So, it’s day two of the IPNC here in sunny McMinnville, OR. I got caught out last night by the diurnal temperature differential which is of Mendoza proportions: 80 degrees by day, 50 by night. Consequently, I froze as the dinner progressed and I was wearing just shirt sleeves. So today I hit downtown looking for some warmer clothing options. The only shop selling clothes, as far as I could tell, was a surf/skate dude shop. I shall be attending tonight’s salmon bake looking like a wannabe 19 year old skateboarder.

Spare a thought for Tyler Colman whose Mac died on him. News travels fast, though. Someone came up to him today and said words to the effect of, ‘Tyler, can **** have your capability supply now you won’t be needing it.’

This daylight we had our seminar on sustainability. After a largely substance free but lengthy introduction by our MC, we had the Jasper (Morris) and Dominique (Lafon) show, which Jasper chaired fantastically. We tasted Dominique’s wines as he told us about his journey to biodynamie. We were about two thirds of the way through when one of the audience asked whether Dom could explain more about how he uses Vitamin E in his winemaking. It was a wonderful moment.

Then there was a panel with five Pinot Noir producers from around the world talking about their interest in sustainability. Ted Lemon, of Littorai outlined his four definitions of biodynamy.

Quote of the day. Michael Dillon from Bindi began by apologizing for coming 15 h by plane to talk about sustainability, and plus for the fact that he uses heavy, deep-punted bottles - something he has been told off for by an English wine writer. But next he added that ‘********* [same English writer] flies around the world telling public that they shouldn’t use heavy bottles’.

Following the seminar there was a really nice lunch including some great wines, and plus one of the most remarkable gastronomic experiences I’ve had. It was a suite of three bacon desserts. Yes, bacon. And they worked amazingly well.