Dale DeGrof at PDXCW Welcome Reception

Thursday evening was the Opening Night reception for PDX Cocktail Week held at Wilf’s.  The evening began with a memorable event: the Utah Mixologist had a classic Martini made-to-order by the hands of no other than cocktail guru Dale DeGroff, who was working the room with a cocktail cart like an itinerant bartender.  The current trend in cocktails is toward using a little more quality Vermouth in Martinis (fresh Vermouth, not the Vermouth that’s been in your bar since the cocktail party in 2008 (a.k.a. spoiled Vermouth)), so Dale made me a 3:1 Martini with Plymouth Gin and Dolin’s White Vermouth, stirred (not shaken) of course.  This was one of the cooler moments of the UM’s life, especially since he owns Dale’s cocktail books.  Unfortunately, there was no WiFi at Wilf’s, otherwise the news would have been live-tweeted!  While he was preparing my Martini, Dale mentioned that he wasn’t drinking himself because he was going to sing later in the evening.

The room was so dark that the camera on my iPad was almost useless: I could only get shots of the candles on the table, so I used my regular camera, and that’s where I got the above shot of Dale DeGroff when he treated us to his vocal stylings of jazz classics like: “Lulu’s back in town,” “I’m gonna sit right down and write myself a letter,” and “This is so nice it must be illegal.”  Dale was backed up by a nice jazz combo that played classics like “A-Train” throughout the evening.

 The reception was hosted by Pernod Ricard (well, we had to buy tickets!).  Drink stations were set up around the room, manned by stalwart bartenders (male and female), offering cocktails (classic and nouveau) featuring Pernod Ricard products like Plymouth Gin, Absolut Vodka, Avion Tequila (featured on Entourage), etc.  Avion was featured in a tasty cocktail named the Avion Paloma: Avion, Lime juice, Grapefruit soda, and a Lime wheel. The UM was in heaven, although as the evening wore on, the best strategy was revealed to be one of not finishing the cocktails so that more could be sampled.  This, as always, proved to be easier said than done.

Portland, as a renowned center of fresh produce, is big into infusions.  One cocktail was the MI6, which was a variation of the Vesper Martini with (if I remember correctly) pomegranate infused Absolute Vodka, sage infused Plymouth Gin, and Cinnamon infused Lillet.