Every day at Willamette Valley Vineyards we celebrate Oregon's abundant resources which brings us fine wines, locally sourced food and skilled artisans. In January we celebrate the Oregon coast's bounty with our 19th annual event, Mo's Crab & Chowder Festival on Friday, January 29th (6 pm - 9 pm), Saturday (11 am - 6 pm) and Sunday (11 am - 6 pm). Mo's Restaurant will bring their famous steaming clam chowder bowls, fresh Oregon Dungeness crab and other seafood selections to our Estate Tasting Room. We love pairing our Pinot Gris with these dishes, and are offering a whole-cooked crab with the purchase of a case. "Buy a case, get a crab!"

For the event, we are transforming our Crush Pad to host the festivities and inviting The Flextones to play rock & roll music for dancing. Admission  is $15 and includes wine tasting. Admission for Wine Club Members, Shareholders and their guests is $10. Menu items from Mo's will be available for purchase at an additional cost. We hope you join us for this celebration!

Our Winery Chef, DJ MacIntyre likes to pair Dungeness Crab with our 2014 Griffin Creek Viognier. Here are his tips on how to serve it at home-

Dungeness Crab with Butter Sauce

Ingredients:
4 oz. whipping cream   
1 cup butter, salted
1 cup butter, unsalted
4 whole Dungeness crab

Method:
The peak of the Oregon Dungeness crab season is typically December through April and fresh ‘whole-cooked’ crab is readily available. When purchasing ‘whole-cooked’ Dungeness crab, request removal of the gills and viscera. Give your crab a thorough rinse under cold water. 

To make the butter sauce, place cream into a sauce pot and bring to a slow boil and let it reduce by 25%.  Slowly add the butter to the cream until it is all dissolved. If the sauce is too thick at this point you may slowly stir in some warm water to thin the sauce to a proper consistency. Transfer to a serving dish and hold warm. Butter sauce should be made on a per use basis. It will break if refrigerated.
Serve with nutcrackers, seafood forks and lots of napkins.