The locals joked last night at the famous Nick’s Italian Café in McMinnville, Oregon in the heart of Willamette Valley wine country: there used to be a tube, they told me, that connected the Lett family’s winery to the restaurant. Their Eyrie Vineyards cellar is just a stone’s throw away (literally).

David Lett made history when he singlehandedly launched the Oregon fine wine trade in the twentieth century. His story as a pioneer of American viticulture has been told many times and his renown as a winemaker has touched all corners of the globe.

Last night at Nick’s, where the wine list includes the largest vertical library of the Lett family’s wines in the world (they say), we drank the 2016 Pinot Gris and the 2014 Pinot Noir Original Vines.

Such beautiful, pure, and elegant expressions of Oregon grape growing and winemaking, these “entry tier” wines represent the greatest value in American wine today imho. They still land at a “special occasion” price for our family but they are within reach. And I couldn’t think of a better pairing for my meal (Pinot Gris for Nick’s Caesar and Pinot Noir for the locally farmed pork three ways).

Their organically farmed, they’re spontaneously fermented, the whites undergo unprovoked malolactic fermentation (said Jason Lett when I tasted with him earlier this year). They couldn’t be more natural and they couldn’t be more naturally and classically delicious.

Tracie and I drink them every chance we get. And I drank the last glasses of each at the McMinnville Comfort Inn last night, a sweet coda to a long but fruitful week of traveling and working.

No regrets, Coyote. Heading home to Texas, Tracie, and my girls today. I can’t wait to hold them… Wish me speed!

“I don’t want this tradition to be forgotten,” said the importer who brings in this classic from Sardinia, the Silvio Carta Vernaccia di Oristano from Sardinia (2005 vintage).

“There are some wines you import because you love them,” he told me.

It was just one of the groovy wines I tasted this week in Los Angeles, the town where I lived and went to school for many years and one of my favorite Italian wine and food destinations in America.

I love how the dried fruit and nuttiness work against the oxidative character of this wine. 100 percent delicious.

And in a business where numbers increasingly trump soulfulness, it was awesome to sit down and taste with someone whose love for great Italian wine always prevails.

Imported to California by my friend Ramin at Vitis.

Another highlight was the Eleva 2013 Valpolicella Ripasso Tenzone.

From a great northern Italian vintage, it reminds me of the old-school Valpolicella I used to drink back in the late 1980s when I was a student in the Veneto. But its focus and clarity of fruit really took it to another level for me. And the zinging acidity kept its alcohol in check. Very food-friendly and approachable but with that mineral streak that makes great Valpolicella stand out.

Really loved this.

Imported to California by my friend Anthony at Palermo.

I’m not sure who imports Miani to California but G-d bless them!

I visited Miani back in 2010 and was blown away by its maniacal grape growing and laser-sharp winemaking. The winery’s bottlings are among my all-time favorite wines and they represent some of Friuli’s most compelling whites imho.

The rich stone fruit in this wine just seems to wrap itself around your palate and its elegant savory character taste like a subtle flourish of flaked sea salt lightly sprinkled over a grilled peach.

Man, I loved this wine and I loved that it was poured for me by my good friend Rachel who’s worked as a sommelier at Mozza in LA for some time now. She is super cool.

And I just have to give a shout out for the tagliolini al limone at Gino Angelini’s Angelini on Beverly, one of the best Italian restaurants in the U.S. imho. It’s just so good that I have to get it every time, a Platonic expression of Californian-Italian that plays on the bounty of great produce here.

This restaurant is just so damn good and the people who work there are so joyful. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Thank you, Californian friends, for treating me so well out here. It’s always good to come “home” to you.

Now it’s time to head up to Oregon wine country for one last round of tastings before I get back to Houston where I belong.

Wish me speed!