This week, my wife, Kari, and our two daughters, are in Tulsa, visiting my mother, siblings and a lot of cousins. With Seattle colder than Siberia these days, this trip offers us an opportunity to get a jump start on summer time weather (it's 90 degrees with 100% humidity here).

Whenever traveling out this way, we like to bring a taste of the Pacific Northwest with us, especially for my mom, Terry, who is from Oregon. But with luggage restrictions and security issues discouraging us to carry on seafood and wine, we decided to ship some Copper River salmon and Dungeness crab so we could enjoy a cook out.

Unfortunately, you can't ship wine to Oklahoma, therefore one is reliant on shopping at liquor stores, which are the only places you can buy anything alcoholic, sans 3.2% beer. If you want to experience the lasting affects of Prohibition-era regulations, then Oklahoma is the place to be.

Fortunately, there are a few places that not only offer a decent selection of wine, but suprisingly provide a strong cross-section of Pacific Northwest producers. With the Pike Place Fish Market overnight package on its way to our doorstep yesterday, I headed out to Fikes-Parkhill Liquor & Wines at 51st and Harvard.

At Parkhill, I wasn't surprised to find the big Washington state labels such as Chateau St. Michelle, Columbia Crest, and Hogue. Even still, there were a few smaller outfits such as Owen Sullivan, Cougar Crest, and Amavi mixed into the shelves of cab, merlot and syrah. Overall, Washington state white wines seemed to be well represented in the riesling, sauv blanc, and guwertz sections.

However, I was blown away by the diversity of Oregon wines available in this Tulsa liquor store. On the pinot noir side of the aisle, there were several vineyard designated bottlings of Van Duzer, Beaux Frères, Maysara, Domaine Serene, and Raptor Ridge. In addition, King Estate, Sinean, Adelsheim, Foris, R. Stuart, and A to Z were present. In the pinot gris section, many of the aforementioned producers were represented as well.

As I was standing there in the aisle, a guy approached asking if I needed assistance. I immediately complimented him on the diversity of Oregon wines, whereupon he introduced himself as Scott Large of Thirst Wine Merchants. Scott is a distributor for Parkhill and is responsible for sourcing many of the Oregon wines in the store.

I asked Scott why so many Oregon wines and he informed me that the store owners had a fondness for pinot noir, both old world and new. He was interested in some of the Oregon wines I had been enjoying lately, which then led to a chat about the upcoming IPNC. Scott had been at last year's event and could not stop singing its praises, which got me really pumped since I will be attending in July.

While chatting about wine, Scott led me down the aisle to an endcap full of Copain 2006 "Tous Ensemble" Pinot Noir ($32.99) from the Anderson Valley. He kept saying that this was a wine that I just had to try. Scott had become a big fan of Wells Guthrie's wines, stating they were in the style of French burgundy but with the bright fruit of Oregon pinot. In addition, he pointed out Copain 2006 Saisons des Vins L' automne ($21.99), as being a good buy.

I ended up getting a bottle of each of the Copain's along with a couple of Maysara pinot noirs to go with the salmon we were having that night. I will be posting about the '06 Maysara pinot noir and pinot gris and our dinner in the coming week. In the meantime, I have to share my captivation with the Copain 2006 "Tous Ensemble" Pinot Noir (13.4%), for this a truly spectacular wine. This wine tastes just like it was described by Scott, which is similar to that provided on the Copain web site:

Dusty red fruits of sweet dried cranberries and cherries along with subtle earthy nuances emerge on the nose and palate. Medium bodied, the flavors are pure and focused with a lingering crisp cherry finish.

What an incredible find to have discovered in the aisle of a Tulsa liquor store from a local distributor who was a huge fan of pinot noir. I wish there was a way to get a case of this wine back to Seattle. But then again, I fortunately live in a state that allows interstate shipping of wine from California and other states. Before making my purchase online, I am going to have to pop the L' automne to see if that is worth buying as well.

In sharing all of this with you, I am going a bit far afield in writing about California pinot noir purchased in Oklahoma. But I do so to demonstrate that if you try hard enough, you can find a good bottle of wine in most cities these days. And you might meet someone who not only shares in your passion for wine, but can also introduce you to a producer you might not be exposed to at home, such as the wines Scott recommended.

I am definitely going to stay in touch with Scott, for if the Copain is any example of his taste in pinot noir, then there is much to gain from his recommendations. Such is the pleasure in discovering new wine and new friends wherever your travels might take you.