or Washington. Population also makes a difference. A lot of the smaller wineries are going to sell a large chunk of their wine locally. The bigger the population, the more likely they are to have a larger selection. And a larger selection increases your chances of having more award winning wines.

I do like buying locally, and try to do so whenever possible. I like buying foods made here in Oregon. I must admit I get excited when I can find products at the store that were made here. I don't drink wine, so I don't buy that. But I do like buying meats, produce, cheese, etc. that is made in Oregon.

I pretty much never buy any cheese that isn't made in Oregon. The exceptions are when I need a specialty cheese and can't find an Oregon one at the grocery store. I fell in love with Tillamook Cheese while still living in Texas (thanks to a Made in Oregon care package).

I really like buying at the local farmer's stores/markets that carry local produce. However, they're apparently all closed for the season right now, as I couldn't find one open today.

If you're looking for some good prices on wines, check out Grocery Outlet. They buy wines from various wineries at steep discounts, which means they often have some really great wines for under $10-- and they have wine tasting evenings (I know the Gresham location does for sure).

Speaking of Oregon businesses... if you happen to be in Pendleton and are looking for a great place for a beer, wine, etc. consider the Great Pacific Wine and Coffee Co. I have to admit I am biased, though-- it's owned by my husband's family.

AF,

One point would be reducing pollution caused by eating New Zeland apples and "Atlantic Salmon" from Wal Mart that are grown on the largest fish farms in the world in south central Chile. All of this stuff comes to us by freighter and overland trucks, which of course adds to air pollution.

Or how about the idea of the circulating dollar? Money spent in a local store on local products offers a local economic multiplier as the dollar spent circulates several (up to six) times through the community. A dollar spent at the farmer's market in Gresham stays around a lot longer than a dollar spent at say, Freddys.

What about if I stray across the border into Vancouver or is that prohibited by the "buy local police"?

The point is not forcing anybody to buy anything. The point is having the opportunity to buy local in our public institutions, which we often don't have. Certainly you're not oppossed to that?

Reasons to buy local are environmental, economic...but most importantly, our local stuff is often fresher and better. In the case of developing wine lists, there's no reason to not have Oregon wines available. Is there? Bananas? Go to New Seasons, a local company, where the profits generally stay in our community. Or go to Safeway, or Fred Meyer. Whatever. This isn't religion, just trying to promote some common sense about promoting our community and state.