In late 1985, an informal group of Oregon wine-lovers, winemakers, restaurateurs, and retailers envisioned a premier wine event, to be held in the heart of Oregon wine country. Each year since the first annual event was held in 1987, the IPNC has evolved and matured, with a commitment to staying fresh, innovative, and relevant. For the past 25 years the IPNC has been uniting international Pinot noir producers, esteemed journalists, Pinot noir devotees, northwest chefs, and foodies for a weekend of tasting, dining, learning, and celebrating together.
Each year there are approximately 800 registered attendees for the IPNC weekend, in addition to roughly 140 representatives from the 70 featured wineries. An additional audience of approximately 500 people attend the IPNC's Sunday Passport to Pinot.
Since 1987, the IPNC has hosted 190 winemakers from France, 39 winemakers from New Zealand, 19 from Australia, 12 from Italy, nine from Germany, seven from Switzerland, eight from Canada, six from Chile, three from South Africa, five from Austria, and one each from Argentina, England, Israel and Spain for a total of 302 foreign wineries!
The IPNC has served as a showcase for the northwest's famed farm-to-table cuisine. Each year over 50 guest chefs from the region's most revered restaurants create inspired courses made from local farm ingredients. The IPNC has been honored to host internationally renowned chefs including Minoru Odashima of Kappo Odashima in Tokyo, Japan, Alister Brown of Logan Brown in Wellington, New Zealand, and Michael Wild of BayWolf Restaurant in Oakland, California.
Guest speakers at the IPNC have included such luminaries as Lalou Bize-Leroy, Jancis Robinson, Robert Parker, Remington Norman, Michael Broadbent, Ghislain de Montgolfier, Christophe Roumier, Dominique Lafon, and François Millet of Comte Georges de Vogüé... to name a few.
Over the years, the IPNC has brought over 13,000 wine lovers from around the world to McMinnville to explore and revel in Pinot noir in all its grand diversity. IPNC guests enjoy the benefit of going right to the source, meeting and connecting with the people and families behind the wines they love. Guests have the chance to taste over 250 wines at each IPNC! Guests may find themselves chatting with a Tasmanian winery owner, eating lunch with a writer from a favorite wine publication, or walking through vine rows with the Willamette Valley vintner who planted them. And at the end of the day, everyone celebrates together at tables topped with a collection of Pinot noir and the finest in the Northwest cuisine.
Since the first annual Celebration, the goal of the IPNC has remained constant: an intimate gathering of international Pinot noir winemakers and Pinot lovers from near and far enjoying a weekend of good wine, good food, and good company.
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