Romancing the February Issue

By Hilary Berg,
Oregon Wine Press Editor

When I first learned the due date—February 16—I thought it would be cool to have a Valentine’s Day baby, a chubby cherub, if you will. Then we learned it was a boy and suddenly the hearts, red and pink, didn’t seem so appropriate for a blue-clad bundle.

As the months passed, as well as many meals coming up and out the wrong way, I started to look at the Hallmark holiday more favorably for our soon-to-be son. While Valentine’s Day is filled with feminine hearts, sweet chocolates and red roses, it is the official day of love. And love knows no gender.

Love is the best feeling I can think of, and I know when we see his sweet little face, we will be filled with so much of it that life will never be the same.

As you read this issue, you’ll see that we’re feeling the love at OWP, too. Well, okay, it’s more of the romantic kind, but love nonetheless.

In February’s features, you’ll find romantic recipes inspired by aphrodisiacs from the talented group at Robert Reynolds Chefs Studio in Portland (page 18) and suggestions of chocolate and Port pairings, offering you decadent ideas for the most amorous of nights (page 22).

In Food & Wine, you’ll discover spicy recipes from some of your favorite wineries (page 26). These dishes promise to turn up the heat in the kitchen and the bedroom. So many recipes were submitted for this story, we had to continue them on this website.

When you visit our website, you’ll see we’ve been surrounding it with love, too. The site’s look, functionality and features have all been upgraded, and we are excited to share them with you.

More obvious to the eye, you’ll notice new weather links for the state’s wine regions at the top of the page, as well as the addition of videos and blogs from an eclectic group of local vinophiles towards the bottom. In between, the new site gives you more access points to locate features and departmental articles—new and archived. Plus, you’ll see we’ve included additional photos to make it a more visual experience.

Although OWP is a monthly publication, the new site gives us a chance to provide fresh content throughout the month. New videos will be posted weekly, as well as any breaking stories that have occurred. And, of course, the calendar is always changing with events added daily.

When you visit the calendar, you’ll see it still has the same look and functionality, but in the coming months, we’ll update this feature for better access and interactivity and add podcasts to the mix.

In the meantime, I will be making room for my new arrival and passing my duties to an interim editor, Gail Oberst, for an eight-week maternity leave. She is excited and super-qualified to take over the helm. I know she’ll do great.

With that, I say goodbye for now. See you in a couple of months, and wish me luck on the motherhood thing, I hear it’s the most important job I’ll ever have. No offense to this one.